News of a wave of Sam's Club shutters recently broke across the country. In an interview with Business Insider, Walmart, which owns the discount retailer, announced it was closing roughly 10 percent of its stores across the country, including one in San Antonio. According to the company, the 12919 San Pedro Ave. location will remain open until January 26.
The cancelations were abrupt and affected stores throughout the U.S. and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. In San Antonio, customers lined up for hours outside of the San Pedro Avenue outpost hoping to take advantage of deep discounts, including 25 percent off nearly everything in the store.
The Sam's Club shutters came the same day as the mega-retailer's announcement that it will be boosting the starting salary for U.S. workers, providing maternity and paternity leave, and issuing bonuses. Critics, however, were quick to point out that despite news of the salary increase, the Sam's Club closures may affect the jobs of about 10,000 employees.
Responding to a tweet from former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, Sam's Club said, "After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing clubs is never easy and we’re committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition."
While there is no word yet on the total number of Alamo City employees impacted by the closing, it's estimated to be about 150-175 people. In addition to San Antonio, Houston will lose three Sam's Club outlets.
