Walmart To Close Sam's Club Warehouse In Texas, Affecting Over 100 Staff

The move comes as Walmart upgrades its e-commerce operations to accelerate delivery times and better compete with Amazon.

Walmart (WMT) is closing a fulfillment center that services online orders for its warehouse club chain Sam's Club in Fort Worth, Texas, according to a Reuters report on Thursday.

The facility has just less than 200 employees, and they would be asked to either relocate or leave. In a statement to the news agency, Walmart did not offer details on the potential job losses. It said, "We're continuously evolving our fulfillment network to improve service for our customers and members as their needs change."

"We are relocating operations ... to other facilities within our fulfillment network."

Shipments handled at the facility, known as DFW4, will be relocated to a high-tech fulfillment center in Lancaster, Texas, and three other Dallas-area facilities, the spokesperson told Reuters.

The move comes as Walmart upgrades its e-commerce operations to accelerate delivery times and better compete with Amazon (AMZN). In the last quarter, Walmart reported the first-ever profit for its online business.

Meanwhile, Sam's Club's sales surged 27% during the same period, and the unit said more than 50% of its members now use digital transactions in some form.

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for Walmart was 'neutral,' unchanged from a week ago.

Walmart shares are up 2.3% year-to-date.

The DFW4 facility's relocation is expected to be completed by summer, according to the Reuters report, which adds that the retailer will offer roles to all affected individuals who choose to continue with Walmart.

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