COLUMBIA, S.C. — The St. Andrews area will lose another retail giant as the Walmart Supercenter located at Bush River Shopping Center is scheduled to close next month.
Walmart said it had made the "difficult" decision to close the Walmart Supercenter at 1326 Bush River Road in Columbia, SC.
'Our decision is based on a number of factors, including historic and current financial performance, and is in line with the threshold that guides our strategy to close underperforming locations," the company said in an email.
The store will officially close on Friday, Feb. 5, after a series of sales to clear out inventory. The Pharmacy will close earlier, on Jan. 22, and pharmacy staff will work with customers to transfer prescriptions to other locations.
"We have been, and will continue to be, supportive of our store leadership and associates at our Bush River Road store," the company said. "This decision is in no way a reflection of their hard work and customer service. We care deeply about the associates being impacted by this decision. Here’s what we are doing to support them:
- We are hopeful that the associates at the store will want to continue their career with Walmart by transferring to another store. All associates in the store will be eligible for transfer. We have invested in our associates and we want to keep them in the Walmart family.
- All associates will be paid through 4/9/21 unless they transfer to another location. After that date, if they do not transfer, eligible associates will receive severance.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Bush River Road location," said Phillip Keene, the Director of Global Corporate Affairs/Corporate Communications for Walmart. "We look forward to serving them at our other Columbia stores and on walmart.com.”
The Arkansas-based company will have 10 remaining locations in the Midlands, including Sam's Club stores.