RELATED: These Are All the Walmart Locations Closing Forever by the End of May. Following a destructive fire in March 2022, a fulfillment center in Plainfield, Indiana was temporarily closed. But while the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed, Walmart has announced that the doors will stay permanently shut. “Unfortunately, the property damage is too significant to reopen the facility for the foreseeable future,” Walmart said in a notice of facility closure on April 22. The Plainfield site was not responsible for serving other stores in the area and was strictly focused on online sales, a Walmart spokesperson told the IndyStar last month. After the fire, Walmart did not anticipate the closure affecting in-store sales, but the company wasn’t sure how it would come into play with online orders. However, the spokesperson confirmed the facility did serve Walmart’s online shoppers across the U.S. Walmart did not immediately respond to Best Life’s request for comment on the potential ramifications of this closure.
RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. A total of 2,089 employees worked at the Plainfield fulfillment center, but none were injured in the fire, WYFI News reported. In its notice of facility closure, Walmart confirmed that 957 of these associates had accepted other jobs within the company across the Plainfield area. For the remaining 1,132 associates that did not take this option, Walmart said that it will continue to offer a paid job search period. This period ends for hourly workers on July 1, 2022, and for salaried employers, the period ends on July 15, 2022. The closing of Walmart stores has made headlines lately, affecting shoppers in different U.S. states. Two Walmarts are being closed in Ohio—one in Forest Park, which closed its doors on April 22, and another in Mayfield Heights, which is anticipated to close on May 20. Other locations closed earlier this month, including a Walmart in Louisville, Kentucky, and one in Bellevue, Washington. Walmart shoppers in Connecticut will also be affected, as a location in Guilford is set to close on May 20 as well. RELATED: Walmart and Dollar General Are Under Fire for Doing This to Customers.
