Illinois Sam's Closings: Some Clubs Will Become eCommerce Centers

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Sam's Club is closing 25 percent of its Illinois stores, including locations in Romeoville, Naperville and Batavia, Romeoville Mayor John Noak confirmed on Thursday. News of the closings came amid an announcement of a wage hike for parent company Walmart as the big-box giant raised its minimum wage to $11. Nationwide, 63 Sam's Club stores will close, according to a statement issued by the company. A dozen of those will be converted to "eCommerce fulfillment centers in a move that will speed delivery of online orders, with the balance of the facilities closing over the next few weeks."

In a statement sent to Patch late Thursday, the company said the decision to close the stores was made after a thorough performance review. The first of the converted eCommerce fulfillment centers will be located in Memphis, Tenn., according to Sam's Club, which did not indicate whether any Illinois locations will be converted.

"Transforming our business means managing our real estate portfolio and Walmart needs a strong fleet of Sam’s Clubs that are fit for the future,” said John Furner, president and CEO of Sam’s Club. “We know this is difficult news for our associates and we are working to place as many of them as possible at nearby locations. Our focus today has been on those associates and their communities, and communicating with them.”

According to Business Insider, seven Illinois stores are slated to close:

• 460 S. Weber Road, Romeoville
• 808 S. Route 59, Naperville
• 501 N. Randall Road, Batavia
• 21430 S. Cicero Ave., Matteson
• 6600 44th Ave., Moline
• 900 S. Barrington Road, Streamwood
• 1055 McHenry Road, Wheeling

The Romeoville location, which opened to fanfare in 2013, had year-over-year sales growth, Noak told Patch. The news is another blow as Target has plans to close its Romeoville and Matteson stores in February.

In mid-2017, the Woodridge Sam's Club closed. The members only retail warehouse club also shut down 269 locations in the U.S. and worldwide in 2016.

"The Village of Romeoville was notified today that Sam’s Club has made the decision to close several stores nationwide. This decision affected many stores in Illinois as well as the Romeoville location at 460 S. Weber Road," the village said in a news release.

Village Manager Steve Gulden said the news was a shock. “This came as a surprise to us as Sam’s has demonstrated a strong sales increase each year since opening,” he said in a statement issued Thursday.

Area residents posted news of the closures on community social media pages. One resident said employees at the Romeoville store learned Thursday morning that the store will be closed for good before the end of the month.

Noak said he was notified that the Romeoville store had temporarily closed on Thursday but was scheduled to reopen on Friday and will remain open until closing permanently on Jan. 26. Calls to the Naperville store were met by a recording saying that location was also closed Thursday but would reopen Friday.

On the Sam's Club website, attempts to find information for stores that are closing was met with a message that said, "Error loading club information, please try again." The site also appeared to shift members' home club information to a nearby store; for example, Romeoville members found that their home club had switched to Joliet on the website.

For some shoppers the news means they'll no longer have a nearby store or one within easy driving distance. Customers who don't want to drive to a store in a neighboring community may be able to get their membership fee refunded. According to the Sam's Club website, the chain has a 100 percent membership satisfaction guarantee: "If at any time a member is unsatisfied with your Membership, let us know and we will cancel your membership and provide a refund of the amount paid for your current year Membership fee."

Sam’s Club is working with their employees on relocation, according to the Village of Romeoville, which added, "Any displaced employees can contact the Workforce Development Services of Will County at 815-727-4444 for employment assistance.

"Walmart will provide support and resources to those associates who are affected, including the bonus announced today and 60 days of pay, as well as severance to those eligible," Sam's Club Corporate said in a statement.

'"We need great people to help lead us into the future and we hope that many of them will stay with the company at either a local store or club,” Furner said. “Change is never easy, but we’re making these decisions as part of running a healthy business.”

The Illinois locations aren't the only ones on the chopping block. Sam's Clubs in other states reportedly closed without notice Wednesday and and Thursday, including locations in Houston and New Jersey.

While Sam's hasn't issued a list of store closings, the Arkansas-based chain did reply to a customer's question about the closing on Twitter, saying, "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."

Image via Google Street View

Editor's note: Story updated to included two additional store closings.