144 Workers Lost Jobs When Mount Olive Sam's Club Closed

BUDD LAKE, NJ — 144 employees lost their jobs when the Mount Olive Sam's Club closed abruptly last month, the New Jersey Department of Labor said.

In a WARN (The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) notice posted this week, the state department said 524 Sam's Club employees across the state lost their jobs in the closures. WARN notices are required by law when companies plan large-scale layoffs.

Some employees might be transferred to other Sam's Club locations, or to nearby Walmarts, the company said in January. They did not say how these transfers might be facilitated, or how many employees would benefit.

Two New Jersey locations closed suddenly on Jan. 11, with a third one closing shortly after: Mount Olive, Linden, and Princeton. Nationwide, 63 stores were closed. It was not clear how many employees across the country lost jobs.

Up to 12 of the 63 closed stores will be converted into e-commerce centers, the company previously said in statement, in an effort to speed up delivery of online orders. The first store to be converted will be the Memphis, Tennessee location. The company has not yet announced if any of the New Jersey stores 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," John Furner, president and CEO of Sam's Club, said in a statement in early January. "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."

• Read More: All The Wholesale Clubs Near The Mount Olive Sam's Club
• Read More: Some Closed Sam's Clubs Could Become E-Commerce Centers

Employees reportedly received little to no notice of the store closures.

"This is a very difficult time for some of our residents who had no expectation of being put out of work so suddenly, and who are obviously reeling from the store closings,'' said Freeholder Director Doug Cabana. "Our county agencies are available to help those employees to find new jobs, receive needed re-training, and get the personal assistance they may need as they seek new employment.''

The Morris County Board of Freeholder's offered job support services for those affected by the store closures:

• Morris-Sussex-Warren Employment and Training Services: https://msw-jobtraining.org/ or call 800-870-3478 or 973-285-6880 for an appointment;
http://careerconnections.nj.go...
• Morris County Office of Temporary Assistance, for Medicaid or the SNAP (food stamps) program: https://hs.morriscountynj.gov/financial/ or call 973-326-7882
• N.J. Dept. of Labor, to file an unemployment claim: http://nj.gov/labor/ui/file.html
• Mental Health Services are available for persons dealing with severe stress due to their job loss through the county's Disaster Response Crisis Counseling program. Call 973-285-6852 or 973-285-6863.

Other Resources

• Career Fairs
• Career Videos
• Jersey Job Club
• New Jersey Career Connections
• Occupations In-Demand
• One-Stop Career Centers
• Vocational Rehabilitation

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