Princeton Sam's Club To Close Jan. 27

PRINCETON, NJ —The Sam’s Club at the Nassau Park Pavilion off Route 1 will be closing on Jan. 27, according to a message that greets customers who call the store Friday morning. The last day the store will be in operation is Jan. 26.

Until then, it will operate on a partial, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. schedule, Monday-Sunday, according to the message, which directs shoppers to visit Sam's Club online after that.

A sign on the door of the store on Thursday indicated the store would be closed on Thursday and reopened on Friday. It was scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Friday. The voice message that greeted callers on Thursday indicated the same. The location has also been removed from the website. Stores in Mount Olive and Linden closed for good on Thursday.

"So sad for the employees!! Multi Billion dollar company and can't even tell their employees they will be out of a job," a Patch reader wrote. "I haven't shopped at Walmart for over 10 years and this is one of the many reasons!!"

Sam's Club abruptly closed 63 stores nationally, including several in New Jersey. Many closures were announced on Thursday, with multiple other stores stating they were closed on Thursday and would reopen on Friday. It was expected that many of those stores would announce they are closing, just as the Princeton store did on Friday.

• Read More: Sam's Club Abruptly Closes NJ Locations

Up to 12 of the 63 closed stores will be converted, the company said in a Thursday night statement, in an effort to speed up delivery of online orders. The first store to be converted will be the Memphis, Tennessee location. It was not clear which, if any, of the New Jersey locations would be converted into e-commerce centers. Walmart, which owns Sam's Club, has not returned Patch's multiple requests for comment.

In a statement, the company said the closures came after a "thorough performance review."

"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. "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."

This statement was similar to one posted on the company's Twitter account in response to customer complaints on Thursday.

News of the closures came on the same day Walmart announced an increase in their minimum hourly salary, up to $11 an hour, and $1,000 bonuses for certain employees. The company credited recent changes in the tax code for the raises.

Employees who lost jobs in the closure will be given 60 days of pay at the $11 rate; eligible employees will also receive severance pay and the bonus. Some employees might be transferred to other Sam's Club locations, or to nearby Walmarts. It was not clear how these transfers might be facilitated, or how many employees would benefit.

"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."

Patch Editor Katie Kausch contributed to this report.

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