SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Walmart announced Wednesday it is closing two of its stores in the San Diego area.
According to a Walmart spokesperson, the retail giant decided not to renew its leases for the following locations: 2121 Imperial Ave. in San Diego and 605 Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon.
Both stores will be shuttering their doors on Feb. 9.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our San Diego and El Cajon stores," Walmart communications director Brian Little said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of our many locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery to their home or business.”
Walmart says that although its overall business is strong, the Imperial Ave. and Fletcher Parkway stores did not meet their financial expectations. The retailer came to that conclusion after a "thorough review process."
Additionally, Walmart could not reach mutual lease renewals with the property managers.
The San Diego location employed 125 people, while the El Cajon store had 232 employees. Walmart says it will support those workers, and they'll all have a chance to transfer to a nearby store.
The closure will also impact delivery drivers like Waleed Muslawi.
He picks up six to eight orders daily at the El Cajon location.
"There are like three different branches of Walmart nearby me [on] Fletcher, Camino Canada, and North 2nd. So, I rely on those three different branches to get my earnings," he said.
Meanwhile, others were not shocked the El Cajon location was closing.
“I specifically came here just to get a couple of things. Normally, I got to La Mesa, but I’m trying to save on gas so I came here," said Dee Dee Milot.
She added she hoped the building space would transform into something else.
“You don’t see that many people shopping here. It would be wiser for them to build housing here for low-income or maybe a strip mall or small businesses for people that can shop in there," she said.
Overall, Walmart employs thousands of associates in the county across five locations in San Diego and two in El Cajon.
In total, Walmart has more than a dozen stores and clubs in the San Diego area.
There are nearly 5,000 Walmart stores across the country.
