Sam’s Club to close in Louisville

LOUISVILLE – Sam’s Club, a national chain of membership discount bulk retail stores, will close its location in Louisville along with nine others nationwide by the end of the month.

The Sam’s Club at 550 McCaslin Blvd. in Louisville is scheduled to close on Friday, Jan. 22, which will impact about 125 employees there, store officials said.

Louisville City Manager Malcolm Fleming said the store’s closure will have a “significant impact” on the City of Louisville’s finances.

Fleming said the store generated more than $500,000 in revenue annually to the Louisville’s general fund and additional amounts to the city’s conservation trust, historic preservation and capital projects funds.

“In round numbers, that represents about 10 percent of the general fund sales tax revenue and about 5 percent of total general fund revenue,” he said  “We will have to revisit and make some difficult choices to amend the city’s 2010 budget to address this unanticipated impact.”

Nine other Sam’s Clubs, deemed “financially underperforming” by company officials will close in California, Texas, Idaho, Illinois and New York, impacting a total of 1,500 employees.

Sam’s Club officials said they would provide severance pay and benefits for eligible employees, and work to find employment opportunities at other Sam’s Club locations or Wal-Mart stores. Sam’s Club is a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Sam’s Club President and Chief Executive Brian Cornell said the strategy for the company was to close stores losing money and open other stores in new markets with more potential for profits.

“By the end of this fiscal year, we’ll have added six clubs and completed 52 remodels. In fiscal year 2011, we plan to add between five and 10 new, expanded or relocated clubs and remodel between 60 and 80 clubs,” Cornell said in a press release. “We remain committed to opening and operating the best clubs in the warehouse industry, in the right sizes and formats, in locations that make the best use of our capital.”

A proposed new Sam’s Club in Longmont is still on hold.

The company owns its 107,000-square-foot building on 13 acres in Louisville.

Sam’s Club still operates stores in Loveland, Arvada, Thornton and Denver.