Walmart is closing its Sam’s Club fulfillment center in Swedesboro, New Jersey, effective March 7, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice.
The company is relocating its fulfillment operations at the Swedesboro Sam’s Club center to other facilities within Walmart’s network, a spokesperson told sister publication Supply Chain Dive in an email.
Approximately 113 employees will be affected, per the WARN notice. Walmart will provide employees with a paid job search period from Nov. 21 to March 7, when they can apply for open positions at nearby Walmart stores, Sam’s Clubs or other company facilities, the WARN notice said.
“We’re continuously evolving our fulfillment network to improve service for our customers and members as their needs change,” the spokesperson said. “Over time, as our fulfillment network has grown and we have launched new buildings, we’ve been able to serve customers and members with better reliability and speed by shifting volume to these other facilities.”
Associates will also have an opportunity to transfer to one of its nearby facilities including its new next generation fulfillment center in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, or any other next generation fulfillment centers across the country, the spokesperson said.
Other nearby facilities that are nearby include a distribution center in Smyrna, Delaware, a fulfillment center in Westampton, New Jersey, and another in Pedricktown.
Employees who decide to transfer to Walmart’s next generation facilities are eligible to receive a $7,500 transfer bonus and will receive training to work with fulfillment technology.
The closure is part of the retailers move to streamline its operations and its goal to focus on automation. Walmart’s next-generation fulfillment centers lean on warehouse technology that condenses the retailer’s 12-step fulfillment process down to five steps. These facilities also provide next- or two-day shipping and are part of the company’s goal to automate its supply chain.
“We continue to make progress in the automation of our supply chain, as now more than 50% of our fulfillment center volume is automated, which is twice as much at this point last year,” Walmart EVP and CFO John David Rainey said in a Q3 earnings call on Nov. 19.
