Wal-Mart is distancing itself from the 24-hour supercenter
Even though the retailer is known for being a 24-hour store, roughly 40 of its 24-hour supercenters will close for a few hours a night, reports Bloomberg.
"Based on a recent review of our customers' shopping patterns, we have made the decision to adjust hours at some of our stores," spokesperson Brian Nick said said to Bloomberg. "This is the kind of decision we make on a store-by-store basis and will allow us the ability to reallocate resources to serve our customers during peak shopping hours."
In 2013, Bloomberg reported that customers were choosing to skip shopping at Wal-Mart for other supercenters, like Target and Costco, because shelves were not stocked.
This decision may or may not greatly affect the employees who had been working the overnight shift.
Nick informed Bloomberg that many of these employees will simply stock the stores during their usual hours, and that should they want to, employees will be able to relocate to other stores. He also explained to Bloomberg that those who do not wish to change locations could terminate their employment with Wal-mart and receive severance pay as a gesture on behalf of the retailer.
Wal-Mart has been making several changes as of late. The company recently made an attempt to shake its image as a low-paying retailer by promising to raise all of its employees wages to $10 - at minimum - by February 2016. Additionally, Wal-Mart has been implementing high-quality produce departments, to the point the retailer could rival Trader Joe's and Whole Foods as a grocer.
The company is also stepping up its register game by testing a new barcode-scanning technology service to eviscerate long lines.
We reached out to Wal-Mart for a comment.