Barely six months after it opened, when we all got comfortable with picking up apples and avocados and enjoying the boost in sales tax to our town, Walmart is closing its brand new Express store in Luther.
It’s a corporate move and apparently is not personal against the town. Still, 30 persons are losing their jobs. Luther Express employees were told in Friday morning’s employee meeting. The store closes on January 28, 2016. Employees get 60-days severance pay.
A local public relations firm contracted to speak for Walmart in Oklahoma tells us that the move reflects a decision to close all of the pilot stores that are the “Express” model that offered food, gasoline and a pharmacy. Nearly 300 stores are closing world-wide.
The local PR rep told the Luther Register that the company intends to focus on its Supercenters and shut down all of the Express stores whether or not they were profitable. She’s finding out if our store in Luther was profitable.
Already at Josephine’s cafe in town, folks are shaking their heads at the news, but being optimistic, wondering if another store could be enticed to move into the soon-to-be-empty new facility. Just when we were all used to getting fresh produce and medicine without driving 20 miles. Think our Dollar General is having a good day? Perhaps the Mercantile downtown had a good day too. After all, the Mercantile is locally owned, and has been for 22 years.
Dollar General employees are probably happy, but they can’t dance in the isle because they’re always to cluttered !
I am so very sorry for your loss…..I often try to remember what I did before Wal- Mart….. All of the local businesses were doing all the business, and profiting very well. This may be a blessing in disquise! Praying for your community!
Think we should petition the decision, since so many of us have come dependent on the services, the gas prices, just doesn’t make sense to close a NEW facility.
You know the disappointing thing about it, I have made a point to shop there both for City sales tax but also to make sure the store had all the business that I could give them. Glad I helped my City but disappointed that I helped the group that is running out on us.
It’s “Merchantile”.
Nope it is mercantile.
I live in Luther, I deliver water to Wewoka, and know about Okemah but my feelings is that Wal-Mart just need more of a tax write off so that is Why they built all 3 of these stores at the same time and closed them all at the same time, they will write it off as a loss and gain more financially from them. They could care less about us as people or the memories from the locations they built them on as long as they line their pockets.