Jo Kendall’s online petition to save the Derma Walmart has received a response from the corporation.
“Thank you for your response to our note and we sincerely appreciate your feedback. We are truly thankful customers like yourself are voicing valuable concerns. We are listening,” wrote Sandy T. with Walmart Executive Escalations out of Bentonville, Ark.
“Closing any store is not an easy decision, and we are very sensitive to the impact on the Calhoun City Community. While never a positive result, our portfolio review yielded concerns on the future ability to operate many stores including the one in your community. In total, over 269 stores are closing world-wide, and we believe it is critical so that we can reposition our company for the future. Our Walmart.com internet business is evolving rapidly and we hope that becomes an even easier way to access Walmart with merchandise sent right to your door.”
“We realize our closures will create an inconvenience and it's not something that we are taking lightly. Thank you again for your time and business.”
The petition, placed on change.org, has attracted 994 signatures.
It was initiated shortly after the announcement was made that the Derma store would close Jan. 28, despite being “very successful” according to local management.
Among the many posts and comments within the petition is this one from Kendall: “I want to ask corporate Walmart, have they forgot the customers and the communities in lieu of their bottom line! If this is the case they need to remove the ‘committed not just to expanding the business to better serve our customers, but also to improving the communities we serve’ from their page, because they are a lie.”
Walmart is in the process of clearing out the remaining inventory this week and the property is reportedly for sale.