Three Wal-Mart stores in North Florida will close this month after the company announced the closing of 269 stores worldwide, including 154 in the country.
The stores closing are 1113 State Road 20, in Interlachen, 1209 E. Wade St., in Trenton and 15726 SE US 19, in Cross City.
The three stores, which opened less than a year ago, are scheduled to close on Jan. 28.
The company said 95 percent of the stores closing in the country are, on average, 10 miles away of another Wal-Mart and hopes the employees will be placed in nearby locations.
The supercenter in Chiefland is the nearest Wal-Mart from Trenton, 10 miles away, and from Cross City, 20 miles away. The nearest Wal-Mart for Interlachen is going to be the supercenter in Palatka, about 15 miles away.
Ken Larsen, mayor of Interlachen, and Glen Thigpen, mayor of Trenton, both said they did not know about the closing until this morning.
Larsen said a Wal-Mart executive in Tallahassee called him this morning to inform him of the closing.
“I’m very disappointed, and I know everyone in the town is too,” Larsen said. “It was such a boom to our town to have the Wal-Mart come in here.”
Lachen said the Wal-Mart employees in Interlachen were also unaware the store was closing.
Wal-Mart did not comment before time of publication.