How many Walmart locations nationwide closed permanently in 2025 compared to previous years?
Executive summary
Walmart publicly stated it had no plans to close any U.S. stores in 2025, a rebuttal that undercuts multiple viral lists claiming permanent shutdowns this year [1] [2]. The factual baseline in reporting is that Walmart closed 11 U.S. stores in 2024, not 2025 — those 11 closures are repeatedly cited in coverage and were the likely source of confusion [3] [1].
1. The direct answer: zero confirmed permanent Walmart store closures in 2025 (per the company)
Walmart’s corporate communications told Fast Company and other outlets that “there are no current plans to close any stores in 2025,” and that the circulation of an 11-store closure list for 2025 was erroneous and stemmed from a misreported article that had to be corrected [1] [2]. The company’s official store-status/disaster-response page is the place it directs people for verified closure notices tied to events such as weather, but that page and Walmart statements do not list any 2025 permanent closures as of the reporting available here [4] [1].
2. Where the 11-store claim came from, and why it spread
Multiple outlets and aggregators republished a list asserting that Walmart would permanently shutter 11 locations in 2025; Money Digest, SoScip, Merca20 and others repeated that figure or similar lists without clear confirmation from Walmart [5] [6] [7]. Fast Company’s reporting shows the 11-store list instead reflected closures that took place in 2024 and had been mischaracterized as 2025 actions, prompting Walmart to contact publishers for corrections [1].
3. The recent historical comparison: 11 closures in 2024 vs. 0 confirmed in 2025
Coverage consistently notes that Walmart closed 11 stores in 2024, a concrete recent comparator cited by multiple outlets and acknowledged by Walmart in context when correcting the 2025 misreports [3] [1]. That figure — 11 permanent locations shuttered in 2024 — is the most reliable recent benchmark available from the sources provided; there is no corroborated count of new permanent closures in 2025 beyond unverified lists [3] [1].
4. Broader retail context that fuels headline friction
Industry analysts and media reported a surge in U.S. retail closures generally — thousands of stores across many chains — which set a receptive backdrop for claims about Walmart specifically (Coresight/UBS estimates cited by Newsweek and others predict far larger sectoral contraction) [8]. That macro narrative helps explain why unconfirmed lists about Walmart gained traction: readers and publishers were primed to believe more closures were coming even if Walmart itself was expanding or remodeling other formats [8] [1].
5. Conflicting claims and why skepticism is warranted
Some outlets continued to publish “confirmed” lists and stories describing multiple Walmart locations closing through 2025 or mass closures across states [6] [9], but those pieces either rely on the same initial misreporting or are not corroborated by Walmart’s statements or its official store-status communications page [1] [4]. The pattern looks less like a coordinated corporate downsizing and more like amplification of an outdated or misdated list by outlets chasing fast-moving retail headlines [1] [6].
6. What remains uncertain and where to watch next
This reporting accepts Walmart’s public denial as authoritative for 2025 closures while acknowledging persistent third‑party claims; however, the company’s longer-term trimming, remodels and conversion program (opening or converting hundreds of locations over years) means local closures can still occur as part of network optimization — such events would be documented on Walmart’s store-status pages or future corporate announcements, not by unverified lists [1] [4]. For now, the verifiable comparison in the supplied reporting is 11 permanent closures in 2024 and no confirmed permanent closures in 2025.