Walmart cuts back hours at some 24/7 stores

Walmart is reducing hours at about 40 of its supercenters as part of a pilot program designed to evaluate customer shopping habits.

"Based on a recent review of our customers’ shopping patterns, we have made the decision to adjust hours at some of our stores," spokesman Brian Nick told 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."

The designated locations will close at midnight and reopen at 6:00 a.m. About two-dozen 24-hour locations reduced their hours in the spring and more cutbacks are expected to come later this year, Mr. Nick said.

The Bloomberg article inferred that the move was partly made to improve late-night restocking given the complaints over the last few years of empty shelves. But saving money was another motivation.

Walmart is investing in improving customer service, including raising hourly pay for associates and making commitments to staff cash registers during peak hours. At the same time, the retailer is looking to better position itself as the low-price leader amid competition from dollar stores, Costco and others.

Photo: Walmart

"They have world-class supply chains and systems, but at their size there is probably always an opportunity here and there to cut costs," Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He feels this pilot may lead to a nationwide pullback of hours.

The Wall Street Journal reported last August that Walmart keeps 70 percent of its U.S. stores open 24 hours a day.

A USA Today article in 2011 similarly explored how Walmart was closing some supercenters from midnight to 6 a.m. While also noting the inefficiencies around opening all night, the article noted that 24-hour openings helped brand Walmart as a place for convenience.

Richard Feinberg, a Purdue University professor, told USA Today at the time. "Even if it is not cost-effective for those overnight hours, it builds loyalty, which feeds the profitability of the other hours."

Among its closest competitors, Target doesn’t have any 24-hour stores although last year it extended hours at some locations until midnight. Walmart’s late-night competitors appear to be drug stores such as Walgreen’s and CVS, which have midnight-closing and all-night hours. Meijer, which has been credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962, proudly promotes that all its doors are open 24 hours.

• Wal-Mart ends overnight hours at some locations – Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg
• Is the clock ticking on 24-hour retail service? – USA Today
• 24-hour stores to shave 6 in tests – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Target extends hours for night owls – Minneapolis Star Tribune (tiered sub.)
• Target to Keep Some Stores Open to Midnight in Push for Traffic – The Wall Street Journal (sub. requied)