Plainfield residents now have one less choice when shopping for groceries or other products.   

Walmart’s Plainfield location closed on March 10 after first opening on Aug. 25, 2004. 

The store had a reopening with new amenities including a new register lane, a one dollar section and an expanded grocery section on June 3, 2022, but still fell short of company standards. 

I was so surprised to hear that Walmart is closing,” business teacher Kim O’Connell said. “I thought my class was trying to mess with me. I use their pick up one-two times a week and was on a first name basis with the pick up staff. Now, I will have to go to either Meijers or Jewel which are more expensive.”

Several North students were employed at the local Walmart. With the closing, they are now on the hunt for new jobs. 

“I have worked at Walmart for about a year and a half,” Junior Nick Alysworth said. “I am sad about the store closing because I am losing a pretty easy job that comes with great pay and good benefits.”

The employees were alerted in person about the closure. Senior Youseff Bassiouny had been working at Walmart for two and half months and was shocked when he learned about the closure.

“At first when people told me in school that the store was closing, I thought it was a joke until I went into work that day and the managers told us that we were closing and gave us the details,” Bassiouny said. “I was definitely in disbelief since our Walmart was an academy Walmart meaning it was one of the most prestigious Walmarts in the country.”

According to an article written by Emily Rosca in the Plainfield Patch, Plainfield along with about 5,000 other stores have been said to be underperforming and will be shut down. Three stories in the Chicagoland area are set to close including Homewood and Lincolnwood.

“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Homewood, Lincolnwood, and Plainfield locations,” the company said in an official statement. “We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on Walmart.com.”