---
title: "Walmart store that once ranked first in global daily sales closes"
description: "Amid a wave of store closures by traditional supermarkets, Walmart's first store in Jiangxi, which once achieved the world's highest single-day sales and operated for 20 years, has announced its closure. The store, located in Nanchang's Bayi Square, will shut down at the end of May due to lease expiration, marking another setback for the retail giant in China."
author: "联商网编辑部"
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published: "2024-05-21"
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# Walmart store that once ranked first in global daily sales closes

> Amid a wave of store closures by traditional supermarkets, Walmart's first store in Jiangxi, which once achieved the world's highest single-day sales and operated for 20 years, has announced its closure. The store, located in Nanchang's Bayi Square, will shut down at the end of May due to lease expiration, marking another setback for the retail giant in China.

Recently, many traditional supermarkets have entered a wave of intensive store closures, and Walmart's first store in Jiangxi, which once ranked first in global daily sales and operated for 20 years, has also announced its closure.

**Once achieved the world's highest single-day sales**

Recently, many netizens reported that Walmart Supercenter in Nanchang Bayi Square is removing counters and will close. Currently, the entire third floor of the store has been cleared and sealed off, while the second floor (fresh food, snacks, grain and oil areas) is still operating normally for final clearance sales.

It is reported that the store will close at the end of May. Staff said the closure is due to the expiration of the lease, and future plans were not disclosed. Walmart Nanchang Bayi Square is Walmart China's 29th store and the first in Jiangxi. It has been operating since 2003, and on its opening day, it set a record for the highest single-day sales globally. According to relevant information, the store was located in the most central area of the city at the time, with convenient transportation and a wide variety of goods, making it a top retail destination in Nanchang. In 2005, it became Walmart's store with the highest customer traffic globally. During the National Day holiday in 2005, the store processed 40,621 transactions in a single day, setting an astonishing record among more than 5,300 chain stores worldwide. The store has also been one of Walmart China's best-performing stores. Currently, the online store for Walmart Nanchang Bayi Square has been closed. After the official closure, only one Walmart store (Walmart Xianghu) will remain in Nanchang. It is reported that five Walmart stores in Nanchang have closed so far. In March 2019, Walmart Jiefang West Road store closed, the first in Nanchang; in April 2021, Walmart Qingshan South Road store closed; in July 2021, Walmart Chenghu East Road store closed; in April 2022, Walmart Xinjian branch closed; in May 2022, Walmart Qingyunpu Sanxi West Road store closed.

**Continuous store closures**

It is understood that in addition to Walmart's first store in Jiangxi, stores in Ji'an, Yichun, and other places in Jiangxi have also closed one after another. In the first two decades since entering China in the 1990s, foreign supermarkets like Walmart achieved brilliant results in the mainland market with advanced management models and strong product strength, once becoming role models for local Chinese supermarkets. In 2007, Walmart opened its 100th store in China in Changsha, and then continued to expand rapidly, once opening more than 40 stores in a year. However, with changes in consumer demand and online diversion, Walmart's store count has been declining. It is reported that since 2016, Walmart has closed more than 140 stores in China. According to Walmart's financial reports, from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2023, Walmart China's store count was 412, 403, 361, and 322, respectively, showing a continuous decline. According to exclusive information from Lianshang.com, Walmart China's store count in fiscal year 2024 was 296. Based on this, Walmart China closed 26 stores in 2023. In addition, since 2024, Walmart China has closed at least 10 stores.

**Reasons behind the closures**

Take RT-Mart as an example. Previously, RT-Mart announced store closures in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu; Deyang, Sichuan; and Zhuzhou, Hunan. It is reported that since January 2023, RT-Mart has announced the closure of at least 13 stores, involving Hunan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan, and other provinces. In response, RT-Mart said that because multiple formats are accelerating their layout, some adjustments are within the normal scope of operations. Store closures are normal operational strategy adjustments in various regions, and both closures and openings are normal business operations. The main reasons for many store closures are twofold: one is property-related issues, and the other is that some stores will be renovated and upgraded into M Member Stores. Taking Carrefour as another example, since 2023, from Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing to Shenzhen, many Carrefour stores have experienced operational difficulties, with more than 150 stores closed in total. Since 2022, Carrefour has been mired in difficulties, with consecutive losses, unpaid wages, layoffs without compensation, and restrictions on the use of shopping cards. At the same time, Carrefour's store closure wave has swept through, closing 58 stores in 2022 and 137 stores in the first nine months of 2023. As of September 30, 2023, Carrefour had only 10 stores left in China. According to Suning.com's 2023 financial report, revenue was 62.627 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.25%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was -4.09 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 74.79%; net cash flow from operating activities was 2.91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 561.37%. As of December 31, 2023, Carrefour China had only 4 stores remaining. Some analysts believe that the frequent store closures of traditional supermarkets are caused by multiple factors from a macro perspective, not only due to increasingly fierce market competition, but also the impact of new formats and models, leading to increased operational pressure. Adhering to outdated business models will inevitably make it difficult for enterprises to thrive. In addition, the 20-year leases of hypermarkets have expired one after another. Affected by cost factors such as rent, some supermarket brands have had to close stores. Regarding lease expiration, for hypermarkets, once the lease expires, it is difficult to continue enjoying low rent dividends; at the same time, due to reduced customer traffic, they cannot sustain the high rent costs of prime locations. After weighing the pros and cons, closing stores becomes the best choice. In fact, the lease period for hypermarkets is generally 15 years, some only 10 years, and the longest is 20 years. In recent years, it has indeed reached the stage where supermarket leases expire one after another. According to industry insiders, lease expiration is just an excuse. In the overall downturn of hypermarkets, poor store profitability and optimizing to stop losses are the main reasons for closures. In summary, there are two main reasons for the closure of traditional supermarkets: first, some stores have been loss-making for a long time and there is no hope of turning around, so they have to close; second, to further optimize the store structure, some hypermarkets are closed to improve overall operational quality and reduce the impact of loss-making stores on the long-term development of the enterprise. To break through, traditional supermarkets must promote the effective allocation of resources, and at the same time, they must not forget their original intention, providing consumers with good products and services to remain invincible in the market. As Zhu Xiaojing, President and CEO of Walmart China, said, the core of the transformation of the hypermarket format is to return to customers and refocus on consumers.

**Entering an adjustment period**

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly focusing on cost-effectiveness and value for money. Leading supermarket companies such as Yonghui, Walmart, and China Resources Vanguard are continuously adjusting product prices and optimizing supply chains to improve store formats. Hema is also continuously making strategic adjustments, adjusting prices and optimizing operations, and focusing on refined store management. Taking Walmart as an example, in January this year, Walmart China announced that the first batch of 29 hypermarket stores in 8 cities had completed upgrades. The upgrades mainly involve three aspects. First, equipment upgrades, especially in the fresh food category; second, shopping experience upgrades, highlighting Walmart's differentiated products; and third, price upgrades, allowing consumers to clearly see cost-effective products priced at 9.9 yuan, 19.9 yuan, 29.9 yuan, etc. While closing stores, Walmart is also actively transforming, on the one hand renovating physical stores to strengthen omnichannel business, and on the other hand accelerating the expansion of Sam's Club stores. In 2024, Walmart China plans to continue renovating 40-50 stores. The newly upgraded stores have reduced the number of products by half compared to previous stores and improved the omnichannel shopping experience.

In December last year, China Resources Vanguard announced upgrades to nine stores in eight cities, transforming the original China Resources Vanguard supermarkets into the blt format. The biggest feature of this round of upgrades is the new shopping environment, a full-category product structure, and service details, as well as the advantage of high quality and competitive prices, allowing customers to purchase global good products at any time. In a word, for traditional supermarkets, the key to breaking through is still refined operations and cautious store layout. More importantly, they should continue to deeply cultivate consumers around product strength.

**Recommended reading**


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