Oakland Walmart store among 269 set to close

This Walmart will soon be closing this coming Sunday in Oakland, California, as customers are seen shopping on Friday, January 15, 2016. This Walmart will soon be closing this coming Sunday in Oakland, California, as customers are seen shopping on Friday, January 15, 2016. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Oakland Walmart store among 269 set to close 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Walmart will close 269 stores by the end of the month, with the Oakland location among those on the international list, company officials announced Friday.

In Oakland, employees and city officials expressed shock, and some speculated that the city’s minimum-wage law played a part in the decision to shutter the store there. The Walmart in San Jose, which also boosted the minimum wage, will shut as well. The two stores in San Leandro, which has no minimum-wage law that supersedes the state’s, will remain open.

“I think it really is a little discouraging,” said Oakland C ouncilman Larry Reid, who learned of the closure in an early-morning phone call. “The minimum wage in the city of Oakland played a factor, was one of the factors, they considered in closing the stores.”

The loss of Walmart deals a significant blow to Oakland as the giant retailer ranked among the city’s top 25 sales-tax producers. The city, however, said it was barred by law from disclosing how much sales-tax revenue the store provided.

Mayor optimistic

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the city’s first priority will be helping the employees find new jobs. The economic cost related to the closure will only be temporary, she added.

“The loss in tax revenue as a result of the closure will not be permanent,” she said. “The growing strength of the Oakland market will allow us to quickly put that site to new use in a way that benefits the residents of East Oakland and our city as a whole.”

The company said it will close 154 U.S. locations, including all 102 Walmart Express stores, a smaller version of the box store. Walmart has 11,000 stores worldwide.

“Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business,” Doug McMillon, Walmart’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future.”

While most of the stores will close Jan. 28, Oakland was among those that will shutter Sunday, when the doors are locked for good at 7 p.m. When Oakland’s Walmart opened in 2005, 11,000 people applied for jobs. The store employed 400.

“I saw it on the news,” said Vickie, a woman who declined to give her last name, as she arrived for her shift at the store on Edgewater Drive in East Oakland. “It makes me sick.”

One of the store’s phone operators, Vickie said she’s worked at the store for nine years — “nine years worth of friends,” she said wiping away a tear.

The store’s workers will stay on to close out the store and move inventory through mid-February, said Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia. They will be given priority for job openings at other stores, but if they don’t have a job by Feb. 10, they will receive an additional 60 days of pay and then a severance package that includes a week of pay for every year employed.

Still, the closure was a blow to many Oakland residents.

“All the things we come to buy because over here it’s cheaper compared to other stores,” said Noe Barrajas, who had just purchased soda and other items in the store, adding that he lives in East Oakland and the store is convenient. “I’m not happy.”

On Friday afternoon, the parking lot was packed and customers streamed through the doors, only a few stopping to read the notice of closure on the sliding doors.

“I don’t understand why it’s closing,” said Shaunt Azizian, who was buying some bottled water for his workplace nearby. “I feel terrible for Oakland. It’s one thing after the next.”

Councilman Noel Gallo said the closure was a loss of the kind of entry-level positions that can help people get back on their feet.

Economic blow

“Certainly losing a Walmart is a blow to the city of Oakland, especially East Oakland,” he said. “What Oakland needs more of is jobs.”

One worker, who didn’t want to give her name given the potential loss of future opportunities, was angry at her corporate employer.

“It’s obvious there’s a huge need for a large store like this in the area,” she said. “For a billion-dollar company to do this is unthinkable.”

The closures were based on a store’s financial performance, among other considerations, and Walmart is managing its portfolio and will continue to grow, adding seven new stores in California in the coming months, Garcia said.

She declined to specifically address whether the minimum wage was part of the consideration in closing the Oakland location, which was among nine California stores on the list.

Oakland’s minimum wage, approved by voters in 2014, is $12.55 an hour, compared with $10.30 in San Jose and $10 statewide.

“As I told the Walmart representative, I am very frustrated,” Reid said. “I thought they'd be around for a while.”

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker