TAMPA — Walmart is at the center of controversy and speculation after five of its stores suddenly closed last week, including one in Brandon.

The superstore at 1208 E Brandon Blvd. abruptly shut down on April 13 — the same day four other stores in Texas, California and Oklahoma also closed.

The reason for all the closures? Plumbing problems, a corporate spokeswoman said.

Nearly 430 Brandon employees were laid off, and 2,200 were let go nationwide. The closings have people buzzing and asking: Is it really all because of plumbing?

Some alternative ideas that have been circulating the Internet: Could closing stores be in retaliation for employees who protested too much? Or maybe a cover for bad business? One conspiracy theory suggests the empty stores will be used for military training.

Walmart points to the pipes, which it says will take six months to fix.

The Brandon store "had one of the highest incidences of plumbing issues in the entire fleet," according to a Walmart statement sent to the Tampa Bay Times on Monday. "The issues mostly relate to clogs and water leaks in the plumbing — we've had over 100 incidents at this store in the last two years.

"We have attempted to address the plumbing issues without disrupting operations, but determined that due to the number of incidents, the costs associated with the plumbing and the ongoing impact on the working and shopping experience, it was in the best interest of the store to take the time and invest the resources needed to resolve these issues."

But if Walmart has worked on plumbing in Brandon, the Hills­borough County permitting office doesn't know about it. To make any significant improvements, the store has to apply for a county permit, permitting manager Darlene Plasencia said. The Brandon store has never applied, she said.

And what about the workers?

From the moment they were laid off to the moment they left the building, "they had a three-hour time window," said Angelo DiRosa, the co-owner of the Pomodoro Pizza to the west of Walmart. He knew that because a friend of his was an employee, and many of them frequented his restaurant on break. "Our lunch crowd has definitely taken a hit," he said.

Even Commissioner Victor Crist, who represents the store's district, was surprised. Walmart didn't contact him with news of the closing until that day, his office said.

Walmart said employees will be paid for 60 days after their termination and severance after that if they haven't found a job. That didn't stop a union from seeking an injunction Monday to rehire everyone who was laid off.

Still, the question of what's going on lingers. Is six months reasonable for a plumbing fix?

Ajay Shanker, a University of Florida building construction associate professor, said only if it's a severe problem, like rainwater drainage from the roof. The water would have to accumulate for years — to the point that metal sheets that top the store started to sag.

"That's the only thing I can think of," he said. "It's not plumbing from a water closet or toilet — those things don't warrant store closure."

Yet those are the types of incidents Walmart documented. On June 26, a partial log the store provided to the Times on Tuesday says, "there is a leak coming from the floor behind the bakery counter."

The next month, on July 11, the log says, "the back men and women restrooms are clogged." The notes continue through December. But no major repairs like Shanker described are listed.

Even if the plumbing issue stems from underground, the Home Depot next door hasn't pulled plumbing permits recently. Neither has the nearby Fred Astaire Dance Studio.

The Pomodoro owner said he also has never had problems.

"We've been here six years," he said. "And we haven't seen anything going on next door."

The only thing he has seen is the store's depletion. One day they hauled out the ice machines and refrigerated goods, packing everything into huge shipping containers. The next day, they ripped out the ATMs.

"But no plumbers," DiRosa said.

Even the store's carts were removed, their racks pulled from the asphalt. They now sit stacked against his pizza shop's building.

"If it's something to do with the plumbing, why are they clearing out the parking lot?"

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3400. Follow @rachelacrosby.