Orlando area Sam's Club among stores closing nationwide

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Walmart official says the company is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the country. About 10 of those stores will be repurposed into e-commerce distribution sites.

The official said at least eight stores closed Thursday and the rest would shutter in the coming weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly.

According to the closures list published by Business Insider, the Sam’s Club store on Semoran Boulevard in Fern Park is among the dozens of closures. A Tampa store is also closing.

The closures came on the same day that Walmart announced it would boost its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour and hand out one-time cash bonuses.

The Walmart official said it would be too soon to know how many jobs would be eliminated with the Sam's Club closures. He said some employees would be re-hired at other Walmart locations or at the newly created e-commerce distribution sites.