Miami-Dade Sam's Club Not Part Of Shutdown

DORAL, FL — Miami-Dade's only Sam's Club store lives, at least for now. But one store employee said fellow coworkers were shocked to hear that so many stores across the country were abruptly closed on Thursday, including Florida locations in Lantana, South Tampa and Fern Park. Two stores in Broward County did not appear to be affected.

A sign taped to the outside of the South Tampa store read: “Sam’s Club is closed today. We regret any inconvenience. The store will reopen tomorrow at 10 a.m.” The Sam’s Club web page no longer includes that location on a list of its Florida stores and it was also removed from a map of store locations. A phone recording tells pharmacy customers that the store will close permanently on Jan. 26.

"After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy," Sam's Club said on social media. "Closing clubs is never easy and we’re committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition."

Walmart, which owns the chain, said it was closing 63 Sam’s Club stores across the country, according to the Associated Press. Of those, about 10 were to be converted to e-commerce distribution sites. Locations in New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, New York and North Carolina were among those stores that shut down on Thursday.

Sam's Club also said on social media that pharmacies would remain open for at least two weeks, and "we will work with each state’s Board of Pharmacy to help guide this transition."

The Doral employee told Patch that workers heard about the closings from customers for the most part. The employee was hopeful that Miami-Dade jobs were safe.

"I’m sure our management team would have told us something," the employee said

Patch editor Don Johnson in Tampa contributed to this report.

File photo by Danny Johnston/Associated Press