Walmart Closes Worcester Fulfillment Center, Affecting 90 Workers

Ninety fulfillment associates at a Walmart warehouse in Worcester are weighing their next moves after the company confirmed it will shutter the facility that has occupied the former Sam's Club building off Route 146 since 2019.

The shutdown, documented in a WARN Act filing and confirmed by Walmart, ends a chapter that began when the company converted the 139,000-square-foot Sam's Club store into an e-commerce order fulfillment hub. That store was among 63 Sam's Club locations closed abruptly in January 2018 when Walmart announced a sweeping network consolidation and converted select sites into online fulfillment operations. Associates at the Route 146 facility have spent the years since picking, packing, and staging orders for customers across central Massachusetts.

For the 90 workers affected, the most immediate question is geography. The adjacent Walmart Supercenter at 25 Tobias Boland Way is the closest alternative worksite, with pharmacy, pickup, and curbside delivery roles available there. Three more stores fall within 10 miles: West Boylston at 137 W. Boylston Street (5.2 miles), Northborough at 200 Otis Street (6.9 miles), and Leicester at 20 Soojian Drive (7.6 miles). Whether those drives are workable depends on each associate's schedule, household needs, and whether the available shift hours align with existing commitments.

Walmart confirmed it is offering transfer incentives for associates moving to open positions at nearby stores and relocation packages for those considering longer-distance transfers to other network facilities. A paid transition period is part of the package, giving workers time to apply internally before the site goes dark. Pharmacy and Supercenter operations at Tobias Boland Way are unaffected by the closure.

For store HR leads and assistant managers at those nearby locations, the transfer pipeline will arrive quickly. Internal candidates from the fulfillment site are likely already exploring open headcount, and scheduling teams should prepare to place new hires into pickup and delivery roles as positions are identified. The Telegram notes managers on site were already coordinating next steps with HR at the time associates were informed.

Walmart framed the Worcester closure as part of its broader shift toward "NextGen" fulfillment, automated facilities built for higher throughput and faster delivery. The company has been winding down several converted Sam's Club sites across the country as it redirects volume toward purpose-built hubs. A similar closure at a Sam's Club fulfillment center in Swedesboro, New Jersey, affected 113 workers; a Fort Worth facility closure and a Matteson, Illinois closure followed. Worcester fits the same pattern.

That operational logic does not reduce the disruption for the 90 associates losing their current shifts and routines. Regional HR contacts should be confirmed at the store level so that transfer candidates can be routed quickly and accurately into orientation slots, not left waiting on paperwork. Associates with questions about severance eligibility, benefits continuation, or the specific terms of the paid transition period should contact the Associate Support Center and reference the Worcester fulfillment WARN filing directly to get answers tied to this closure, not generic policy language.