The large Walmart on H Street, one of the area’s most affordable grocery stores, is closing at the end of March.
The Walmart Supercenter located at 99 H Street NW is closing March 31, according to a sign posted outside the store, and confirmed by a Walmart spokesperson. The pharmacy will shutter two weeks sooner, on March 17.
The Washington Business Journal first reported the news.
All prescriptions will be transferred to other locations, and employees will also be given the option to move to another nearby store.
There are two other Walmarts in the District, on Georgia Avenue in Brightwood and on Riggs Road in Northeast. In explaining the closure, a spokesperson said the store’s financial performance was below expectations.
This adds to the list of now 10 Walmarts nationwide that the company has closed this year, citing the same reason.
The 74,000-square-foot store near Union Station is considered one of the most affordable grocery stores in the area. It was just last month when shelves and coolers were shown on social media as barren, reportedly a constant issue dating back to last summer.
The Walmart on H Street opened close to a decade ago and it was supposed to be one of six stores planned for the city. But several of those stores never opened, including two east of the Anacostia River in Ward 7. The projects were canceled when the company announced the closure of 269 stores worldwide in 2016.
At the time, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was “blood mad” about Walmart backing out of opening those Ward 7 stores. Last year, though, a Lidl opened at one of those locations, Skyland Town Center, and a Giant Foods is being planned for the Capital Gateway site.
“While there will be setbacks along the way, food equity remains a priority,” D.C.’s office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development said in a statement responding to the closure. “And that’s why Mayor Bowser created tools like the Food Access Fund and why we will continue to engage with grocers to fill any gaps.“
Matt Blitz