BENTONVILLE, AR - It looks like the pipes are working and several Wal-Mart stores will be back in business.
CNN Money reports that the retailer is reopening the five locations, two in Texas, one in California, one in Florida, and one in Oklahoma, that it closed in April due to plumbing issues.
"We thank the community for their patience as we work through these issues and are excited to give our customers a store that better reflects the shopping experience we are providing today in other markets across the country," Wal-Mart said in a statement, according to the report.
The closures came as a swift shock to the 2,200 employees working in the stores, who were given the federally mandated two months pay upon being laid off, as well as the option to transfer to a store nearby if the positions were available.
While Wal-Mart is hiring for the locations’ reopening, CNN Money reports that it has not guaranteed the former employees they will be rehired. They are, however, invited to re-apply to their old stores and will receive the same rate of pay or higher if they are rehired for the same job. Wal-Mart also said it will honor the original hiring dates as an employee’s anniversary.
The chain is already in the process of notifying those who were laid off or who transferred to other locations that they can now re-apply to those stores that were closed.
