Walmart store section closing indefinitely after scary incident

Retailers have had a pretty rough go of it during the past few years.

First, covid hit almost everyone pretty hard. 

The onset of the pandemic in 2020 set retailers of all shapes and sizes into something of a tailspin. 

Related: Home Depot makes drastic move to edge out Lowe's

It was one of the first modern instances where almost every business had to face an unforeseen challenge; nobody had anticipated a pandemic sweeping the globe and whipping customers -- and, ultimately, the markets -- into a frenzy. 

But once it did, almost every retailer felt the pinch. 

Brick and mortar retailers shut their doors to business for at least some period of time. 

This put extra pressure on e-commerce businesses and providers, which meant they had to ramp up operations as quickly as possible to fulfill orders and needs quickly.

Once covid ebbed and the world began to reopen, sky-high interest rates put pressure on retailers. 

It became more expensive to borrow money over a short period of time. 

Few retailers could afford to pay off debts or grow. 

To add to the challenge, supply chains saw unprecedented constraints. Labor was hard to come by. And people began moving around from state to state, which made for something like a moving target when it came to anticipating demand.

Walmart has only gotten stronger

As a result, we've seen many businesses either shrink their operations or go under completely over the past several years. 

But one retailer has seemed to buck the trend. 

Walmart  (WMT) , a retail darling prior to the pandemic, was almost perfectly positioned for the 2020s. 

More Walmart:

• Walmart, Kohl's raise alarm bells about a growing threat
• Sam's Club making big new Costco-style membership change
• Walmart's Sam's Club drops self-checkout, adds new anti-theft tech
• Sam’s Club making major change to rival Costco

It had the reach, brand appeal, and cash flow to quickly ramp up online operations; in 2020 it launched Walmart+, its competing service to Amazon Prime. 

So when everybody was suddenly order more stuff online, Walmart was there.

And this came relatively easy to the super-retailer. With at least one location within 10 miles of 90% of the population, Walmart was able to quickly double its many brick and mortar locations as fulfillment centers for online orders. 

With covid now firmly in the rear view mirror, Walmart is looking ahead, putting billions of dollars into store renovations across the U.S. to help make the shopping experience more enjoyable for all customers. 

Walmart closes part of store 

This doesn't mean every Walmart everywhere has had an easy go of it. 

There are still plenty of challenges associated with running a massive physical retail footprint. 

High operational costs, inventory assessments and restocks, supply chain issues, tariffs, and changing consumer demand can make running something massive like a Walmart complicated. 

And those are just the things a retailer can anticipate. 

Related: Massive sports retail chain suddenly closing 50 stores

Occasionally, a retailer must deal with unforeseen challenges, which is the case at a Greenville, N.C. Walmart store. 

Around 5 a.m. on April 18, the Walmart on Greenville Boulevard reported a fire had broken out in its garden center. 

The fire was eventually contained, after nearly 40 employees were evacuated. Nobody was harmed and the store is still investigating the cause of the fire, though it's believed to have been an accident. 

And now, Greenville Fire/Rescue Battalion Chief David Brown reported that while the Supercenter is once again open, the garden center will remain closed indefinitely.  

There are about three other nearby Walmart stores still open in the Greenville area.