Good news, bad news Walmart changes create 380 retail jobs, Saks closing jeopardizes 100

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Walmart said Tuesday it is bringing new 380 jobs to New Jersey with the building of an East Brunswick store and the expansion of the discount retailer’s Manville location.However, the state could lose more than 100 retail jobs with the closing of the Saks Fifth Avenue store at The Shops at Riverside mall in Hackensack, announced Monday.

The Wednesday opening of Walmart’s new 148,000-square-foot store at 290 State Route 18 in East Brunswick will provide 300 New Jerseyans with full- and part-time associate jobs, the company said in a news release. Meanwhile, the newly expanded Manville store at 100 N. Main St. will celebrate its reopening the same day. The expansion of the store to 125,000 total square feet should increase the associate ranks by approximately 80 full- and part-time positions.

Both stores will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Walmart said.

Their new hires will bolster the 760 jobs Walmart has added in New Jersey this year, the company added.

Not all the news from the retail sector was good, however.

Saks Fifth Avenue, which has been in operation at its Hackensack location since 1977, will be closing at the end of the year, according to a published report.

The Record newspaper said the 100,000-square-foot store’s 105 workers would be transferred or given severance packages.

Saks also issued a state-mandated WARN notice that 94 jobs in Hackensack would be affected as of Jan. 24. WARN notices normally cover mass layoffs or facility closings as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1989.

Saks will continue to operate its Short Hills location, the Record said.

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