Is Walmart, the biggest U.S. retail chain, closing to in-store shoppers starting Nov. 1?

Viral videos on TikTok and Facebook shared that claim, saying Walmart is taking action ahead of an expected funding lapse for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food assistance to low-income people. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, said benefits will stop Nov. 1, potentially cutting off about 42 million people from the program commonly known as food stamps.

Walmart operates more than 4,500 U.S. stores, excluding Sam’s Club stores. A TikTok user said in an Oct. 22 video that Walmart will lock its doors and allow only online shopping and curbside pickup starting Nov. 1. The person in the video said the stores will reopen in January. The TikTok had 1.1 million views as of Oct. 29.

Many of the posts shared on social media suggested that people had threatened to rob and loot Walmart stores, and that’s why the company would close to in-store shoppers. 

The claims are false, Walmart spokesperson Rodrigo Santos Legaspi said in a phone call to PolitiFact. 

We found no press releases, news reports, social media statements or announcements that Walmart will close Nov. 1. The retail chain promoted in-store Black Friday deals that begin Nov. 14 in an Oct. 27 press release. 

SNAP shoppers patronized Walmart more than any other grocery retailer, with 94.4% of them buying from the store in the past year, according to September figures from the data company Numerator. SNAP shoppers’ Walmart purchases amounted to 26.1% of the group’s annual grocery spend, the highest among retailers.

It is not clear where the rumor originated. The Oct. 22 TikTok video was one of the earliest iterations PolitiFact found, and since then, several videos with fake headlines and news reports have repeated the claim. 

The rumor that Walmart is closing to in-store shoppers Nov. 1 is unfounded. We rate that Pants on Fire! ​