BENTONVILLE, Ark.—The Sam’s Club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT: NYSE) said last week that it was closing 63 of its stores in the U.S. However, it will convert up to 12 of the clubs slated to close to “eCommerce fulfillment centers,” according to the announcement. The move “will speed delivery of online orders,” Wal-Mart said. Following the closings, Sam’s will operate 597 clubs in the U.S. The company could not be reached to provide details on how many of the 63 clubs that are closing had optical departments.

As VMAIL reported, Sam’s Clubs operated an estimated 575 optical departments across the U.S. at the end of 2016. As a combined entity, Sam’s Clubs and Wal-Mart ranked as the No. 3 optical retailer in the U.S. market, according to Vision Monday’s most recent Top 50 U.S. Optical Retailers report.

Wal-Mart said the decision to close Sam’s units was “taken after a thorough performance review.”

John Furner, president and CEO of Sam’s Club, said in the announcement that Sam’s plans to transform its business “means managing our real estate portfolio and Wal-Mart needs a strong fleet of Sam’s Clubs that are fit for the future. We know this is difficult news for our associates and we are working to place as many of them as possible at nearby locations. Our focus today has been on those associates and their communities, and communicating with them.”

The first of these converted eCommerce fulfillment centers will be located in Memphis, Tenn., according to the announcement. Walmart also said it will provide support and resources to associates who are affected.