UPDATE 1-Sam's Club closing 10 stores, 1,500 jobs to be lost

* 1,500 jobs to be lost through store closures

* Will have added 6 clubs, done 52 remodels this fiscal yr

SAN FRANCISCO Jan 11 (Reuters) - Sam's Club, the warehouse club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), said on Monday that its is closing 10 money-losing stores and that 1,500 jobs would be lost.

"In reviewing our current business performance, we have made the difficult decision to close 10 Clubs," said Sam's Club Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell in a note to employees. "Despite the outstanding efforts of our Associates, these Clubs continued to lose money, and we have decided to close them."

The No. 2 U.S. warehouse club operator said it was working to find positions at other Sam's Club or U.S. Walmart stores for employees losing jobs. The company did not specify in the note when the stores would be closed.

Cornell, the former chief executive of Michaels Stores Inc, took the helm at Sam's Club on April 3. At Wal-Mart's meeting for analysts in October, Cornell said that Sam's Club was shifting its focus from opening new clubs to remodeling existing ones as it works to increase sales.

He said the retailer was testing a new store layout, adding more food and drugs to its shelves, and streamlining operations to reduce labor hours in its clubs by 6 percent to 8 percent over the next five years. [ID:nN22541583]

Sam's Club, which operates 594 U.S. stores, said by the end this fiscal year, it would have added 6 clubs and completed 52 remodels.

For its next fiscal year, beginning Feb. 1, it plans to add between 5 and 10 new, expanded or relocated clubs, and remodel between 60 and 80 locations. (Reporting by Nicole Maestri; Editing by Toni Reinhold)