Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores

[Zayre88]

5300 Salem Avenue, Trotwood, OH

[retailisking]

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20121026/NEWS01/310260022/Zanesville-Sears-store-close-early-2013-67-lose-jobs

[d_fife]

kmart in streator http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=464965   WE NEED Kmart to make a comeback.

[d_fife]

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/13/sears-to-close-kmart-store-in-oak-hill-in/

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

Does anybody know how many stores it is that they have left to close until they reach their total of 120 stores? I am only asking this because I do not want to lose any of the three stores that I have in my area along with a Super Kmart Center that is about an hour and a half from me. Any information would be great.

[Zayre88]

Does anybody know how many stores it is that they have left to close until they reach their total of 120 stores? I am only asking this because I do not want to lose any of the three stores that I have in my area along with a Super Kmart Center that is about an hour and a half from me. Any information would be great.

I don't know but at least 7 have closed since October (posted in this page only!) and I'm note sure they were even in the list...

[d_fife]

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20121114/NEWS/311140076/Kmart-Tunnel-Road-close?odyssey=nav|head

[retailisking]

Now we know why they're still closing stores...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/15/sears-earnings-down/1707583/

[d_fife]

http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_local-kmart-close-its-doors-26294.shtml

[d_fife]

http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_local-kmart-close-its-doors-26294.shtml

http://www.theherald-nc.com/2012/11/18/25166/kmart-closing-west-smithfield.html

this was a 40,000 sq.ft Kmart and a tiny one! a WAlmart was near.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

Now we know why they're still closing stores...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/15/sears-earnings-down/1707583/

What part/quarter of this year did the $500 million loss come from as posted in this link? Does anybody know this at all? Not only that, how can their losses be this big when they have closed as many stores as they have since the beginning of this year which should be in the long run increasing their revenue by quite a lot?

[Zayre88]

Kmart closing S. Monaco store in Denver
Denver Business Journal

Date: Monday, November 19, 2012, 12:46pm MST

The national retailer has begun liquidating its stock at its 2150 S. Monaco Street Parkway location, in southeast Denver.
The store is expected to close in January.

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/11/19/kmart-closing-s-monaco-store-in-denver.html

[XDeSuEhTX]

I'm just wanting to do a little rumour control. Someone just told me that the entire chain has confirmed GOB and will be closing all stores. Any truth to this?

[CTAmeshopper]

I'm just wanting to do a little rumour control. Someone just told me that the entire chain has confirmed GOB and will be closing all stores. Any truth to this?

I hope not, the world would be a little sadder without Kmart and Sears... :'(

I guess I could get used to it however it would suck.

BTW who told you this?

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

I'm just wanting to do a little rumour control. Someone just told me that the entire chain has confirmed GOB and will be closing all stores. Any truth to this?

Does anybody know whether or not this rumor is true? I hope and pray that it is not. I love Kmart. It is the last discount department store that I will shop at since the takeover of Hills in 1998 and the bankruptcy of Ames in 2002. Any information would be great.

[Kmart4life]

I think it is a rumor because it would be all over the internet if it happened. :o

[retailisking]

No more Kmarts are being built, and they are closing as the leases run out. Kmart has been going out of business for years and will continue to go out of business until all of them are closed, but it will be the orderly process that has been going on all along. Liquidating all of them at once wouldn't make business sense as the leases would continue to have to be paid on the dark stores unless SHLD went bankrupt which I don't see happening.

[TRU7536]

When was the last time Kmart opened a new store? Must have been years! Expect once these older locations leases expire, they will close.

[AmesNewington]

When was the last time Kmart opened a new store? Must have been years! Expect once these older locations leases expire, they will close.

What is the point of running a business and advertising if you know your company has no chance of surviving? They have the Shop Your Way Rewards program and promote free Layaway and continue to run these crazy promotions...and for what? Just to go out of business anyway?

[Zayre88]

I'm just wanting to do a little rumour control. Someone just told me that the entire chain has confirmed GOB and will be closing all stores. Any truth to this?

Does anybody know whether or not this rumor is true? I hope and pray that it is not. I love Kmart. It is the last discount department store that I will shop at since the takeover of Hills in 1998 and the bankruptcy of Ames in 2002. Any information would be great.

Don't know if it is true but it is plausible.  Kmart as we all know, has been downsizing for years, closing stores, trying new logos, new color schemes, new concepts, new promotions.... but sales are down, same-store-sales are down, the stores are run down.... nothing's up at Kmart although they appear to be busier.

Kmart is the Borders of book stores, they're the Linens'nThings of bed & bath stores, they're the Circuit City of electronics stores.  There is just no room anymore for 3 large-scale discount store chains.

Kmart is a distant 3rd, stores are too old, too small and prices are not competitive compared to Walmart and Target.

If they close it will not be a surprise unfortunately.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

At least Kmart still has a wide variety of American made products. Everything at Wal*Mart is foreign made and very cheap. As a consumer I would go to Kmart. You get a better made product that is built to last. You may have to pay a little extra money for it at Kmart, whereas if you were to purchase it from Wal*Mart it would break and you would have to keep replacing it wasting your hard earned money. Having said that, that is why I prefer to shop at Kmart.

[XDeSuEhTX]

Alright, I believe I found the source of the rumor posted the other day. It was just a projection based on the fact that a local store is in fact closing by January. Interestingly, this was NOT a store that was on "the list" posted late last year. So really, any store is fair game these days. But a full scale GOB is not yet in the works.

The store to close is the second closest location to me, Oak Hill, WV. http://www.woay.com/News.aspx?nid=5313

What is interesting is that an employee who actually works there, said that their lease on the building was good until 2016. So this is NOT matter of winding down an old store as the lease runs out, it really does seem like they're erratically shedding stores at this point with no official announcements until the last second. In fact, this was probably THE nicest Kmart I've ever been to. It was built in the early 1990s and is quite big, bright, nice and attractive, but like most other Kmart stores, always dead for business. I might go snap a couple photos before it's gone.

I really think Kmart is truly doomed. A few years ago, I would have said maybe there was a chance for some sort of a comeback, but now I'm sad to say I think they're toast.

[Zayre88]

Kmart faces a dilemma like Zellers in Canada.  Since the arrival of Walmart, Zellers only downsized, they tried various strategies, changed slogans and so on.

In the end it was clear that Zellers would have closed more store and went out of business.  They decided to sell instead of doing like Kmart and slowly bleed to death.

Kmart is just squeezed between Walmart and Target.  There is no more room for Kmart in 2013.  Most Kmart stores are old, too small, they're outdated, they have the same style they had in 2005, 2000, 1995....  They can try all they want, it's over for that brand.  Too late....

[XDeSuEhTX]

Kmart faces a dilemma like Zellers in Canada.  Since the arrival of Walmart, Zellers only downsized, they tried various strategies, changed slogans and so on.

In the end it was clear that Zellers would have closed more store and went out of business.  They decided to sell instead of doing like Kmart and slowly bleed to death.

Kmart is just squeezed between Walmart and Target.  There is no more room for Kmart in 2013.  Most Kmart stores are old, too small, they're outdated, they have the same style they had in 2005, 2000, 1995....  They can try all they want, it's over for that brand.  Too late....

One factor that is often forgotten is the amount of online shopping that is now done, I think it has significantly cut into the "second tier" discount market. So really, Kmart's competition goes far beyond just Walmart or Target. It's really not so much a fault of their own, as it is the average consumer being more and more content with mediocrity so long as it's had at a cheap price. The only way to have saved the brand would be a radical restructuring, and an entirely new approach that challenges conventional stores like their competitors (think Amazon shopping meets Walmart). So little of what they've tried is different from what they've always done. A repainting or slogan change doesn't bring business back. They need to think more 21st century moving forward, but I doubt they have the money for that kind of turnaround.

I would rather see Kmart sell to Target than all of the locations disappear. But I don't think Target would be interested, it would probably hurt them more than anything. Target is not without it's own struggle these days.

[Zayre88]

Good point about the online factor XDeSuEhTX.

Target will also not want Kmart locations.  Most of the Kmart stores opened decades ago in thriving malls and shipping centers, or in free standing buildings in thriving areas.

Today these locations are much less attractive.  A lot of these sites have been eclipsed by newer shopping centers, big box shopping centers and modern retail development elsewhere in these towns.

Even if Kmart puts millions in their stores, they still are in sites that were prime in the 70's but not anymore in 2013...

[XDeSuEhTX]

Good point about the online factor XDeSuEhTX.

Target will also not want Kmart locations.  Most of the Kmart stores opened decades ago in thriving malls and shipping centers, or in free standing buildings in thriving areas.

Today these locations are much less attractive.  A lot of these sites have been eclipsed by newer shopping centers, big box shopping centers and modern retail development elsewhere in these towns.

Even if Kmart puts millions in their stores, they still are in sites that were prime in the 70's but not anymore in 2013...

Well, not every Kmart location fits that stereotype. In fact a lot of the late Kmart builds between 1990 and 1995 are nice, large stores in plazas that are not so old, and tend to be successfully rehabilitated after Kmart bails. These stores could be ideal for Target in markets where they are not looking to invest in a new build themselves.

[Zayre88]

Good point about the online factor XDeSuEhTX.

Target will also not want Kmart locations.  Most of the Kmart stores opened decades ago in thriving malls and shipping centers, or in free standing buildings in thriving areas.

Today these locations are much less attractive.  A lot of these sites have been eclipsed by newer shopping centers, big box shopping centers and modern retail development elsewhere in these towns.

Even if Kmart puts millions in their stores, they still are in sites that were prime in the 70's but not anymore in 2013...

Well, not every Kmart location fits that stereotype. In fact a lot of the late Kmart builds between 1990 and 1995 are nice, large stores in plazas that are not so old, and tend to be successfully rehabilitated after Kmart bails. These stores could be ideal for Target in markets where they are not looking to invest in a new build themselves.

Correct.  The 1990s Kmart are nicer and more modern and better located.

[ynkeesfn82]

It all depends on how well the building was kept up. The KMART in Southington, CT was built in the early 1970s and closed in 2002. After extensive renovations it became a massive Price Chopper in 2004. From the outside in places it still looks like KMART.

I don't see anything moving into the Waterbury, CT store should it close. The whole plaza is run-down. There's KMART, Modell's, Jo-ann's and a Daycare Center that takes up 5 store fronts. Perhaps Joann's and Modell's can move into Walmart Plaza across the street then bulldoze the whole plaza and put up a Sam's Club. There were rumors Walmart was going to move to the other end of Waterbury near the new Kohl's and turn their Wolcott Street store into a Sam's Club. Of course if they remodel the whole plaza perhaps they can divide up the KMART space and put in a Dick's Sporting Goods and a couple other stores. Dick's isn't in Waterbury.

The Plainville, CT KMART, which opened in the late 1990s and closed in 2003 was divided into DSW, DICK's, and PETSMART,

[Zayre88]

Peters Creek Kmart closing

Posted: Tuesday, January 1, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 8:44 pm, Mon Dec 31, 2012.
Fran Daniel/Winston-Salem Journal
Sears Holdings Corp. will close its Kmart store on Peters Creek Parkway in mid-March.
Chris Brathwaite, a spokesman for Sears Holdings, said that the store’s 69 employees were told of the closing Monday.

The store, which opened in 1978, will start liquidation sales Jan. 13.

http://www.journalnow.com/business/business_news/local/article_eee2e2d4-53a8-11e2-9925-001a4bcf6878.html

[retailisking]

Sears' CEO is out, ostensibly for family health reasons...hmm...actually, Sears US stores did reasonably well this holiday season...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/us-sears-shares-idUSBRE9070MI20130108