Sears, Kmart to close an additional 72 stores in 2017, per report

abc15.com ^ | Jun 6, 2017 | Justin Boggs

[rdl6989]

Business Insider, citing an internal memo, reported on Tuesday that Sears is planning to close 72 additional stores this year, in addition to 180 locations the company had previously announced it would close this year.

According to Business Insider, the company will shutter 16 Sears locations, 49 Kmart stores and seven auto centers. The report indicates that a majority of the 72 stores will close in September.

[circlecity]

Stick a fork in Sears.

[Principled]

Too bad - i really liked Sears for appliances and machinery. My Craftsmen lawn mower is 16 years old now. I pay about $50 a year on tune-up/maintenance and they always do a fantastic job.

Home Depot appliances are generally plastic and break. And then they don’t fix it. Have to hire a repairman and that’s not cheap. FWIW the repair people like Sears appliances but are thankful for Home Depot for all the money they make on repairs.

[stars & stripes forever]

Another lesson on what happens when succeeding generations don’t heed the values the founder of the company espoused.

[pepsionice]

I spent twenty of the past thirty years....living out side of the US. I can remember in my teens (late 1970s) that Sears was the place to go and shop. Around the late 1990s...I was on a trip back to my home-town and stopped around at the Sears....kinda shocked that it was virtually empty. My brother noted that people only go and shop on weekends (that was his explanation).

Around three years ago, I was back at the old Sears again. No one in the entire store at 4PM on a Friday afternoon. I was the single customer. I asked the clerk about this and she said that it was only a matter of time that they folded up this operation and ended it. She blamed the internet and the selection of clothing that Sears was marketing...it was either for the 15-to-18 year old or the 65-to-85 year old. Nothing for regular customers.

[Red Badger]

Here’s a list of the closing stores, which was obtained by Business Insider.

Sears

Chico, CA, store 2048
Dalton, GA, store 2615
Biloxi, MS, store 2256
Asheboro, NC, store 2645
Minot, ND, store 2152
Vineland, NJ, store 2374
Columbus, OH, store 1150
Elyria, OH, store 1310
Columbus, OH, store 1370
Franklin, OH, store 2940
Midwest City, OK, store 1261
Richmond, VA, store 1445
Columbia, SC, store 1525
Texarkana, TX, store 2567
Sherman, TX, store 2627
St. George, UT, store 2220

Kmart

Dothan, AL, store 3082
Muscle Shoals, AL, store 7045
Little Rock, AR, store 3120
Bullhead City (Riviera), AZ, store 3375
Blythe, CA, store 3881
Sacramento, CA, store 4117
Manteca, CA, store 4862
Fort Oglethorpe, GA, store 3083
Calhoun, GA, store 9625
Iowa City, IA, store 4315
Marshalltown, IA, store 7583
Mishawaka, IN, store 4152
Newburyport, MA, store 9147
Elkton, MD, store 9524
Traverse City, MI, store 3009
West Branch, MI, store 3864
Cheboygan, MI, store 9245
Mantua, NJ, store 3060
Manahawkin, NJ, store 3641
Las Cruces, NM, store 3682
Alamogordo, NM, store 9119
Las Vegas, NV, store 3680
Henderson, NV, store 3857
Sparks, NV, store 4151
Liverpool, NY, store 3352
Malone, NY, store 3943
Cortland, NY, store 7134
Watertown, NY, store 7432
Wooster, OH, store 4875
Streetsboro, OH, store 9676
Tulsa, OK, store 4473
Roseburg, OR, store 7580
Butler, PA, store 4771
Belle Vernon, PA, store 7120
Indiana, PA, store 7217
Summerville, SC, store 3606
Seneca, SC, store 9320
Madison, TN, store 4093
Johnson City, TN, store 7353
El Paso, TX, store 3491
El Paso, TX, store 7347
Spanish Fork, UT, store 7425
Virginia Beach, VA, store 3560
Virginia Beach, VA, store 3801
West Allis, WI, store 3618
La Crosse, WI, store 4089
Medford, WI, store 7656
Lewisburg, WV, store 7582
Sheridan, WY, store 9074

Sears Auto Center

Elyria, OH, store 6060
Midwest City, OK, store 6509
Columbia, SC, store 6013
Texarkana, TX, store 6739
Sherman, TX, store 6929
St. George, UT, store 2653
Richmond, VA, store 7505

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Stick a fork in Sears.

The only thing that has been propping up Sears for years is their vast real estate holdings, I think. And with the downturn on the retail economy, even that may be faltering...

[adorno]

Sears' stock price peaked at $191 a share in 2007, but its value dropped quickly in 2008

The deep recession of 2007-2008 taught people a lesson, and that is to be frugal and practical. Keep their cars longer, and keep their household goods longer, and their clothing and shoes longer. The brick-and-mortar stores, which saw increases in sales as home values went through the roof, were some of the businesses to suffer the worst consequences.

As evidenced by the year of when Sears started going downhill, it was not the "Amazon effect" that started doing them in. It was the foolishness of government intervention into the free-market system, with their stupid mortgages for everybody stupidity that brought down the economy and big banks and big businesses.

Lessons learned, and no matter how robustly the economy rebounds, people will keep those lesson in mind for the long-run.

[rdl6989]

Thank you.

[rlmorel]

"...with their stupid mortgages for everybody stupidity ..."

Hear, hear. But I fear they haven't learned any lessons from that. Damn it.

[Shark24]

I love shopping at our local Kmart. It is like having the whole store to myself....quick check out too!

[Secret Agent Man]

More attempts at delaying the inevitable.

[brucedickinson]

wow their stock went from 191$ in 2007 to 6$ last Tuesday. Holy crap

[Secret Agent Man]

Home depot carries multiple lines of tool makers. Milwaukee and DeWalt rank high to match their price tags, and ryobi has improved.

[rdl6989]

Yes, I’ve had the same thought. I never have trouble finding a parking spot at Kmart.

[JenB987]

All the K-Marts I have been to have check out lanes only wide enough to squeeze the buggy through. I don’t understand it.

[JimRed]

IBTFTF

In Before The First Trump’s Fault.

[sheana]

We had one not far from us and I too shopped there for the same reason. Beat going to Walmart all the way. It closed and I really miss it. I could park by the front door and run in and out.

[Kay Ludlow]

As I recall from maybe 20 years ago when our local K-Mart closed, they have the employees ship everything that's still in demand to other stores, and have other stores ship all their slow and clearance items to the closing store. People will by anything when it gets to 80% off...

[Hostage]

I’d like to see them survive and thrive, and eat Amazon’s lunch.

It’s too bad they didn’t receive a $600 million CIA contract like Amazon received for ‘Cloud Services’, part of which was used by Bezos to purchase the failing WAPO.

I would love to see a conservative Captain of Industry buy up Sears/Kmart and turn them around to be the go-to place for everything. They certainly have the infrastructure, just not the web presence, but that can be worked out.