Sears closing 80 more stores in March as it faces possible liquidation

[Applewood]

Sears closing 80 more stores in March as it faces possible liquidation

Sears plans to close 80 more stores across the U.S. in March, as the bankrupt retailer may be forced to liquidate its business entirely, CNBC has learned.

The department store operator told employees Thursday that it plans to shut another round of Kmart and Sears stores next year, in addition to those that are already in the process of going dark. When Sears filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 15, it was still operating a little under 700 stores. At that time, the company said it would close 142 unprofitable stores. In November, it announced the closure of 40 additional stores.

Sears told workers this week that it expects to begin liquidation sales at the 80 stores (addresses listed below) in two weeks. The accompanying Sears Auto Centers will also be shut.

More at:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/28/sears-closing-80-more-stores-in-march-faces-possible-liquidation.html

[Applewood]

The list:

Kmart, 7055 East Broadway, Tucson, AZ
Kmart, 2180 E Mariposa Rd, Stockton, CA
Kmart, 20777 Bear Valley Rd, Apple Valley, CA
Kmart, 1000 San Fernando Rd, Burbank, CA
Kmart, 2875 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria, CA
Kmart, 2505 Bell Rd, Auburn, CA
Kmart, 295 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT
Kmart, 200 Irwin Ne Fort, Walton Beach, FL
Kmart, 6126 Hwy 301, Ellenton, FL
Kmart, 11 Sherwood Square, Peru, IN
Kmart, 2940 Veterans Blvd, Metairie, LA
Kmart, 8980 Waltham Woods Rd, Baltimore, MD
Kmart, 201 Ninth St, S E Rochester, MN
Kmart, 155 Twin City Mall, Crystal City, MO
Kmart, 12057 Highway 49 Delmar Plaza, Gulfport, MS
Kmart, 980 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC
Kmart, 110 112 Bost Rd, Morganton, NC
Kmart, 4841 Arendell St, Morehead City, NC
Kmart, 1900 S Washington St, Grand Forks, ND
Kmart, 1515 W 3 Rd, Alliance, NE
Kmart, 213 Highway 37, E Toms River, NJ
Kmart, 1705 S Main St, Roswell, NM
Kmart, 308 Dix Avenue, Queensbury, NY
Kmart, 1020 Center Street Grand Central Plaza, Horseheads, NY
Kmart, 121 Bolivar Road, Wellsville, NY
Kmart, 1251 State Rte 29 Ste 1O Greenwich Plaza, Greenwich, NY
Kmart, 7701 Broadview Road, Cleveland, OH
Kmart, 620 Plaza Dr, Fostoria, OH
Kmart, 400 N East Circle Blvd, Corvallis, OR
Kmart, 996 West View Park Drive, Pittsburgh, PA
Kmart, 2873 W 26th Street, Erie, PA
Kmart, 1143 Broad St, Sumter, SC
Kmart, 1111 E North St, Rapid City, SD
Kmart, 1805 E Stone Dr, Kingsport, TN
Kmart, 217 Forks Of River Pkwy, Sevierville, TN
Kmart, 4110 E Sprague Ave, Spokane, WA
Kmart, 1450 Summit Avenue, Oconomowoc, WI
Sears*, 2050 Southgate Rd, Colorado Spgs, CO
Sears*, 1650 Briargate Blvd, Colorado Spgs, CO
Sears*, 3201 Dillon Dr, Pueblo, CO
Sears, 1700 W Intl Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL
Sears*, 1500 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, FL
Sears*, 347 Westshore Plz, Tampa, FL
Sears*, 1441 Tamiami Trl Pt, Charlotte, FL
Sears*, 9409 Us Highway 19 N Ste 101, Port Richey, FL
Sears*, 150 Pearl Nix Pkwy, Gainesville, GA
Sears*, 4480 Sergeant Rd, Sioux City, IA
Sears*, 235 Saint Clair Sq, Fairview Hts, IL
Sears*, 7200 Harrison Ave, Cherry Valley, IL
Sears*, 7700 E Kellogg Dr, Wichita, KS
Sears, 4400 Veterans Mem Blvd, Metairie, LA
Sears*, 2306 N Salisbury Blvd, Salisbury, MD
Sears*, 5500 Harvey St, Muskegon, MI
Sears, 27600 Novi Rd, Novi, MI
Sears, 2000 N E Court, Bloomington, MN
Sears*, 1620 Guess Rd, Durham, NC
Sears*, The Streets Of Southpoint, Durham, NC
Sears*, 7424 Dodge St, Omaha, NE
Sears*, 6400 O St, Lincoln, NE
Sears*, 3450 S Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV
Sears*, 10 Miracle Mile Dr, Rochester, NY
Sears, 5053 Tuttle Crossing Blvd, Columbus, OH
Sears*, 1400 Polaris Pkwy, Columbus, OH
Sears*, 1475 Upper Valley Pike, Springfield, OH
Sears*, 501 Medford Ctr, Medford, OR
Sears*, 200 Park City Ctr, Lancaster, PA
Sears*, 5256 Route 30, Greensburg, PA
Sears*, 5580 Goods Lane Ste 1005, Altoona, PA
Sears, 1000 Rivergate Pkwy, Goodlettsvlle, TN
Sears, 2021 N Highland Ave, Jackson, TN
Sears*, 201 S Plano Rd, Richardson, TX
Sears*, 4310 Buffalo Gap Rd, Abilene, TX
Sears*, 851 N Central Expwy, Plano, TX
Sears*, 6001 W Waco Dr, Waco, TX
Sears*, 7701 1-40 W Ste 400, Amarillo, TX
Sears*, 2100 S W S Young Dr, Killeen, TX
Sears, 3100 Highway 365, Port Arthur, TX
Sears*, 1531 Rio Rd, E Charlottesville, VA
Sears*, 1321 N Columbia Center Blvd Suite 455, Kennewick, WA
Sears, 4301 W Wisconsin Ave, Appleton, WI

*Sears Auto Center at the property set to close in late January

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Weird. I drove by the Sears at Westshore today (something I very rarely do) and wondered if they were still open, while admiring the graffiti on the boarded up Sports Authority across the street.

[mountaineer]

I receive advertising from Sears, but really would have to drive quite a distance to find one, as the local ones are all kaput.

[jmyrlefuller]

What changed between the last round of closures, which was only a few weeks ago, and now? If they aren't considered viable now, why were they considered viable a few weeks ago? Has the market changed that much? I don't think so.

[Smokin Joe]

I receive advertising from Sears, but really would have to drive quite a distance to find one, as the local ones are all kaput.

If they'd sold appliances at the local one (instead of sending us to one 130 miles away) they'd have done a land office business during the oil boom in these parts, as a town of 14K tripled in size. They'd have sold us a fridge, for certain. Stupid decisions make for closed businesses.

[Elderberry]

We still have 2 Sears stores and a repair warehouse in town. The Pasadena store was built in 1940. I miss that they closed the hardware store that was so close to me. And their employees even were knowledgeable about hardware. I recently went to an ACE Hardware needing pop rivets and had to go thru 4 employees before I found one that even knew what I was talking about.

[Applewood]

What changed between the last round of closures, which was only a few weeks ago, and now? If they aren't considered viable now, why were they considered viable a few weeks ago? Has the market changed that much? I don't think so.

I don't know.  The CEO, Eddie Lampert, has  bid to buy the bankrupt parent, Sears Holdings through his hedge fund and supposedly wants to keep the remaining stores open.  That's funny because according to some, his poor decisions at the helm of the company caused or contributed to Sears' demise.  He was supposed to be the white knight to come in and save Sears, but I think he was doing what Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was accused of --buying companies, running them into the ground and then making money by selling off their assets.

[Smokin Joe]

I don't know.  The CEO, Eddie Lampert, has  bid to buy the bankrupt parent, Sears Holdings through his hedge fund and supposedly wants to keep the remaining stores open.  That's funny because according to some, his poor decisions at the helm of the company caused or contributed to Sears' demise.  He was supposed to be the white knight to come in and save Sears, but I think he was doing what Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was accused of --buying companies, running them into the ground and then making money by selling off their assets.

With brick and mortar falling to online shopping, it is likely that the real estate occupied by those closed stores has great development/profit potential.

[Applewood]

With brick and mortar falling to online shopping, it is likely that the real estate occupied by those closed stores has great development/profit potential.

Well, in my neck of the woods, the Sears stores were all in malls, so I don't think that would apply.  Kmarts maybe.  The Kmart closing across town from me is in a shopping center.  But a number of Kmarts that were here were stand alones.  The stand alones might have some real estate value. 

[Oceander]

What changed between the last round of closures, which was only a few weeks ago, and now? If they aren't considered viable now, why were they considered viable a few weeks ago? Has the market changed that much? I don't think so.

Yah, it’s all one big conspiracy.  Why don’t you go read the bankruptcy filings first before spouting nonsense. 

[jmyrlefuller]

Yah, it’s all one big conspiracy.  Why don’t you go read the bankruptcy filings first before spouting nonsense.

No one said anything about a conspiracy. Lay off, sheesh.

Eddie Lampert mismanaging a major retail chain is not a conspiracy.

[kevindavis007]

I don't know.  The CEO, Eddie Lampert, has  bid to buy the bankrupt parent, Sears Holdings through his hedge fund and supposedly wants to keep the remaining stores open.  That's funny because according to some, his poor decisions at the helm of the company caused or contributed to Sears' demise.  He was supposed to be the white knight to come in and save Sears, but I think he was doing what Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was accused of --buying companies, running them into the ground and then making money by selling off their assets.

People like Mitt don't run companies into the ground on purpose. What they do is come in, get rid of what is bad and if possible sell the company for a profit.

[jmyrlefuller]

Kmart, 121 Bolivar Road, Wellsville, NY

This was one I just noticed in the local reports today. This is a troubling one.

Wellsville doesn't have any other department stores. There's been talk of a Walmart but they've never actually built one. It was long thought that this Kmart was safe because of that. No competition meant it had most of the county to itself. Now they have nothing.

Dollar General, here we come.

http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/news/20181230/local-officials-lament-loss-of-wellsville-kmart

[Applewood]

This was one I just noticed in the local reports today. This is a troubling one.

Wellsville doesn't have any other department stores. There's been talk of a Walmart but they've never actually built one. It was long thought that this Kmart was safe because of that. No competition meant it had most of the county to itself. Now they have nothing.

Dollar General, here we come.

http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/news/20181230/local-officials-lament-loss-of-wellsville-kmart

I don't think being the only store of its kind is a guarantee that it will stay open.  I used to go to a Kmart across town.  In that particular neighborhood, Kmart was the only discount store.  But over the last few years, every time I visited that store, it was dead.  I mean DEAD!  No customers and maybe one or two employees at the most.   Every time a new list of Sears/Kmart closures was announced, I expected to see that store on the list.  How it lasted through so many previous closures, I don't know.

If people aren't shopping at a particular store, the store is not making any money.  It's only prudent to close the unprofitable stores and keep the profitable ones.   Allegedly, that is what Lampert plans to do.  But honestly, I don't know that any Sears/Kmart store is profitable these days.  I suspect they will all close and Lampert will sell off the assets.

[Fishrrman]

jmyrle wrote:
"Wellsville doesn't have any other department stores. There's been talk of a Walmart but they've never actually built one"

Some years ago, we had two department store chains go out of business here in Connecticut: Caldor's and Bradlees.

The buildings stood empty for a few years, but then Walmart (which wasn't in CT at the time) moved in and took over the empty space. They're thriving in all of them today.

Perhaps that will happen up in Wellsville -- lower "cost of entry" than building from scratch.
(I remember making qualifying trips on Conrail through Wellsville back in early 1988...)