“We made a decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

19 October 2012, as I warned, Sears/Kmart continues to close stores simply by not renewing their leases.

Residents of Kelso, Washington, learned on 17 October that the Sears in their local mall is going away in January.

Kelso’s Three Rivers Mall isn’t doing so well anyway, but dedicated mall walkers are upset by the Sears announcement: “We’re worried about foot traffic going down…..I just worry that we won’t be here in a few years.”-unnamed store manager

The owners of the mall said they knew about the Sears closing before the official announcement: “The Sears closure is something we anticipated some time ago and as a result are working with a number of exciting retailers…”-Rouse Properties statement

Pennsylvania is learning of another Sears closing.  On 17 October the local media revealed that the Sears at Penn Center East, in Wilkins, will not renew its lease, resulting in 135 people losing their jobs by January 2013.  Wilkins Township commissioners swear a new WalMart will take its place.

In Virginia, the new owners of the Liberty Fair Mall announced they will allow a “homegrown” store to fill the void left by the outgoing Sears.  I worked for mall owners J Price Realty before the Pine Ridge Mall (in Chubbuck, Idaho) was sold to General Growth Properties (and they contracted out almost all our jobs), and one policy was that the big ‘anchor’ stores had to be national chain stores.  So, for a mall owner to allow a “homegrown” local shop in as an anchor store is a sign of trouble.

I’ve seen it here at the Pine Ridge Mall, when General Growth Properties (who actually had a policy that all the stores in the mall had to be national chain stores) went back on their own policy, stopping their ‘eviction’ of local stores (they were evicting local mom & pop stores by jacking up rents to astronomical levels, I saw the official corporate order from Chicago which had been left in plain view on the mall office copy machine) and even allowed local stores to temporarily occupy the empty Macy’s anchor store.

To try and raise money, Sears has spunoff its Sears Hometown, and Outlet Stores as separately traded stocks.  The move made Sears Holdings (aka Hoffman Estates) $446.5 million USD, according to the Washington Post.   Yet store closings continue.

In another move to try and generate revenue, Sears and General Electric signed a deal to sell GE’s Brillion Connected Home Solutions products.  (yet another connection to the too Big to Fails, three former GE execs just got sent to prison for ripping off U.S. taxpayers)

On 18 October, residents of Freeport, Illinois, learned that Kmart will go away in January 2013: “We made a business decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

Notice the above statement from Brathwaite is the very same statement made concerning the Three Rivers Mall in Washington!  Like I keep saying; what economic recovery? “It’s just an indication that we haven’t gotten to that point in terms of economic recovery that there is consumer confidence and people are willing to go out and spend…”-David Young, Northwest Illinois Development Alliance

Brathwaite made the very same announcement concerning the Pontiac, Illinois, Kmart on 13 October:  “We made the announcement to Pontiac associates on Wednesday.  It was a business decision to not renew our lease.”    (it’s now obvious this Brathwaite is a robot, cause he says the same thing at every announced closing, just insert name of town and how many people will lose their jobs)

In California, the Kmart in the DVC Plaza in Pleasant Hill (near Oakland) will close after 40 years in business.  The lease will not be renewed, more than 50 employees will be laid off.

In Colorado, about 52 employees will be out of work after the lease expires for the Kmart at Pueblos’ South Side.  The store has been there since 1974.

74 Kmart employees just learned they will be unemployed by January 2013, because the lease for the Cartersville, Georgia, store was not renewed.

52 people will lose their jobs when the Woodhaven, Michigan, Kmart closes on 13 January 2012.

In New Jersey, about 80 people will be unemployed when the Lawnside Kmart closes in January.  The same announcement came from Sears Holdings, but actually from a different person: “The lease is not being renewed at that location.”-Kim Freely, Sears holdings

It seems the owners of Sears/Kmart (Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates/and don’t forget the Mitt Romney/Bain Capital/Carlyle group connection) are shifting Kmart’s focus to female Spanish speaking customers.  On 18 October it was published that Hoffman Estates will pick five Latinas for a 10 week paid internship at their Illinois headquarters. It’s called the Latina Smart program.

Here’s an updated list of Sears/Kmart closings:

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart, Mobile Sears Grand/Essentials, Auburn Kmart.

California:   El Monte Sears Grand/Essentials, two San Diego Sears Grand/Essentials, recently revealed Pleasant Hill Kmart.

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart, Glenwood Springs Kmart, Lone Tree Sears Great Indoors, Longmont Sears, recently revealed Pueblos’ South Side Kmart.

Georgia: Macon Sears, Buford Kmart, Douglasville Kmart, Atlanta Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Jonesboro Kmart, recently revealed Cartersville Kmart.

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart, Callaway Kmart, Orange City Kmart,  Deland Sears Grand/Essentials, Stuart Sears Grand/Essentials, West Palm Beach Sears Grand/Essentials, Port St. Lucie Sears Grand/Essentials, Crystal River Sears, New Smyrna Beach Kmart, St. Augustine Kmart, Pompano Beach Kmart, and recently revealed Jacksonville Kmart.

Idaho: Lewiston Sears.

Indiana:  Anderson Sears Full Line, Saint John Kmart, Indianapolis Kmart.

Illinois: Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center, and recently revealed Freeport and Pontiac Kmarts.

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart, Davenport Kmart, Burlington Kmart.

Kansas: Lawrence Sears Full Line.

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, recently revealed Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears Full line, Moorehead Sears Full line, Rocky Mount Sears Full line, Statesville Sears Full line.

New Jersey: Recently revealed Lawnside Kmart.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears Full line.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, and recently revealed Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears Full line.

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, Morristown Sears Full line.

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart.

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart, and recently revealed Kelso Sears.

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

Don’t forget, this is the 2012 known list of closings, there were closings in 2011 and 2010 as well, and they’ll be more for 2013.

Side note: it seems Sara Palin likes shopping at Kmart.