Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, Idaho

“Nobody even knows we’re here!” 1 State, 4-thousand jobs gone after Xmas! : U.S. Banking/Retail/Service sector destruction November 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. retail/banking/service sector job loss announcements and shutdowns for November 2016:

Switzerland based owner of several ‘luxury’ brands sold in the U.S., Compagnie Financière Richemont, eliminating an additional 250 jobs due to crashing sales!  That’s on top of 250 jobs killed since May.

Alabama: Bon Ton Hatters Shoe Repair shutdown after 110 years, the owner simply said “Hats are dead.”  On US280, Rogers Trading Company shutting down after 70 years, so the owner can finally “enjoy life”.  In Selma, after 171 years Butler Truax Jewelers shutdown.

Arkansas: The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) reports that Allied Bank is dead.

 California: Industrial waste mitigator Veolia ES Industrial Services issued a shutdown WARN for their Benicia location, 57 jobs lost before Xmas.  Florist Native Bouquet issued a shutdown WARN for their Oceanside location, 97 jobs gone right after Xmas. In Foster City, Too Big to Jail VISA issued a mass layoff WARN, 213 jobs gone right after Xmas! Opinion surveyer Competitive Edge Research & Communication issued a shutdown WARN for their San Diego ops, 85 jobs gone by mid-January 2017.  God powerless to stop ‘his’ Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) from shutting down a location in Los Angeles, by January 2017. American Apparel issued massive shutdown WARNs for The Golden State, 3-thousand 457 jobs lost right after Xmas! And despite scandalous advertising that some people would call child porno (many ads are much worse than what I’ve posted here), Los Angeles based American Apparel also went bankrupt busted for the second time in 13 months (wouldn’t it be nice if individuals could file bankruptcy that often?)!  Pico Rivera city administrators officially announced that the Home Depot was shutting down within two years, local news media say Home Depot admin refuses to comment. Texas based GolfSmith shutting down their Pleasant Hill golf store, one of 59 being shutdown across the country.  In Santa Barbara, Churchill Jewelers shutting down after 98 years.  In Indio, after ten years the Super Target shutting down by the end of January 2017, 130 jobs lost!  Local news reports say city administrators are now bending over backwards offering Target taxpayer funded incentives to keep the store open.  Barnes & Noble shutting down their Metro Pointe store in Costa Mesa after Xmas, saying it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease.  In San Jose, after 70 years Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods shutting down after Xmas, due to the property being sold to a greedy developer.  In Hanford, after 64 years clothier Van Andel’s shutting down when the inventory is gone.

Connecticut: Marriott hotel and Royal bank of Scotland (RBS) continue to eliminate jobs according to WARN issues.  After less than two years Ace Hardware shutting donw their new store in Bloomfield, due to lack of sales! Ethan Allen Interiors shutdown their store in Norwalk. Ethan Allen Interiors reports a slight increase in nation-wide sales, but a huge drop in profits.  After 65 years A.P. Savage Hardware shutdown in Greeneville: “It’s just been a battle. It just came to a point where the returns are diminishing.”-Michael Howard, store general manager

Florida:  Vehicle auctioneer ADESA issued a shutdown WARN for their Sanford ops, 133 jobs gone four days before Xmas!  Aéropostale shutdown their Melbourne clothing store.  Farmers Insurance eliminating 103 jobs in Broward County, according to a WARN filed with the state!  Stride Rite shutting down their Pembroke Lakes Mall shoe store the day after Xmas.  News reports say it’s the last stand-alone Stirde Rite store in the U.S.  Boca Raton based Office Depot announced 65 store shutdowns by the end of its 4th quarter 2016, as part of its planned 3-hundred store shutdown.

Georgia: The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) reports that Woodbury Banking Company is dead.

Idaho: One year after relocating to Garden City, JoyfulTea suddenly shutdown due to “A series of events…”

Illinois:  What automotive industry recovery?  Charter bus company Megabus issued a layoff WARN, 108 jobs gone by mid-January 2017!  Car parts retailer Ventra Belvidere issued a shutdown WARN, 89 jobs lost two days before Xmas.  In Lincoln Square, after 41 years Griffins & Gargoyles Antiques shutting down so the family owners can find out what else life has to offer, before thay get any older.  In Carbondale, My Favorite Toys store shutting down when the inventory is gone. Lawrence Ventures, the independant operator of the gift shop at the U.S.Army’s second oldest museum (Rock Island Arsenal), says sales are so bad they’re shutting it down. In Galesburg, after 20 years Cherry Street Guitar Company shutdown, the owner took a managment job with a competitor.

Indiana: Furniture buying ‘club’ DirectBuy now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  DirectBuy has been for sale, but no takers.  Now it’s being offered to creditors. In Lafayette, after four years M Power Yoga Studio shutting down sometime in 2017, the owner is planning on going to Africa to teach yoga.

Iowa: In Davenport, jeweler Diamonds on the Avenue shutdown.

Kentucky: After ten years W & M Jewelry shutting down in December.  After 55 years Gross Diamond Company shutdown and the building is for sale.

Louisiana:  In Lafayette, handmade local products retailer Red Arrow Workshop shutdown due to the death of the owner’s spouse (who was also a co-owner).

Maine: In Houlton, after 93 years Town and Country Clothing and Footwear shutting down on Xmas eve, the owner said he wants to get out while he’s still ahead.

Massachusetts: Too Big to Jail Putnam Investments eliminating 115 jobs due to investors taking their money and going somewhere else!  In Great Barrington, underwear shop Bra & Girl shutting down because it “was not financially viable” (maybe it was the name, sounds like you can buy bras and girls?).  Texas based GolfSmith shutting down their Watertown golf store, one of 59 being shutdown across the country.  Washington DC based Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) laid off 55 people and is shutting down their Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable.  This is the result of being $20-million USD in the hole, however don’t blame lack of donations.  The evil executives of HSUS are accused of offshoring millions of dollars from donations, and according to The Washington Post “Generous pet lovers may think they are benefiting their local humane shelters when they give to large national organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). This wouldn’t be a problem if these groups gave most of their revenue to pet shelters. But they don’t. Only about 1 percent of the Humane Society of the United States’ revenue goes to local pet rescues and shelters.”  These revelations comes as Japan based Sanrio helped HSUS meet its fund raising goals for November in California.

Michigan: After 67 years Jackson’s Toy House and Baby Too shutting down after Xmas.  They blame radical changes in the toy industry and the un-recovered economy. Don’t blame the internet, that’s how they made their shutdown announcement.

Minnesota: In Duluth, Northland Party store shutting down after 21 years, the owners ignorantly blame internet competition (they haven’t been reading by tech industry layoff reports).

Mississippi: In Natchez, after 53 years Bernie Pyron’s Furniture shutdown. Local news meida say at one time there were four stores, but the owners say the “last eight or nine years” have been really bad for business.

Montana: In Great Falls, Rogers Jewelers shutting down after more than 40 years, the owner lamented he could have made more money picking huckleberries: “I should have stuck with that. They are $50 to $60 a bucket now, I could have retired years ago.”-Daryl Rogers

Nebraska: After 118 years Lukasiewicz Furniture, Flooring and Appliances saying farwell to their Farwell location.  Local news media say at one time the store was so big it was nicknamed “the Farwell Mall”, but now the owners blame internet competition exacerbated by a disappearing local rural population for their shutdown.  In Bellevue, Antiques on Franklin shutting down the day before Xmas, and Mama Kelly’s First Class Secondhand Store shutting down after Xmas.  In Scottsbluff, Bentley’s Fine Jewelry & Repair shutting down, the owner said after 27 years he just wants a regular “eight to five, Monday through Friday job with weekends off”.

New Mexico: Defunct Radio Shack shutting down their 40 years old Ruidoso store, the local franchise owners are selling the property.  For-profit utility company PNM eliminating at least 30 jobs in an attempt to reduce costs (and increase profits for shareholders).

New York:  The iconic Waldorf Astoria ceases to exist, 1-thousand 441 jobs lost by March 2017 as the building is being remodeled (at some future date) into a smaller hotel operation!  In Middletown, hazardous waste forcing Shared Textile Services to shutdown, 65 jobs lost.  In Troy, Hill’s Stationery shutdown after 96 years.  Suffolk County National Bank laying off 76 people in Riverhead, due to being taken over by a bank from Connecticut.  NYC based clothier Kenneth Cole Productions shutting down 63 brick-n-mortar stores within six months! Kenneth Cole Productions is shifting to internet and international sales only! In Corning, after 26 years toy store Imagine That! shutting down after Xmas, the owner blames internet competition and radical changes in the toymaking industry and with wholesalers.  Despite efforts to raise $2-million USD through fund raising operations, non-profit iconic Big Apple Circus is now dead. Local news reports say Big Apple Circus was only able to raise $900-thousand!     In Watertown, after 27 years Waterbury Fine Jewelers shutting down so the owner can retire.  In Ithica, in business since the 1950s McNeil Music calling it quits by the end of Jauary 2017, the owner said the economy has not recovered: “2011 was the first bad year, and it never recovered from there. We’ve lost sales every year since 2010.”-Eric Laine

North Carolina: Retailer Belk laid off 40 people at its Charlotte HQ.

Ohio: In Ashtabula, after 69 years Outdoor Army Navy Store shutdown, the internet ignorant owner blames the internet.  In Athens, Premier Video shutdown, it was the last video store in town.  In Solon, after 50 years Rinaldi Jewelry shutting down by February 2017.  Leader Furniture, in Over-the-Rhine, shutting down after 131 years of retail sales.  In Cincinnati, California based clothier GAP shutting down two locations by the end of January 2017, due to 3rd quarter profits falling by 12%.  Also in Cincinnati, entertainment retailer FYE shutting down an undisclosed location, the owner of FYE (TransWorldEntertainment) lost $8-million in its 3rd quarter!  In Heath, another FYE shutting down anytime between Xmas and February 2017, the manager of that FYE blames it on disappearing customers.  Also in Heath, haircutter Master Cuts shutdown: “The closing is due to the lack of traffic, that would be the best way to put it. Not enough business. Nobody even knows we’re here! We have a lot of regulars, but people walk in and say: ‘I didn’t even know you were here.’ “-Jonni Jackson, manager

Oregon: Fire fighting helicopter contractor Erickson now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Erickson admin told the court they’re trying to save 7-hundred jobs country-wide.   In Corvalis, after 31 years Gracewinds Music shutting down, two of the co-owners want to retire and the third wants more time with his family.  

Pennsylvania:  Environmental Reclamation Services eliminating 30 jobs in Erie two days after Xmas. In Fort Washington, Too Big to Jail Ocwen Financial eliminating 54 jobs between now and after Xmas.  California based jeweler Shreve & Company shutting down their Portland store due to lack of sales.  And Macy’s revealed it sold-off its iconic Portland store, which should shutdown after Xmas.  Local news reports say Macy’s made a profit of $36-million off the sale.  In Pottstown, after 103 years Kiss Cycles shutting down days before Xmas. The owner esentially said he’s tired of working: “I’m going to be 64 and I want to ride a motorcycle, and I never get to do it. I push them around in here all the time, but never seem to have the time to get out there myself.”-Randy Kiss

South Dakota: In Rapid City, after 45 years the Black Hills Total Sleep Center shutting down so the 70 years old owner can retire (at the insistance of his wife).  In Britton, after 115 years Lee & Hanson Men’s Wear shutting down after Xmas.

Tennessee: After 37 years Jonesborough’s Art Glass Gallery shutdown its brick-n-mortar store, custom glass work can still be ordered.

Texas: Richardson based clothier Fossil blames its huge increase in internet sales for its decision to shutdown hundreds of its brick-n-mortar stores over the next few years!  In Houston, iconic used boot seller Texas Junk Company being forced to vacate the property due to a lawsuit.  Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples shutting down their Brownwood store in January 2017.  Austin based ‘outdoors’ clothier Backwoods now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Company administrators blame “changing shopping trends and consumer behavior, competitive pressures from both online and big-box retailers”.  It must be noted that Backwoods has a retail website.  The CEO hinted that the real reason for their bankruptcy could be the skyrocketing costs of leasing and operating brick-n-mortar stores which in turn is putting Backwoods into deeper debt.  In Beaumont, Mirror Shine and Shoe Repair shutting down due to lack of people who need shoe shines or repairs, the owner saying “I’m going to lay at home for a while”.

Virginia: In Richmond, 83 years old pawn shop Friedman’s Loan Office shutdown, the building is for sale.   In Falls Church, after 28 years Economy Party Supplies & Costumes shutdown.  Temp employment company Excel Management Service now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming a lawsuit by one of their biggest financiers.  In Glen Alen, Stevens Jewelers shutting down after 23 years.  After 141 years H.W. Rountree’s Luggage shutting down their Henrico store the day before Xmas: “Our sales have been dropping, plus we have competition with all the luggage manufacturers that have their own websites. They sell direct to consumers and ship free.”-William A. King, owner

Washington: In Bellingham, after 38 years Gary’s Men’s & Women’s Wear shutdown.  Local news media say it was the eighth local clothing shop to shutdown.

Wisconsin: The oldest piano seller (and once a piano maker) in The Badger State, 131 years old Netzow’s Piano & Music Plus, shutting down when the inventory is gone.  In Durand, 112 years old Wolf’s Ladies Fashions & Shoes shutting down before Xmas, the owner lamenting “The ‘little guy’ is a dying breed unfortunately.” In Onalaska, after 18 years Treehouse Gift and Home shutting down the day before Xmas, the owners are selling everything, including the building.

U.S. government shenanigans November 2016: “THOSE HALCYON DAYS ARE OVER”

Retail/Banking/Service sector October 2016: “THERE’S NO MORE RETAIL…” TRUMP & CLINTON KILL 3,074 JOBS!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Business/Economics, Idaho

Fred Meyer expands recycling ops

11 December 2016 / 20:40 UTC-07 Tango 06 (22 Azar 1395/12 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1438/14 Geng Zi 4714)

In 2010 I wrote about recycling your plastic grocery bags, recently Kroger owned (but Oregon based) retailer Fred Meyer completed a million dollar remodel of their Pocatello, Idaho store, including their recycling bin.

You can see a pic of their old recycling bin in my 2010 posting, their new bin has  apertures for plastic, paper, glass or trash.  

Apparently they’re not aware of the lack of glass recycling in eastern Idaho.

KROGER JOINS OTHER EMPLOYERS IN USING OBAMA CARE AS EXCUSE TO CUT EMPLOYEE HOURS AND BENEFITS

POCATELLO’S OLD FRED MEYER……DID NOT CLOSE DOWN IN THE 1990S

ANSWER TO COUPON THIEVES: KROGER OWNED FRED MEYER OR SMITHS

Business/Economics

Sears Kmart shutdowns, November 2016: More taxpayer funded Bull-Shit!

Reuters reporting that Sears Canada just sold-off $70-million CAD worth of properties, yet Sears Canada swears the sale will not result in any shutdowns.  Then, on the same day, an unnamed Sears employee reported that the Coburg Sears store, in Ontario, will shutdown by the end of March 2017.  

24/7 Wall St. declared Eddie Lampert the most hated corporate executive in the United States.

A holiday employee at a Salisbury, North Carolina, Kmart was caught activating gift cards without paying for them.  Police say she bought a variety of things with the stolen gift cards, including the can of soda pop she was holding when they questioned her.

October 2016: KMART MAKES SANTA’S NAUGHTY LIST, NO TOYS FOR XMAS!

WARN = Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification

Here’s the updated list of U.S. Sears-Kmart store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011, new revelations in BOLD:

Alabama: The Madison Square Mall Sears store & Auto Center shutting down in January 2017, but only because the leaders of Huntsville want to redevelop the mall property. No word on how many people will become jobless. Supposedly a new, and much smaller, contractor operated Sears appliance only store will be part of the mall redevelopment.  Taxpayers of Huntsville are expected to spend at least $12-million USD on the redevelopment!  Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Cullman is shutting down.   27 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  After 16 years the Troy Sears Hometown Store suddenly shutdown, the contracted owners said they couldn’t find anybody willing to take over the contract. Oxford Sears (local news reports said the Oxford Sears opened in 1985 with 225 employees!), Birmingham Kmart on Chalkville Mountain, Decatur Kmart on Beltline Road, Homewood Kmart, Mobile Kmart on Z Schillingers Road. The Montgomery Sears store and Auto Center in the Eastdale Mall shutting down, 56 jobs lost in June 2016. City leaders of Anniston have agreed to fork over $3-million precious local tax dollars to fund the re-development of an abandoned Kmart. Prattville Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 70 jobs lost. Florence Kmart in March, 64 jobs lost in 2016. A local news report said the employees knew nothing about it and were shocked to hear it from the news media! Dothan Kmart (south side of Ross Clark Circle) shutting down in March, 56 jobs lost in 2016. Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost), Sears Store and Auto Center at the Bel Air Mall in Mobile (more than 100 jobs lost).

Alaska: The Anchorage Sears Store & Auto Center, the Wasilla Sears Store, the Fairbanks Sears Store & Auto Center made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

Arkansas: 17 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears shutdown in July 2016.

Arizona: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says a ‘Sears’ property in Sierra Vista is shutting down. 42 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nogales Kmart shutdown by July 2016, despite the fact that it’s a profit making store (many of its cash paying customers cross the border from Mexico). The Prescott Valley Kmart shutdown April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Reports that the Glendale Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors. Recently revealed Arrowhead Towne Center Sears sold-off then rented back! Chandler Fashion Center Sears sold-off then rented back!

California:  The Town & Country Center Kmart in Indio shutting down right before Xmas. The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Bakersfield Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  A shutdown WARN issued for the Fontana Kmart, 133 jobs gone before Xmas!  A shutdown WARN issued for a Los Angeles Kmart, 234 jobs gone right before Xmas!  233 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!!  Sears Holdings shutdown a Los Angeles Kmart, 132 jobs lost in May 2016! Dinuba Kmart 68 jobs lost, Lodi Kmart, Tulare Kmart, Wasco Kmart. Sears Holdings created Seritage Growth Properties is renting out half of three Sears stores; one in Roseville, one in Citrus Heights and one in Sacramento. Supposedly Sears will continue its operations in the other half of the buildings. On 10 March the Garden Center roof of the Santa Rosa Kmart collapsed during a rain storm. Fire inspectors said the roof was already compromised due to dry rot before the rain storm, a local news reporter said managers knew about the condition of the roof because it was sagging, and they called in contractors. The contractors tried to prop up the roof before the rain storm hit. Anaheim Kmart shutdown, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutdown between March and April 2016, a total of 3-hundred jobs lost! El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”

Two San Diego Sears (more than 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost), Torrance Kmart, Fairfield Kmart (63 jobs lost), Lampert owned OSH taken over by Lowe’s home improvement in bankruptcy court, at least 17 of 99 stores to be closed down (935 jobs lost!), Rancho Cordova Kmart (97 jobs lost), San Clemente Kmart/Sears/Kmart on Camino de Estrella (58 jobs lost), placed on an official hit list in 2011 the Oceanside Kmart on College Boulevard finally being shut down, Banning Kmart (91 jobs lost) recently revealed that Sears Holdings is still paying rent on the abandoned property, Laguna Hills Mall Sears, San Diego Mid-City Kmart (73 jobs lost), Hemet Kmart (77 jobs lost), Oakland Sears repair center (75 jobs lost), San Mateo Kmart (82 jobs lost to an apartment building connected to public transportation), Hesperia Kmart building sold at a loss to a vulture capitalist REIT, no word on if the Kmart will be shutdown. Customers complain that the Kmart employees have a bad attitude, gee I wonder why? Yuba City Kmart (63 jobs lost), Rocklin Kmart (at least 63 jobs lost, the store had just posted “Now Hiring” signs), San Leandro Kmart (102 jobs lost), San Jose Mercury News says the El Centro Kmart to shutdown in January, the website Foursquare says the Covina Kmart is now shutdown (other sources say it will shutdown in December), Cupertino Sears and Auto Center (98 jobs lost), somebody posted on yelp* that the Diamond Bar Kmart was shutting down in December (confirmed by Armijo Newspapers), Westfield Topanga Sears (122 jobs lost), it looks like the Blythe Kmart is being slowly shutdown despite denial by Sears Holdings. San Mateo Kmart being demolished to make room for 599 unit apartment complex, as part of the the Hayward Park Caltrain Station project. Atwater Kmart (74 jobs lost), Los Banos Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Colorado: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Thornton is shutting down. 40 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears/Great Indoors, Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost), Denver Kmart (number of jobs lost have not been made public at this time, but could be at least 40), Colorado Springs Kmart at Powers and Palmer Park boulevards (57 jobs lost), Fort Collins Sears (67 jobs lost), Denver-Cherry Creek North Sears store & Auto Center (66 jobs lost).

Connecticut: 113 jobs lost as the West Hartford GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Sears store and Auto Center shuts down by the end of January 2017!  Local news media pointed out that every remaining Sears and Kmart store in the state is on the new Sears Holdings Real Estate “opportunities” list! Putnam Kmart. Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).

Delaware: Seven Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: It’s been revealed that Santa Rosa County School District is spending $1.45-million tax dollars to buy a property now owned by Sears Holdings (via Kmart)! The sale of the property is delayed because only now has it been revealed that Kmart is the new owner of the former Food World property!   The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Pembroke Pines Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  WARNs issued for the Saint Petersburg Sears store and Auto Center, 126 jobs gone by the end of January 2017!  173 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!   In Orlando, the 50 years old Fashion Square Mall Sears & Auto Center shutting down, 101 jobs lost by mid-November! Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down between July-September. The Lutz Kmart shutdown March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutdown mid-March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost). Dicks Sportings Goods subleasing space in an existing Sears store in Palm Beach Gardens.

Georgia: Yet another Augusta Kmart shutting down, this time the one on Deans Bridge Road.  63 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutdown in August 2016, 1-hundred jobs lost! Administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say the Rome Kmart is the last Sears Holdings store in the area! The 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutdown April 2016. Dublin Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 71 jobs lost. Milledgeville Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 60+ jobs lost. Mount Berry Square Mall (Rome) Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Macon Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Buford Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Douglasville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Atlanta Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Columbus Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jonesboro Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Cartersville Kmart (74 jobs lost), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.

Guam: Tamuning Kmart made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 14 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Iconic 25 years old Nimitz HWY Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart shutdown in March 2016, 141 jobs lost! Honolulu Sears (owned by GGP, 372 jobs lost! GGP spending $573-million chopping it up into smaller store spaces), Kauai Sears (41 jobs lost), Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart for lease (no confirmation of store closing).

Idaho: Lewiston Kmart, Boise Town Square Mall Sears Store & Auto Center, Boise Kmart Auto Center, the Nampa Kmart Store & Auto Center, the Coeur d’Alene Kmart and Sears Store & Auto Center, the Twin Falls Sears Store & Auto Center and Kmart, the Ammon Kmart, the Idaho Falls Sears Store & Auto Center, the abandoned but still owned by Sears Holdings Chubbuck (the“opportunities” listing incorrectly says Pocatello) Sears Store (esentially all remaining Sears & Kmarts in Idaho) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Boise Kmart on Fairview shutdown mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutdown April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Rexburg Kmart (63 jobs lost), Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall Sears shutdown by the end of October/beginning of November 2014 (the remaining 28 jobs lost).

Illinois: Another update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; looks like Augustana College found a fool to buy the Kmart property that was dumped on the college (in the form of a tax avoiding donation) and then vacated in July 2016, it was sold to a company called Rock Island KM.   The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Oak Brook Sears store being reduced by half and the Auto Center being shutdown between 2017 & 2018.  Sears Hardware in Edwardsville shutting down right before Thanksgiving, 21 jobs lost. A local TV station reported that Sears Hardware in Collinsville is shutting down, no comment from store management.  Shutdown WARNs issued for Kmarts in Tinley Park and South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago, 275 jobs gone by Xmas! News reports out of Tinley say a total of six Kmarts will shutdown by Xmas! Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed that two ‘Sears’ properties, in Chicago and Springfield, are shutting down. 116 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!  An update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; the recently vacated property was ‘donated’ to Augustana College, but now college adminitrators are looking to sell the property to anybody foolish enough to buy it. The real reason the college is trying to dump the vacant Kmart is that the property tax is about $92-thousand per year, indicating the ‘donation’ was actually a screw-job (lets not forget that local news media pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving!). The Kmart Super Center in Bradley shutdown, 125 jobs lost! Sears Holdings sold the building to Meijer, unconfirmed reports say the Bradley Kmart Super Center (which has a full grocery op) was actually making money. After 90 years Chicago Sears on Lawrence Avenue shutting down by August 2016, local news says its the oldest Sears store still operating. The last Decatur Kmart shutting down by August 2016, 61 jobs lost, administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say there are no more Sears Holdings stores in the immediate area! Chicago Kmart on South Pulaski. Danville Kmart, Galesburg Kmart, Lansing Kmart, Pekin Kmart, Eddie Lampert eliminated 401 Hoffman Estates HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales! 151 of those jobs were already vacant. Morton ‘green’ Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Canton Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. North Mayfair Kmart (99 jobs lost), Chicago Kmart at 5033 North Elston Avenue (99 jobs lost). By the way, Illinois elected officials gave Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates a $150 million USD tax break to keep their headquarters in the state. The tax break was not tied to any promise not to close stores.

Indiana: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Elkhart and Merrillville are shutting down.  A WARN revealed that 99 Kmart employees in Merrillville will lose their jobs right before Xmas.   67 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Bloomington Kmart, New Albany Kmart. Bloomington’s College Mall Sears & Auto Center shutdown mid-June 2016, at least 52 jobs lost. In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutdown in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart April 2016, 62 jobs lost. Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Sears (49 jobs lost), South Anthony Kmart (70 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on South Anthony Boulevard (70 jobs lost), FairOaks Mall Kmart, Logansport Sears (43 jobs lost), Muncie Kmart (59 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on Coliseum Boulevard North (69 jobs lost), Decatur Kmart (49 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Madison Avenue (131 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Washington Street (139 jobs lost), Bedford Kmart (62 jobs lost), Indianapolis (Evansville) Sears & Auto Center at Washington Square Mall (91 jobs lost), Greenwood Kmart (78 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: 22 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Des Moines Southridge Mall Sears shutting down by August 2016, the store was in the process of dying anyway, only 37 employees left. Sears Holdings shutdown their West Des Moines call center in June 2016, 162 jobs lost! Ottumwa Kmart shutdown April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Cedar Rapids Kmart on 16th Ave (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost), Coralville Sears (94 jobs lost, this is a store sold to GGP earlier in the year), Cedar Rapids Kmart on Collins Road NE (56 jobs lost), Mason City Kmart (50 jobs lost), Clive Kmart (at least 49 jobs lost), Ames Kmart (44 jobs lost), Fort Dodge Sears (no job loss numbers made public, yet. The Auto Center was secretly shutdown in September), 56 years old Mason City Sears & Auto Center (more than 100 jobs lost). Davenport Kmart (59 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Kansas: 18 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  In El Dorado, a contracted Sears store suddenly shutdown due to Sears Holdings continually changing the contract: “We had a contract that we had to follow to a ‘T’ while they changed it at will. They changed our commission bonuses and percentages and that hurt us.”-Russ Christy, contracted Sears store operator

Hutchison Kmart. North Topeka Kmart shutting down in 2016, 49 jobs lost. Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Merriam Kmart-then Sears-then Kmart (jobs lost unknown), Wichita Sears store & Auto Center (103 jobs lost), Manhattan Sears & Auto Center (number of jobs lost were never revealed).

Kentucky: Pikeville Kmart shutting down right before Xmas. 31 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Two Kmarts in Louisville. Elizabethtown Kmart, Maysville Kmart, Paintsville Kmart. Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).

Louisiana: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Houma and New Iberia are shutting down. 36 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The Bossier Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Houma Sears, Pineville Kmart. Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown, Laplace Sears Hometown Store.

Maine: 13 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Kmart shutting down by August 2016, more than 50 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost), Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Sears (63 jobs lost), Aroostook Centre Mall Sears Auto Center leased out to VIP Tires & Service.

Maryland: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Columbia Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  54 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost), Parkville Kmart (102 jobs lost), California Kmart (71 jobs lost), Sears Hometown Store in Perryville.

Massachusetts: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Natick Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  64 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Tewksbury Kmart. Fairhaven Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown mid-April 2016. Local news reports said the ignorant employees actually thought the shutdown notice was a joke! I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News. 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shutdown in May 2016. North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost). Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutdown. Also, the Braintree South Shore Plaza Sears store is renting out an entire floor to Ireland based Primark. Even with the lease to Primark there is still 4-thousand square feet of vacant space in the Sears store. The Sears at the Auburn Mall shutdown on Black Friday due to electrical fire. The store was experiencing electrical problems, an investigation is underway.

Michigan: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Alpena, Manistee and Sault Saint Marie are shutting down.  WARNs filed with the state revealed that on top of the Seritage Growth shutdowns the Kmarts in Jackson, Grand Rapids, Byron Center and Fenton will also shutdown. A total of 390 Kmart jobs will be killed right before Xmas!  113 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The Holland Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown, the manager of the francise store refused to say why. Plymouth Township Super Kmart shutting down by November 2017 (that’s when the lease expires). According to Plymouth’s Planning Commission, Sears Holdings is selling the property to a developer. A Kmart on Groesbeck Highway, Clinton Township, shutting down, 82 jobs lost by October 2016. The Farmington Hills Kmart shutting down by mid-July 2016, 61 jobs lost. Midland Sears, Houghton Lake Kmart, Taylor Kmart. The Bradley Kmart has a new owner who is shutting it down in 2016. Retailer Meijer bought the Kmart property for $5-million USD. The Kmart shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutdown by mid-March, 48 jobs lost. Ironwood Kmart by mid-April, 47 jobs lost. Sears/Great Indoors, Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials, Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart, Saginaw Kmart on Bay Road, Flint Kmart on Dort Highway (46 jobs lost), Gaylord Kmart (48 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (58 jobs lost), Bloomfield Township Kmart and Sears, Bad Axe Kmart (61 jobs lost), Ypsilanti Township Kmart (83 jobs lost), Petoskey Kmart (45 jobs lost), Saint John’s Kmart (48 jobs lost), White Lake Township “Store of the Future” Kmart (42 jobs lost), Grand Blanc Kmart (49 jobs lost), Lapeer Kmart (56 jobs lost), Southgate Kmart (155 jobs lost), Detroit’s Telegraph Road Kmart (115 jobs lost), Waterford Township Sears (no word on how many jobs lost), Rochester Hills Kmart (77 jobs lost), ‘perfect Kmart town’ of Port Huron Kmart (188 jobs lost), Flint Kmart on Miller Road (81 jobs lost), Burton Kmart (85 jobs lost), Madison Heights Kmart (179 jobs lost), it’s now official the last remaining Saginaw Kmart (on Gratiot Road) will remain shutdown after its roof collapsed during a snowstorm back in January 2014 (Sears Holdings claims only 18 people worked there at the time of the collapse!), Ann Arbor Kmart (59 jobs lost), Iron Mountain Kmart (54 jobs lost), Bangor Township Sears aka Bay City Mall Sears, the Auto Center was already secretly shutdown some time ago (at least 47 jobs lost), Big Rapids Kmart (about 50 jobs lost). Vacant Wyandotte Sears Auto Center is being renovated at a cost to taxpayers of $1-million & 20-thousand, plus 15 years worth of tax breaks valued at $2-million! Shakopee Kmart distribution center shutdown and sold-off for $17-million in 2013, now it’s finally getting a new tenant; snowmobile and electric cart maker Polaris Industries will rent out a fraction of the building to use as their new parts warehouse. The Kmart Plaza in Sandusky sold to “A group of investors”, no word on what will happen to the Kmart store.

Minnesota: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Minnetonka Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  The Dundas Planning Commission met with CJB II Real Estate to discuss the future of the abandoned Kmart.  ‘Elected’ leaders expressed a willingness to throw $100-thousand tax dollars at the redevelopment project. The Dundas Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 32 jobs lost.   West Saint Paul Kmart shutting down by Xmas.  32 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The 40 years old Eden Prairie Center Sears store shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Eddie Lampert sold the store to the mall owner for $16-million! The owner of the mall wants to carve up the Sears into smaller stores. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 48 jobs lost. Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.

Mississippi: 14 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Corinth Kmart. The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutdown in April, no word on job losses. Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).

Missouri: 48 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Bridgeton Kmart, Springfield Kmart. Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line, High Ridge Kmart (59 jobs lost), Ellisville Kmart (55 jobs lost), Springfield Kmart on South Campbell Avenue (60 jobs lost), South Belt Kmart (64 jobs lost), Florissant Kmart (100 jobs lost), O’Fallon Kmart (76 jobs lost).

Montana: The Hamilton Kmart, Havre Kmart, Helena Kmart, Glendive Kmart, Billings Sears Store & Auto Center, Butte Kmart, Great Falls Kmart Store & Auto Center, Kalispell Kmart Store & Auto Center (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Billings Kmart. Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost), Great Falls Kmart (closed “until further notice” due to fire, 63 jobs on hold), Great Falls Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost) due to great sales (ironically) the shutdown date has been moved from 07 December 2014 to 23 November, Bozeman Kmart (37 jobs lost), Missoula Sears store and Auto Center (57 jobs lost).

Nebraska: Seritage Growth Properties says its Kmart property in Kearney is shutting down by Xmas.  Six Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  40 years old Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: 22 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Paramus Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. 53 Kmart and Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nearly one acre of the Rockaway Townsquare Mall Sears (which is still in operation) is now rented out to a furniture dealer. Lodi Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 75 jobs lost. Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost), Closter Kmart (102 jobs lost), Vineland Kmart (74 jobs lost). After 18 years Sears Holdings shutdown their Roselle Sears Hardware store due to “landlord issues”.

New Mexico: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Albuquerque Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Deming is shutting down.  21 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Back in May local news reports said the Artesia Kmart was shutting down, in July Sears Holdings finally confirmed it. Albuquerque’s Coronado Center Sears suddenly shutdown their Auto Center, and will reduce the size of the main store by 50% within two months. Sears goon Howard Riefs stated “We will rightsize the labor…”, but gave no numbers. The ‘rightsizing’ of the Coronado Center store is in partnership with one of my evil former employers, mall owner GGP. SearsLas Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York:  The Queensbury Super Kmart is being reduced to just a Kmart, ending 24 hour grocery sales by January 2017.  Shutdown WARN issued for the Binghamton Kmart, 69 jobs gone by Xmas. Shutdown WARN issued for the Cheektowaga Kmart, 101 jobs gone by Xmas!  The second level of the GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Staten Island Sears shutting down right before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, 44 jobs killed, it’s been leased to Ireland’s clothier Primark. 104 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The 50 years old Sears Auto Center in the Colonie Center Mall shutdown by Sears Holdings subsidiary Seritage Growth Properties, so the space could be rented out to Avis-Budget Car Rental Group. In Brooklyn, the Kings Plaza Sears shutting down, 210 jobs gone by mid-September 2016! Eddie Lampert is renting the space to a couple of European clothing retailers. Sears Holdings issued a shutdown WARN for its Plattsburgh Sears store and Auto Center, 56 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. New York Post says Sears is shutting down their NYC clothing design office, 40 jobs moved to California, another 154 jobs gone by July! Rotterdam Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down by August 2016 (67 jobs lost). Sears Holdings issued yet another WARN, this time 75 Rochester Kmart employees losing their jobs by mid-July 2016. Irondequoit Sears, Plattsburgh Sears, Poughkeepsie Kmart, Rochester Kmart. Staten Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown in February, 20 jobs lost. Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford (Sangertown Mall) Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost), Lancaster Kmart sold for $1.7-million to Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. Herkimer Sears Hometown, Saranac Lake Sears Hometown the ‘independent’ co-owners said Sears Holdings forced them to shutdown. Melville Appliance Repair Division (31 jobs lost).

North Carolina: The High Point Sears Call Center shutting down by February 2017, Sears Holdings actually refused to tell local news media how many jobs will be lost, unnamed employees said it “will be in the hundreds” (local news reports said the last time Sears publicized how many employees worked the call center it was more than 3-hundred)!  Mount Airy Kmart (in the Mayberry Mall) shutting down right before Xmas.  Burlington Kmart shutting down right before Xmas, local news reports said nobody was surprised.  71 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! 40 years old Thomasville Kmart shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brevard Kmart, Gastonia Kmart, Lumberton Kmart, Pineville Kmart, Rocky Mount Kmart. Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost), Greenville Kmart (75 jobs lost), Kinston Sears Hometown Store shutdown with little notice, Lexington Sears Hometown Store.

North Dakota: 18 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: The Fairborn and Springfield Kmart stores shutting down, 134 jobs gone right before Xmas!  Reports that a Knox County Kmart is shutting down its pharmacy operations.   Employees confirmed to local news media that the 21 years old Austintown Sears Appliance and Hardware will shutdown by Xmas.  Mentor Kmart shutting down by Xmas, local news reports say in the 1990s the store employed 2-hundred people!  124 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears store (the Auto Center was shutdown in 2014), Ashtabula Kmart, Eaton Kmart, Fremont Kmart, Lima Kmart, Lorain Kmart, Springboro Kmart. Englewood Kmart, 57 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. Fort Stueben Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 53 jobs lost in June 2016. Sandusky Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 44 jobs lost in June 2016. 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutdown in May 2016. 18 jobs lost as the Dixie Highway Sears Hardware shuts down this Friday. The 28 years old Sears and its Auto Center in New Philadelphia shutdown by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutdown mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutdown by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Boardman Kmart by April 2016, 81 jobs lost. Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Columbus Sears/Great Indoors, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost), Austintown Sears auto parts and service on Interstate Boulevard, London Kmart (no word on number of jobs lost), Trotwood Sears (67 jobs lost), Westlake Kmart/Sears (at least 57 jobs lost), Xenia Kmart (at least 57 jobs lost), Norwalk Kmart (52 jobs lost), Blue Ash Kmart (77 jobs lost), Northwood Sears at Woodville Mall (36 jobs lost), Conneaut Kmart (43 jobs lost), Anderson Township Kmart (71 jobs lost), Brooklyn Kmart (200 jobs lost), Columbus Lockbourne Industrial Parkway Sears distribution center (200 jobs lost), also in Columbus, Sears Product Rebuild-Call Center (112 jobs lost), Marion Sears Auto Center (at least nine jobs lost), Springfield Kmart #3767 (68 jobs lost), Fairborn Kmart (66 jobs lost), Solon Sears & Auto Center (at least 53 jobs lost), Tiffin Sears Hometown Store. Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.

Oklahoma: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Norman Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.  23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).

Oregon: Local news reports revealed the Lloyd Center Sears store was sold and will shutdown sometime in the future, the space will be re-purposed into smaller storefronts.  23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  A Blind Bat News reader warning that the Beaverton Kmart has replaced its permanent signage with temporary ones, and the store is looking empty. There’s been no public reports of the store shutting down. Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center), Milwaukie Kmart (61 jobs lost), Coos Bay Kmart (25 jobs lost), Bend Sears (48 jobs lost), Klamath Falls Kmart (64 jobs lost), Albany Kmart (64 jobs lost), Portland Sears Homes Services (no notice), Albany Sears (57 jobs lost), in October a BBN reader warned that Oregon City Kmart was being quietly shutdown, confirmed on 06 November 2014 by Sears Holdings (70 jobs lost). Ontario Kmart (55 jobs lost).

Pennsylvania: 168 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! In July, Sears Holdings shutdown the Uniontown Kmart, killing at least 73 jobs. But the shutdown is also affecting a locally owned restaurant (Mark C’s Diner) still on the property, whose owners say their sales have crashed-n-burned since the shutdown. Now Sears Holdings say they are about to sell the Uniontown property in an effort to “realize shareholder value from the property”. Butler Sears, New Castle Sears, Beaver Falls Kmart, Philadelphia Kmart on Frankford Avenue. Two Pittsburgh Kmarts. Reading Kmart. Sears store in the Beaver Valley Mall, 62 jobs lost. Viewmont Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 86 jobs lost in July 2016. Reports that the Exton Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost), Fairless Hills Sears Hardware. Granite Run Mall shutdown, meaning the Sears and Sears Auto Center now apparently on a month to month (possibly day to day) lease are soon to follow. Brookhaven Kmart (89 jobs lost).

Puerto Rico: 31 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

Rhode Island: Rhode Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown right before Thanksgiving.  Five Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

South Carolina: The new owner of a Kmart on the boundaries of Anderson, Seritage KMT Finance, announced it will cut the Kmart store to half its size and is requesting the city of Anderson annex the land (probably in exchange for some taxpayer funded incentives for Seritage).  37 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 44 years old Orangeburg Kmart shutting down in August 2016. Camden Kmart. 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutdown by May 2016. Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).

South Dakota: 11 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Huron Kmart, Yankton Kmart. The Pierre Kmart shutdown March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: After 30 years the Sears Hometown Store in Dyersburg shutdown. Local news reports say the shutdown was no surprise to the store’s manager.  58 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!   Local news reports say Sears Holdings has posted “Going out of business!” signs on the North Knoxville Kmart, however they could not get any confirmation of shutdown from corporate administrators. Bristol Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Athens Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart, Maryville Kmart. The Murfreesboro Kmart shutdown April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutdown in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutdown in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutdown by mid-March 2016, 67 jobs lost. Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears, Nashville Bellevue Center Sears & Auto Center (at least 44 jobs lost).

Texas: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Frisco Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.   Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Harlingen is shutting down.  Local news reports confirmed the Lubbock Kmart is shutting down right before Xmas.  134 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! Fort Stockton Sears Hometown Store was ‘re-branded’ the America’s Appliance Experts outlet. Sears Holdings revealed the Brownsville Kmart is shutting down by August. El Paso Kmart, Mission Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart. Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost), Simon Property Group owned McAllen Sears store & Auto Center (so far no word on how many jobs will be lost), recently revealed Palestine Sears Hometown (franchise owner quit to work as assistant manager at a local Dollar General). Wichita Falls Sikes Senter Mall Sears (56 jobs lost).

Utah: 16 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Draper Kmart, Price Kmart, West Jordan Kmart. 35 years old Richfield Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutdown April 2016, 58 jobs lost. Murray Sears (local news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost), Provo Kmart demolished in anticipation of yet another AtHome furniture store.

Vermont: Five Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virgin Islands: Three Kmarts  made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

Virginia: 63 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Christiansburg Kmart and the Hampton Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Chester Kmart, 76 jobs gone by mid-July 2016. The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutdown between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper. Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Winchester Kmart (91 jobs lost), Dale City Kmart (69 jobs lost), Chesapeake Sears and Auto Center (82 jobs lost), Front Royal Kmart (88 jobs lost), Pembroke Mall Sears renting out part of their store to DSW & Nordstrom Rack, Sears Holdings say they’re still looking for a “third tenant” for their occupied space. The current nearby Sears Auto Center will be rented out to REI. Colonial Heights Kmart (113 jobs lost), Virginia Beach Hilltop Square Shopping Center Kmart (82 jobs lost).

Washington: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Lynwood Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”.   Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says a ‘Sears’ property in Yakima is shutting down. 46 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! After officially denying that their Marysville Kmart was shutting down, calling it a “a bad rumor” and swearing to local news media that “the store will remain open”, guess what? Local news media reporting that the Marysville Kmart is now plastered with “store closing” signs, 47 jobs lost by by mid-July. Arrogantly Sears Holdings said the employees can apply at other Sears/Kmart stores, however, local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in all of Snohomish County. Eatonville Sears Hometown store. Walla Walla Sears Full line (in August 2012, it was reported that an independent owner of Sears Hometown stores will open a store in Walla Walla), Lacey Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Kelso Sears (47 jobs lost), Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

West Virginia: 34 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The Bluefield Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: The city of Wausau just put the local taxpayers into debt by at least $650-thousand USD, buying the former Sears location at the Wausau Center. The Wausau Sears shutdown on June 2016. Sears Holdings administrators would only say “we are accelerating the closings of unprofitable stores.”  The Land’s End outlet in the Madison West Towne Mall Sears store suddenly shutdown.  It was also revealed that Sears connected Land’s End has shutdown at least five stores since 2015, due to crashing sales.  36 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Seritage Growth Properties is ‘downsizing’ the Sears store in the West Towne Mall, according to plans filed with the city of Madison. Those plans show a new restaurant taking up more than half of the space of the Sears store. Administrators refused to answer questions from the local news media.  Hartford Kmart. Superior Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 42 jobs lost. West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).

Wyoming: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed a ‘Sears’ property in Riverton is shutting down. Sheridan Kmart, Rock Springs Kmart, Riverton Kmart, Cody Kmart & Auto Center, Laramie Kmart, Jackson Kmart, Gillette Kmart, and in Casper and Cheyenne the Sears Stores & Auto Centers and Kmarts (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!

Business/Economics

“There’s no more retail…” Trump & Clinton kill 3,074 jobs! : U.S. Retail/Banking/Service sector job losses, October 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. retail/banking/service sector job loss announcements and shutdowns for October 2016:

Arizona: In Glendale, Divine Consign shutdown without warning, leaving employees and consignment sellers in the lurch: “People are wanting to get their things…..I came down and opened the door so they can get their things. I no longer have a job…..I don’t know what’s going on from here on out!”-Shannon Couch, former employee

 California: In San Rafael, after 23 years Bullseye Indoor Range & Firearms Store forced to shutdown by greedy landlord and new anti-2nd Amendment ‘laws’.  Richard Simmons forced to shutdown his Beverly Hills 42 years old Slimmons fitness center.  Associated Third Party Administrators issued multiple shutdown WARNs across California, 218 jobs gone by Thanksgiving!   The Red Lion Hotel shutting down their Woodlake Center in Sacramento, 120 jobs gone right before Xmas!  San Francisco based clothier Gap shutting down all its Banana Republic stores in the British empire country of United Kingdom.   In San Francisco, Japan based Hotel Nikko shutting down, 336 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving.  Supposedly the shutdown is “temporary”.   Also in San Francisco, after 30 years Arthur Ben Shoes shutdown, the owner blames five years of rent increases.   Switzerland based staffing agency Adecco issued a shutdown WARN for its Jurupa Valley location, 129 jobs lost by the end of January 2017! In Palo Alto, Pennisula Hardware shutting down after 63 years, the owner is retiring but admitted he gave up trying to compete with the “big box stores”.

Connecticut: Bon Ton shutting down their Hampden store, 61 jobs gone by January 2017.  Hotel chain Marriott International killing 163 Stamford jobs right after Xmas!  Also in Stamford, British empire’s Royal Bank of Scotland issued yet another layoff WARN, this time 40 jobs killed right before Xmas.

Georgia: WestPoint Home Bed & Bath Outlet in Lake Park shutting down in November, local news media says the corporate office refused to comment.

Idaho: After 40 years in Idaho Falls, Madsen’s Crafts and Framing shutting down in November.  One of the retiring co-owners said decades ago he quit his job with Sears in Utah to run the local Idaho craft store, and he has no regrets.  In Lewiston, Discount Vacuum shutdown after 35 years, due to the owner’s health problems.

Illinois:  Bon Ton shutting down their Bergner’s store in Machesney Park, 43 jobs gone by January 2017.  Cherry Street Guitar Company shutting down because the owner just got hired by his competitor’s West Music store.  Office Max shutting down their Yorkville store in time for Thanksgiving, as part of their three years plan to shutdown at least 3-hundred stores.  Payless Shoes shutting down three stores in the Centralia area, right after Thanksgiving.  Payless Shoes blames it on “landlord issues”.  In Bloomington, after 37 years Bob Taylor’s Classic Auto shutdown, the classic cars auctioned off so the owner can retire.  In Hickory Hills, First Midwest Bank eliminating 109 jobs after Thanksgiving, no reason given in the WARNs!  Hilton Indian Lakes Resort issued a layoff WARN, 80 jobs lost by January 2017, no reason given.

Indiana: In South Bend, Buttons & Bows clothing store shutdown due to the death of the owner.

Maryland: Lanham based patio furniture chain-store Offenbachers bankrupt busted and shutting down all eight stores after 44 years of business!

Michigan: After 149 years Hoekstra Hardware shutting down in time for Xmas.  The oldest business in Kalamazoo was up for sale for the past two years, nobody was interested in buying the successful business.

Minnesota: In Alexandria, Randy’s Menswear shutdown.  The retiring owner revealed that 40 years ago his successful foray into selling clothing was meant as a temporary job.

Missouri: Walmart shutting down their Piedmond and Caruthersville stores, 160 jobs gone by January 2017!

New Jersey: In Atlantic City, the Icahn-Trump owned Trump Taj Mahal Casino officially shutdown, 3-thousand jobs gone!

New Mexico: Office Max shutting down their store on Menaul near Carlisle, in time for Thanksgiving.

New York: The Clinton Foundation issued yet another layoff WARN, this time 74 Clinton Global Initiative employees unemployed right after Xmas.  In Middletown, A&P Coat, Apron & Linen Supply issued a shutdown WARN for their Unitex Textile Rental Services, 65 jobs gone by January 2017.  Clothier Aéropostale shutting down three Capital Region stores, despite ending its bankruptcy.   Goldman Sachs laid off an additional 20 people. Local news reports say the Too Big to Jail company has eliminated 486 New York jobs so far this year! In Elmira, after 107 years Rubin’s Newsstand shutting down after Xmas: “There’s no more retail in there. The complexion for retail changed……it’s time, time for us to dedicate efforts to our operations at Southern Tier News.”-Geoff Rubin

North Carolina: In Raleigh, after 70 years Askew-Taylor Paints shutting down, the family heir to the business can make more money with her college degree.

North Dakota:  What housing market recovery? Too Big to Jail Coldwell Banker suddenly shutdown their 47 years old real estate ops in Fargo.  Local news reports say state officials got suspicious when Coldwell real estate agents failed to renew their state issued licenses, no comment from Coldwell admin.

Ohio: After 45 years 36 hole Weatherwax Golf Course shutting down in November.  The owners swear it’s not because of low sales, yet local news media says it’s the fifth area golf course to shutdown.  Apparently golf courses in Ohio are being taken over at taxpayer expense to be turned into money losing parks.  In Lima, after 42 years SAY Furniture & Mattress shutting down in time for Xmas.  The owner blames his health problems, but admitted he could make more money renting out the building.

Oklahoma: Tulsa based BOK Financial suddenly laid off ‘about’ 1-hundred people, in an effort to cut costs.

Pennsylvania: The owner of the Schuylkill Mall is now chapter 7 bankrupt busted, which usually means they’re dead-in-the-water.  The sale of the mall is already in the hands of the local sheriff.  Popular roller skate rink Romp-n-Roll shutting down after Thanksgiving, no reason given.  Office Max shutting down their Colonial Commons shopping center store in time for Thanksgiving, as part of their three years plan to shutdown at least 3-hundred stores.

South Dakota: In Britton, after 115 years Lee & Hanson Men’s Wear shutting down when the inventory is gone.  In Sioux Falls, god powerless to stop ‘his’ YMCA from shutting down the Wise Buys thrift store, 37 jobs lost.  YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) administrators blame “market conditions”.  Also in Sioux Falls, The Clothing Agency for Men shutdown.

Tennessee:  After 40 years Woodstream Hardwoods shutting down right after Xmas, the owner is retiring to teach people how to work with wood.

Texas: Dallas based Commerce Bank shutting down 16 offices across the country (most in Michigan), 2-hundred jobs gone by April 2017!

Vermont: In Burlington, 176 years old Fremeau’s Jewelers shutting down because the aged owner can’t find anybody who wants to take over the business.  Local news media suggested the city’s plan to jack-up taxes was also a factor. The Zutano Baby chain-store was sold, the Montpelier location was confirmed to shutdown.  The new owners also changed the name and moved the HQ to Massachusetts.

Virginia: In Virginia Beach, Town Center Fitness shutting down due to family health problems.  After 47 years Adkins Lighting Center shutting down because the retiring owners realized it would be too hard to find a buyer for their successful business.

Washington: Too Big to Jail Capital One laid off 234 people in Seattle without warning!  In Everett, Hollander Investments eliminating 84 jobs right before Xmas.  Bankrupt Hastings shutdown their store in Richland.  In Kennewick, after at least 32 years Music Machine shutdown due to the owner deciding to leave the state to be with his ‘rising star executive’ wife.  The last video store in Longview, Video’n More, shutdown.

Wyoming: After 30 years Worland Hardware shutdown, the owners blame a declining local population and yet an increase in retail competition: “As the town keeps shrinking it gets to having fewer and fewer customers. For years there were just two of us in town and now there are five that carry hardware. So the pie has gotten split in more pieces. ……we’ve really tried to sell it and we really did not want to see Worland lose another business but at the same time we can’t keep supporting it either.”– Lowell and Punkie Peterson

U.S. Tech/Communications layoffs, October 2016: No more Verizon?

September 2016: “THEY DON’T HAVE THE MONEY.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Business/Economics, U.S.

Economy so bad Colorado activates National Guard!

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07 November 2016  (03:32 UTC-07 Tango 01) 17 Aban 1395/06 Safar 1438/08 Ji Hai 4714

The U.S. state of Colorado has called out its militia to help feed the escalating number of starving residents!

In the city of Denver, Army National Guard personnel teamed up with ‘christian’ group Denver Rescue Mission to conduct Operation Connect Colorado.

Connect Colorado fed breakfast to hundreds of people at the Lawrence Street Community Center, on 06 November 2016.

Apparently breakfast includes lots and lots-o-brownies, mmmm, didn’t they legalize mary-jane?

Don’t forget the cinnamon rolls!  I should note that the use of the National Guard to feed hungry and homeless people comes a week after The Mile High city of Denver got slapped with an ACLU lawsuit for running off dozens of homeless people!  Recent lawsuits in other states have resulted in evil city governments being forced to pay restitution to the homeless people they evicted, and even stole property from! Watch out Boise, Idaho!

MARTIAL LAW IDAHO: Boise HOMELESS BEING FORCED INTO CONCENTRATION CAMP!

Business/Economics

“an extended slowdown environment” : U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics layoffs, October 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss announcements and shutdowns for October 2016.

British empire Canada based “energy delivery company” Enbridge eliminating at least 160 jobs in the United States!

Arizona: Tax-sucking Honeywell Aerospace conducting a third round of layoffs.  Administrators refused to say how many people will lose their jobs, but blamed it on “an extended slowdown environment”.

California: What housing industry recovery? Maker of bath and spa parts Balboa Water Group issued a shutdown WARN for their Valencia ops, 245 jobs gone right after Xmas! In Union City, NPL Construction issued a shutdown WARN, 106 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving!  British empire Canada based tax-sucking metal fabricator for the military AVCORP issued a layoff WARN for 61 people in Gardena.  Tax-sucker Boeing issued more layoff WARNs, 49 people losing their jobs right before Xmas.  British empire United Kingdom based automotive-aerospace engineering company GKN issued a shutdown WARN for its Santa Ana ops, 95 jobs gone in time for Xmas.    After years of taking over competitors, biotech company Thermo Fisher issued shutdown and layoff WARNs, at least 84 Golden State jobs gone between Xmas 2016 and September 2017.  In Ontario, box maker Bert-Co issued a mass layoff WARN, 106 jobs lost, effective on Xmas day! In Tehacapi, Benz Sanitation-Propane finally revealed that it eliminated 133 jobs back in August! Texas based contract manufacturer Benchmark Electronics issued a shutdown WARN for its Anaheim ops, 89 jobs gone by the end of March 2017.  Also in Anaheim, First Transit issued a Shutdown WARN, 319 jobs gone right after Thanksgiving! World Courier Ground issued a shutdown WARN for their Burlingame ops, 66 jobs gone after Thanksgiving. Ryder eliminating 11 jobs right before Thanksgiving as it shuts down a location in Fontana.  Tax-sucker General Dynamics-NASSCO warning that 7-hundred employees could become unemployed in January 2017, due to reduced spending by the U.S. Navy!  Santa Barbara based tax-sucking military contractor Channel Technologies Group now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and for sale.  Administrators claim they’ve lost $10-million USD on their military contracts!

Colorado: Despite reports of booming ganja sales, and increased tax revenues as a result, maker of mary-jane packaging High Supply USA already chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to “theft and corporate espionage”.

Florida: In Pinelless Park, lens maker Transitions Optical eliminating 43 jobs right after Xmas. In Medley, BE Aerospace eliminating 53 office jobs right before Xmas.

Georgia: Tax-sucker Boeing shutting down its 35 years old Macon factory, 120 jobs lost by Xmas!

Illinois: Office furniture maker Bretford issued a layoff WARN for their Franklin Park factory, 128 jobs lost by right before Thanksgiving due to crashing sales! White County Coal issued a shutdown WARN for their Carmi coal mine, 227 jobs lost by the end of November!

Indiana: The White County Economic Development Organization discovered that Wisconsin based electric motor maker Regal Beloit has been eliminating jobs at their Monticello factory, and quietly moving production to Mexico! Regal Beloit administrators refused to comment to local news media about the discovery.  Wisconsin based construction machine maker Rexnord revealed it is shutting down its Indianapolis bearings factory, 3-hundred U.S. jobs being moved to Mexico by April 2017!    Manufacturing Technology suddenly laid off 24 employees due to crashing demand for welding machines that cost $1-million USD: “When a machine is over $1 million in price we’re successful, but the market is growing for machines that are $500,000 or less.”-Bob Besse, vice president of marketing and sales

Iowa:  What automotive industry recovery? International Automotive Components eliminating 440 jobs by Xmas! It’s blamed on Fiat-Chrysler halting production of the Dart.  XPO Logistics laid off 37 warehouse workers, apparently the warehouse was sold.

Kansas: Textron Aviation (Beechcraft and Cessna) laid off an undisclosed number of employees due to crashing sales.

Louisiana: Oil industry company Frank’s International issued a layoff WARN, but gave no numbers.  Furniture maker Paoli shutting down their Orleans factory, 467 jobs gone by October 2017, no reason given!

Maine: More layoffs at tax-sucking Bath Iron Works, this time 160 filled and vacant positions are being eliminated.  Administrators swear it’s not connected to the loss of a military contract.

Michigan: In Detroit auto parts supplier Faurecia North America shutting down two factories, 348 jobs lost due to Fiat-Chrysler halting production of the Dart!  Iconic car maker Ford announced it will halt production of its F150 pickup due to a sudden crash in sales, 13-thousand people in Kentucky and Mexico now ‘temporarily’ jobless!

Minnesota: Minnesota Power shutting down two coal fired power plants four years earlier than planed, at least 30 jobs lost by 2018.  Administrators blame it on studies that claim that power plants using fuel sources other than coal are cheaper to operate (partly due to less people needed to run them).

Montana: Bio-chem company Rivertop Renewables announced “We let a few people go and we have been working under reduced salary for some employees for some time….  Due to market conditions….”

New Hampshire: Exeter based sports equipment maker Performance Sports Group chapter 11 bankrupt busted and for sale, due to “adverse market and economic conditions”.  Maker of shoe patterns, Swanson Die Company, finally died after more than 60 years of providing pattern dies for the shoe industry.

New Jersey: Bankrupt busted and dying Korea based international shipper Hanjin revealed it suddenly laid off 127 people at its Paramus ops, back in September!  China owned appliance maker Qingdao Haier-Haier America shutting down their GE (General Electric) Appliance factory in Wayne, 91 jobs lost right after Xmas. Haier America will also shutdown GE Appliance factories around the U.S. as it consolidates manufacturing to Kentucky, as part if its take-over of GE Appliances.  PSEG shutting down its Jersey City and Hamilton coal fired power plants, 2-hundred jobs lost by June 2017!

New York: Bus company Professional Charter eliminating at least 34 jobs right after Xmas, for “economic” reasons. Aerospace company Triumph Structures issued a shutdown WARN for its Westbury factory, 90 jobs lost by August 2017.

North Carolina: Industrial lawn mower maker Jacobsen shutting down their Charlotte factory, 2-hundred jobs gone by Xmas!  Jacobsen is being consolidated by its owner Textron.

Ohio: What automotive industry recovery? General Motors (GM) halting production of cast iron motor parts at its Defiance factory, 285 people already laid off!  Korea based Hyundai Ideal Electric laying off an additional 50  workers at their Mansfield factory.  Local news sources say at one time Hyundai employed 5-hundred people, but are now down to just 40 employees!

Oregon: Oil-mining industry metal fabricator ESCO suddenly issued a shutdown WARN for its Portland factory, 168 people already jobless!  The factory will shutdown by July 2017.

Pennsylvania:  Allegheny Technologies officially shutdown two idled factories, local news media estimate that 475 employees are affected!  Manitowoc Crane Group eliminated yet more jobs, this time 85 people became jobless without warning “… due to the continued downturn in the economy…”

Texas: Despite surviving bankruptcy Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Company (TCEH) announced it will eliminate 658 jobs with its Luminant and TXU Energy operations!  Alabama based Continental Motors shutting down their San Antonio aircraft parts factory, 50 jobs lost in time for Thanksgiving.

Virginia: Richmond based tobacco company Altria announced it will shutdown factories in Illinois and Pennsylvania, 580 jobs gone by 2018! What automotive industry recovery? Japan based Yokohama Tire eliminating 50 jobs at its Salem factory, in the name of efficiency.

Washington: Boeing eliminating 56 more jobs in Puget Sound, right before Xmas.  Jorgensen Forge suddenly shutdown its Tukwila factory, 111 jobs gone!

Wisconsin: What automotive industry recovery? Harley-Davidson warning of yet more layoffs.  No numbers given but the layoffs will take place around Xmas time.  It’s blamed on non-stop crashing sales.

ObamaCare Destruction, October 2016: “CONCERNING & CERTAINLY SOMEWHAT PROBLEMATIC.”

Sears Kmart Destruction, October 2016: KMART MAKES SANTA’S NAUGHTY LIST, NO TOYS FOR XMAS!

U.S. Food Crisis, October 2016: “AN UNFORESEEN SLOWDOWN” DROWNING IN BEER & CHROMIUM-6?

U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics layoffs, September 2016 :“SUSTAINED MARKET CHALLENGES”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Business/Economics

Sears Kmart shutdowns, October 2016: Kmart makes Santa’s naughty list, no toys for Xmas!

More shutdowns in Canada, this time the Edmonton Sears in the Bonnie Doon Centre shutting down, 70 jobs lost by the end of January 2017.  Also, the Sears department store at Dartmouth’s Penhorn Mall will shutdown, 73 jobs gone by September 2017.

“We came to the conclusion that at this time based off of what we have seen and what we have read with regards to the retailer that it would be best served for our company to suspend shipments to this retailer to minimize any risk going forward.”-Stephen Berman, CEO Jakks Pacific

Toy supplier Jakks Pacific says they will no longer make deliveries to Kmart due to the unpredictable management decisions of Eddie Lampert-Sears Holdings.  Administrators of Jakks Pacific are basically scared they won’t be paid for their end of year holiday deliveries.

Months ago Eddie Lampert made the decision to sell-off  Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard brands.  News reports now indicate several hopeful buyers of the Craftsman brand have offered as much as $2-billion USD!

September 2016: 2,583 STORES UP FOR LEASE OR SALE!

WARN = Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification

Here’s the updated list of U.S. Sears-Kmart store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011, new revelations in BOLD:

Alabama: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Cullman is shutting down.   27 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  After 16 years the Troy Sears Hometown Store suddenly shutdown, the contracted owners said they couldn’t find anybody willing to take over the contract. Oxford Sears (local news reports said the Oxford Sears opened in 1985 with 225 employees!), Birmingham Kmart on Chalkville Mountain, Decatur Kmart on Beltline Road, Homewood Kmart, Mobile Kmart on Z Schillingers Road. The Montgomery Sears store and Auto Center in the Eastdale Mall shutting down, 56 jobs lost in June 2016. City leaders of Anniston have agreed to fork over $3-million precious local tax dollars to fund the re-development of an abandoned Kmart. Prattville Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 70 jobs lost. Florence Kmart in March, 64 jobs lost in 2016. A local news report said the employees knew nothing about it and were shocked to hear it from the news media! Dothan Kmart (south side of Ross Clark Circle) shutting down in March, 56 jobs lost in 2016. Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost), Sears Store and Auto Center at the Bel Air Mall in Mobile (more than 100 jobs lost).

Alaska: The Anchorage Sears Store & Auto Center, the Wasilla Sears Store, the Fairbanks Sears Store & Auto Center made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

Arkansas: 17 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears shutdown in July 2016.

Arizona: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says a ‘Sears’ property in Sierra Vista is shutting down. 42 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nogales Kmart shutdown by July 2016, despite the fact that it’s a profit making store (many of its cash paying customers cross the border from Mexico). The Prescott Valley Kmart shutdown April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Reports that the Glendale Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors. Recently revealed Arrowhead Towne Center Sears sold-off then rented back! Chandler Fashion Center Sears sold-off then rented back!

California: A shutdown WARN issued for the Fontana Kmart, 133 jobs gone before Xmas!  A shutdown WARN issued for a Los Angeles Kmart, 234 jobs gone right before Xmas!  233 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!!  Sears Holdings shutdown a Los Angeles Kmart, 132 jobs lost in May 2016! Dinuba Kmart 68 jobs lost, Lodi Kmart, Tulare Kmart, Wasco Kmart. Sears Holdings created Seritage Growth Properties is renting out half of three Sears stores; one in Roseville, one in Citrus Heights and one in Sacramento. Supposedly Sears will continue its operations in the other half of the buildings. On 10 March the Garden Center roof of the Santa Rosa Kmart collapsed during a rain storm. Fire inspectors said the roof was already compromised due to dry rot before the rain storm, a local news reporter said managers knew about the condition of the roof because it was sagging, and they called in contractors. The contractors tried to prop up the roof before the rain storm hit. Anaheim Kmart shutdown, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutdown between March and April 2016, a total of 3-hundred jobs lost! El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”

Two San Diego Sears (more than 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost), Torrance Kmart, Fairfield Kmart (63 jobs lost), Lampert owned OSH taken over by Lowe’s home improvement in bankruptcy court, at least 17 of 99 stores to be closed down (935 jobs lost!), Rancho Cordova Kmart (97 jobs lost), San Clemente Kmart/Sears/Kmart on Camino de Estrella (58 jobs lost), placed on an official hit list in 2011 the Oceanside Kmart on College Boulevard finally being shut down, Banning Kmart (91 jobs lost) recently revealed that Sears Holdings is still paying rent on the abandoned property, Laguna Hills Mall Sears, San Diego Mid-City Kmart (73 jobs lost), Hemet Kmart (77 jobs lost), Oakland Sears repair center (75 jobs lost), San Mateo Kmart (82 jobs lost to an apartment building connected to public transportation), Hesperia Kmart building sold at a loss to a vulture capitalist REIT, no word on if the Kmart will be shutdown. Customers complain that the Kmart employees have a bad attitude, gee I wonder why? Yuba City Kmart (63 jobs lost), Rocklin Kmart (at least 63 jobs lost, the store had just posted “Now Hiring” signs), San Leandro Kmart (102 jobs lost), San Jose Mercury News says the El Centro Kmart to shutdown in January, the website Foursquare says the Covina Kmart is now shutdown (other sources say it will shutdown in December), Cupertino Sears and Auto Center (98 jobs lost), somebody posted on yelp* that the Diamond Bar Kmart was shutting down in December (confirmed by Armijo Newspapers), Westfield Topanga Sears (122 jobs lost), it looks like the Blythe Kmart is being slowly shutdown despite denial by Sears Holdings. San Mateo Kmart being demolished to make room for 599 unit apartment complex, as part of the the Hayward Park Caltrain Station project. Atwater Kmart (74 jobs lost), Los Banos Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Colorado: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Thornton is shutting down. 40 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears/Great Indoors, Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost), Denver Kmart (number of jobs lost have not been made public at this time, but could be at least 40), Colorado Springs Kmart at Powers and Palmer Park boulevards (57 jobs lost), Fort Collins Sears (67 jobs lost), Denver-Cherry Creek North Sears store & Auto Center (66 jobs lost).

Connecticut: Local news media pointed out that every remaining Sears and Kmart store in the state is on the new Sears Holdings Real Estate “opportunities” list! Putnam Kmart. Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).

Delaware: Seven Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: 173 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!   In Orlando, the 50 years old Fashion Square Mall Sears & Auto Center shutting down, 101 jobs lost by mid-November! Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down between July-September. The Lutz Kmart shutdown March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutdown mid-March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost). Dicks Sportings Goods subleasing space in an existing Sears store in Palm Beach Gardens.

Georgia: Yet another Augusta Kmart shutting down, this time the one on Deans Bridge Road.  63 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutdown in August 2016, 1-hundred jobs lost! Administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say the Rome Kmart is the last Sears Holdings store in the area! The 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutdown April 2016. Dublin Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 71 jobs lost. Milledgeville Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 60+ jobs lost. Mount Berry Square Mall (Rome) Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Macon Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Buford Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Douglasville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Atlanta Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Columbus Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jonesboro Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Cartersville Kmart (74 jobs lost), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.

Guam: Tamuning Kmart made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 14 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Iconic 25 years old Nimitz HWY Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart shutdown in March 2016, 141 jobs lost! Honolulu Sears (owned by GGP, 372 jobs lost! GGP spending $573-million chopping it up into smaller store spaces), Kauai Sears (41 jobs lost), Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart for lease (no confirmation of store closing).

Idaho: Lewiston Kmart, Boise Town Square Mall Sears Store & Auto Center, Boise Kmart Auto Center, the Nampa Kmart Store & Auto Center, the Coeur d’Alene Kmart and Sears Store & Auto Center, the Twin Falls Sears Store & Auto Center and Kmart, the Ammon Kmart, the Idaho Falls Sears Store & Auto Center, the abandoned but still owned by Sears Holdings Chubbuck (the“opportunities” listing incorrectly says Pocatello) Sears Store (esentially all remaining Sears & Kmarts in Idaho) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Boise Kmart on Fairview shutdown mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutdown April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Rexburg Kmart (63 jobs lost), Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall Sears shutdown by the end of October/beginning of November 2014 (the remaining 28 jobs lost).

Illinois: Sears Hardware in Edwardsville shutting down right before Thanksgiving, 21 jobs lost. A local TV station reported that Sears Hardware in Collinsville is shutting down, no comment from store management.  Shutdown WARNs issued for Kmarts in Tinley Park and South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago, 275 jobs gone by Xmas!  News reports out of Tinley say a total of six Kmarts will shutdown by Xmas! Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed that two ‘Sears’ properties, in Chicago and Springfield, are shutting down. 116 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!  An update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; the recently vacated property was ‘donated’ to Augustana College, but now college adminitrators are looking to sell the property to anybody foolish enough to buy it. The real reason the college is trying to dump the vacant Kmart is that the property tax is about $92-thousand per year, indicating the ‘donation’ was actually a screw-job (lets not forget that local news media pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving!). The Kmart Super Center in Bradley shutdown, 125 jobs lost! Sears Holdings sold the building to Meijer, unconfirmed reports say the Bradley Kmart Super Center (which has a full grocery op) was actually making money. After 90 years Chicago Sears on Lawrence Avenue shutting down by August 2016, local news says its the oldest Sears store still operating. The last Decatur Kmart shutting down by August 2016, 61 jobs lost, administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say there are no more Sears Holdings stores in the immediate area! Chicago Kmart on South Pulaski. Danville Kmart, Galesburg Kmart, Lansing Kmart, Pekin Kmart, Eddie Lampert eliminated 401 Hoffman Estates HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales! 151 of those jobs were already vacant. Morton ‘green’ Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Canton Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. North Mayfair Kmart (99 jobs lost), Chicago Kmart at 5033 North Elston Avenue (99 jobs lost). By the way, Illinois elected officials gave Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates a $150 million USD tax break to keep their headquarters in the state. The tax break was not tied to any promise not to close stores.

Indiana: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Elkhart and Merrillville are shutting down.  A WARN revealed that 99 Kmart employees in Merrillville will lose their jobs right before Xmas.   67 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Bloomington Kmart, New Albany Kmart. Bloomington’s College Mall Sears & Auto Center shutdown mid-June 2016, at least 52 jobs lost. In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutdown in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart April 2016, 62 jobs lost. Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Sears (49 jobs lost), South Anthony Kmart (70 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on South Anthony Boulevard (70 jobs lost), FairOaks Mall Kmart, Logansport Sears (43 jobs lost), Muncie Kmart (59 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on Coliseum Boulevard North (69 jobs lost), Decatur Kmart (49 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Madison Avenue (131 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Washington Street (139 jobs lost), Bedford Kmart (62 jobs lost), Indianapolis (Evansville) Sears & Auto Center at Washington Square Mall (91 jobs lost), Greenwood Kmart (78 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: 22 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Des Moines Southridge Mall Sears shutting down by August 2016, the store was in the process of dying anyway, only 37 employees left. Sears Holdings shutdown their West Des Moines call center in June 2016, 162 jobs lost! Ottumwa Kmart shutdown April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Cedar Rapids Kmart on 16th Ave (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost), Coralville Sears (94 jobs lost, this is a store sold to GGP earlier in the year), Cedar Rapids Kmart on Collins Road NE (56 jobs lost), Mason City Kmart (50 jobs lost), Clive Kmart (at least 49 jobs lost), Ames Kmart (44 jobs lost), Fort Dodge Sears (no job loss numbers made public, yet. The Auto Center was secretly shutdown in September), 56 years old Mason City Sears & Auto Center (more than 100 jobs lost). Davenport Kmart (59 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Kansas: 18 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  In El Dorado, a contracted Sears store suddenly shutdown due to Sears Holdings continually changing the contract: “We had a contract that we had to follow to a ‘T’ while they changed it at will. They changed our commission bonuses and percentages and that hurt us.”-Russ Christy, contracted Sears store operator

Hutchison Kmart. North Topeka Kmart shutting down in 2016, 49 jobs lost. Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Merriam Kmart-then Sears-then Kmart (jobs lost unknown), Wichita Sears store & Auto Center (103 jobs lost), Manhattan Sears & Auto Center (number of jobs lost were never revealed).

Kentucky: Pikeville Kmart shutting down right before Xmas. 31 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Two Kmarts in Louisville. Elizabethtown Kmart, Maysville Kmart, Paintsville Kmart. Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).

Louisiana: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Houma and New Iberia are shutting down. 36 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The Bossier Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Houma Sears, Pineville Kmart. Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown, Laplace Sears Hometown Store.

Maine: 13 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Kmart shutting down by August 2016, more than 50 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost), Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Sears (63 jobs lost), Aroostook Centre Mall Sears Auto Center leased out to VIP Tires & Service.

Maryland: 54 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost), Parkville Kmart (102 jobs lost), California Kmart (71 jobs lost), Sears Hometown Store in Perryville.

Massachusetts: 64 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Tewksbury Kmart. Fairhaven Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown mid-April 2016. Local news reports said the ignorant employees actually thought the shutdown notice was a joke! I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News. 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shutdown in May 2016. North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost). Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutdown. Also, the Braintree South Shore Plaza Sears store is renting out an entire floor to Ireland based Primark. Even with the lease to Primark there is still 4-thousand square feet of vacant space in the Sears store. The Sears at the Auburn Mall shutdown on Black Friday due to electrical fire. The store was experiencing electrical problems, an investigation is underway.

Michigan: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Alpena, Manistee and Sault Saint Marie are shutting down.  WARNs filed with the state revealed that on top of the Seritage Growth shutdowns the Kmarts in Jackson, Grand Rapids, Byron Center and Fenton will also shutdown. A total of 390 Kmart jobs will be killed right before Xmas!  113 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The Holland Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown, the manager of the francise store refused to say why. Plymouth Township Super Kmart shutting down by November 2017 (that’s when the lease expires). According to Plymouth’s Planning Commission, Sears Holdings is selling the property to a developer. A Kmart on Groesbeck Highway, Clinton Township, shutting down, 82 jobs lost by October 2016. The Farmington Hills Kmart shutting down by mid-July 2016, 61 jobs lost. Midland Sears, Houghton Lake Kmart, Taylor Kmart. The Bradley Kmart has a new owner who is shutting it down in 2016. Retailer Meijer bought the Kmart property for $5-million USD. The Kmart shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutdown by mid-March, 48 jobs lost. Ironwood Kmart by mid-April, 47 jobs lost. Sears/Great Indoors, Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials, Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart, Saginaw Kmart on Bay Road, Flint Kmart on Dort Highway (46 jobs lost), Gaylord Kmart (48 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (58 jobs lost), Bloomfield Township Kmart and Sears, Bad Axe Kmart (61 jobs lost), Ypsilanti Township Kmart (83 jobs lost), Petoskey Kmart (45 jobs lost), Saint John’s Kmart (48 jobs lost), White Lake Township “Store of the Future” Kmart (42 jobs lost), Grand Blanc Kmart (49 jobs lost), Lapeer Kmart (56 jobs lost), Southgate Kmart (155 jobs lost), Detroit’s Telegraph Road Kmart (115 jobs lost), Waterford Township Sears (no word on how many jobs lost), Rochester Hills Kmart (77 jobs lost), ‘perfect Kmart town’ of Port Huron Kmart (188 jobs lost), Flint Kmart on Miller Road (81 jobs lost), Burton Kmart (85 jobs lost), Madison Heights Kmart (179 jobs lost), it’s now official the last remaining Saginaw Kmart (on Gratiot Road) will remain shutdown after its roof collapsed during a snowstorm back in January 2014 (Sears Holdings claims only 18 people worked there at the time of the collapse!), Ann Arbor Kmart (59 jobs lost), Iron Mountain Kmart (54 jobs lost), Bangor Township Sears aka Bay City Mall Sears, the Auto Center was already secretly shutdown some time ago (at least 47 jobs lost), Big Rapids Kmart (about 50 jobs lost). Vacant Wyandotte Sears Auto Center is being renovated at a cost to taxpayers of $1-million & 20-thousand, plus 15 years worth of tax breaks valued at $2-million! Shakopee Kmart distribution center shutdown and sold-off for $17-million in 2013, now it’s finally getting a new tenant; snowmobile and electric cart maker Polaris Industries will rent out a fraction of the building to use as their new parts warehouse. The Kmart Plaza in Sandusky sold to “A group of investors”, no word on what will happen to the Kmart store.

Minnesota: West Saint Paul Kmart shutting down by Xmas.  32 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The 40 years old Eden Prairie Center Sears store shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Eddie Lampert sold the store to the mall owner for $16-million! The owner of the mall wants to carve up the Sears into smaller stores. Dundas Kmart in April 2016, 32 jobs lost. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 48 jobs lost. Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.

Mississippi: 14 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Corinth Kmart. The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutdown in April, no word on job losses. Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).

Missouri: 48 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Bridgeton Kmart, Springfield Kmart. Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line, High Ridge Kmart (59 jobs lost), Ellisville Kmart (55 jobs lost), Springfield Kmart on South Campbell Avenue (60 jobs lost), South Belt Kmart (64 jobs lost), Florissant Kmart (100 jobs lost), O’Fallon Kmart (76 jobs lost).

Montana: The Hamilton Kmart, Havre Kmart, Helena Kmart, Glendive Kmart, Billings Sears Store & Auto Center, Butte Kmart, Great Falls Kmart Store & Auto Center, Kalispell Kmart Store & Auto Center (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Billings Kmart. Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost), Great Falls Kmart (closed “until further notice” due to fire, 63 jobs on hold), Great Falls Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost) due to great sales (ironically) the shutdown date has been moved from 07 December 2014 to 23 November, Bozeman Kmart (37 jobs lost), Missoula Sears store and Auto Center (57 jobs lost).

Nebraska: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Kearney is shutting down.  Six Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  40 years old Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: 22 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: 53 Kmart and Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nearly one acre of the Rockaway Townsquare Mall Sears (which is still in operation) is now rented out to a furniture dealer. Lodi Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 75 jobs lost. Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost), Closter Kmart (102 jobs lost), Vineland Kmart (74 jobs lost). After 18 years Sears Holdings shutdown their Roselle Sears Hardware store due to “landlord issues”.

New Mexico: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Deming is shutting down.21 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Back in May local news reports said the Artesia Kmart was shutting down, in July Sears Holdings finally confirmed it. Albuquerque’s Coronado Center Sears suddenly shutdown their Auto Center, and will reduce the size of the main store by 50% within two months. Sears goon Howard Riefs stated “We will rightsize the labor…”, but gave no numbers. The ‘rightsizing’ of the Coronado Center store is in partnership with one of my evil former employers, mall owner GGP. SearsLas Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York: Shutdown WARN issued for the Binghamton Kmart, 69 jobs gone by Xmas. Shutdown WARN issued for the Cheektowaga Kmart, 101 jobs gone by Xmas!  The second level of the Staten Island Sears shutting down right before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, 44 jobs killed, it’s been leased to Ireland’s clothier Primark. 104 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The 50 years old Sears Auto Center in the Colonie Center Mall shutdown by Sears Holdings subsidiary Seritage Growth Properties, so the space could be rented out to Avis-Budget Car Rental Group. In Brooklyn, the Kings Plaza Sears shutting down, 210 jobs gone by mid-September 2016! Eddie Lampert is renting the space to a couple of European clothing retailers. Sears Holdings issued a shutdown WARN for its Plattsburgh Sears store and Auto Center, 56 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. New York Post says Sears is shutting down their NYC clothing design office, 40 jobs moved to California, another 154 jobs gone by July! Rotterdam Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down by August 2016 (67 jobs lost). Sears Holdings issued yet another WARN, this time 75 Rochester Kmart employees losing their jobs by mid-July 2016. Irondequoit Sears, Plattsburgh Sears, Poughkeepsie Kmart, Rochester Kmart. Staten Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown in February, 20 jobs lost. Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford (Sangertown Mall) Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost), Lancaster Kmart sold for $1.7-million to Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. Herkimer Sears Hometown, Saranac Lake Sears Hometown the ‘independent’ co-owners said Sears Holdings forced them to shutdown. Melville Appliance Repair Division (31 jobs lost).

North Carolina: The High Point Sears Call Center shutting down by February 2017, Sears Holdings actually refused to tell local news media how many jobs will be lost, unnamed employees said it “will be in the hundreds” (local news reports said the last time Sears publicized how many employees worked the call center it was more than 3-hundred)!  Mount Airy Kmart (in the Mayberry Mall) shutting down right before Xmas.  Burlington Kmart shutting down right before Xmas, local news reports said nobody was surprised.  71 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! 40 years old Thomasville Kmart shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brevard Kmart, Gastonia Kmart, Lumberton Kmart, Pineville Kmart, Rocky Mount Kmart. Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost), Greenville Kmart (75 jobs lost), Kinston Sears Hometown Store shutdown with little notice, Lexington Sears Hometown Store.

North Dakota: 18 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: Employees confirmed to local news media that the 21 years old Austintown Sears Appliance and Hardware will shutdown by Xmas.  Mentor Kmart shutting down by Xmas, local news reports say in the 1990s the store employed 2-hundred people!  124 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears store (the Auto Center was shutdown in 2014), Ashtabula Kmart, Eaton Kmart, Fremont Kmart, Lima Kmart, Lorain Kmart, Springboro Kmart. Englewood Kmart, 57 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. Fort Stueben Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 53 jobs lost in June 2016. Sandusky Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 44 jobs lost in June 2016. 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutdown in May 2016. 18 jobs lost as the Dixie Highway Sears Hardware shuts down this Friday. The 28 years old Sears and its Auto Center in New Philadelphia shutdown by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutdown mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutdown by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Boardman Kmart by April 2016, 81 jobs lost. Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Columbus Sears/Great Indoors, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost), Austintown Sears auto parts and service on Interstate Boulevard, London Kmart (no word on number of jobs lost), Trotwood Sears (67 jobs lost), Westlake Kmart/Sears (at least 57 jobs lost), Xenia Kmart (at least 57 jobs lost), Norwalk Kmart (52 jobs lost), Blue Ash Kmart (77 jobs lost), Northwood Sears at Woodville Mall (36 jobs lost), Conneaut Kmart (43 jobs lost), Anderson Township Kmart (71 jobs lost), Brooklyn Kmart (200 jobs lost), Columbus Lockbourne Industrial Parkway Sears distribution center (200 jobs lost), also in Columbus, Sears Product Rebuild-Call Center (112 jobs lost), Marion Sears Auto Center (at least nine jobs lost), Springfield Kmart #3767 (68 jobs lost), Fairborn Kmart (66 jobs lost), Solon Sears & Auto Center (at least 53 jobs lost), Tiffin Sears Hometown Store. Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.

Oklahoma: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).

Oregon: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  A Blind Bat News reader warning that the Beaverton Kmart has replaced its permanent signage with temporary ones, and the store is looking empty. There’s been no public reports of the store shutting down. Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center), Milwaukie Kmart (61 jobs lost), Coos Bay Kmart (25 jobs lost), Bend Sears (48 jobs lost), Klamath Falls Kmart (64 jobs lost), Albany Kmart (64 jobs lost), Portland Sears Homes Services (no notice), Albany Sears (57 jobs lost), in October a BBN reader warned that Oregon City Kmart was being quietly shutdown, confirmed on 06 November 2014 by Sears Holdings (70 jobs lost). Ontario Kmart (55 jobs lost).

Pennsylvania: 168 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! In July, Sears Holdings shutdown the Uniontown Kmart, killing at least 73 jobs. But the shutdown is also affecting a locally owned restaurant (Mark C’s Diner) still on the property, whose owners say their sales have crashed-n-burned since the shutdown. Now Sears Holdings say they are about to sell the Uniontown property in an effort to “realize shareholder value from the property”. Butler Sears, New Castle Sears, Beaver Falls Kmart, Philadelphia Kmart on Frankford Avenue. Two Pittsburgh Kmarts. Reading Kmart. Sears store in the Beaver Valley Mall, 62 jobs lost. Viewmont Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 86 jobs lost in July 2016. Reports that the Exton Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost), Fairless Hills Sears Hardware. Granite Run Mall shutdown, meaning the Sears and Sears Auto Center now apparently on a month to month (possibly day to day) lease are soon to follow. Brookhaven Kmart (89 jobs lost).

Puerto Rico: 31 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

Rhode Island: Five Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

South Carolina: 37 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 44 years old Orangeburg Kmart shutting down in August 2016. Camden Kmart. 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutdown by May 2016. Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).

South Dakota: 11 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Huron Kmart, Yankton Kmart. The Pierre Kmart shutdown March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: After 30 years the Sears Hometown Store in Dyersburg shutdown. Local news reports say the shutdown was no surprise to the store’s manager.  58 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!   Local news reports say Sears Holdings has posted “Going out of business!” signs on the North Knoxville Kmart, however they could not get any confirmation of shutdown from corporate administrators. Bristol Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Athens Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart, Maryville Kmart. The Murfreesboro Kmart shutdown April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutdown in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutdown in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutdown by mid-March 2016, 67 jobs lost. Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears, Nashville Bellevue Center Sears & Auto Center (at least 44 jobs lost).

Texas:  Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Harlingen is shutting down.  Local news reports confirmed the Lubbock Kmart is shutting down right before Xmas.  134 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! Fort Stockton Sears Hometown Store was ‘re-branded’ the America’s Appliance Experts outlet. Sears Holdings revealed the Brownsville Kmart is shutting down by August. El Paso Kmart, Mission Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart. Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost), Simon Property Group owned McAllen Sears store & Auto Center (so far no word on how many jobs will be lost), recently revealed Palestine Sears Hometown (franchise owner quit to work as assistant manager at a local Dollar General). Wichita Falls Sikes Senter Mall Sears (56 jobs lost).

Utah: 16 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  Draper Kmart, Price Kmart, West Jordan Kmart. 35 years old Richfield Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutdown April 2016, 58 jobs lost. Murray Sears (local news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost), Provo Kmart demolished in anticipation of yet another AtHome furniture store.

Vermont: Five Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.  The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virgin Islands: Three Kmarts  made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.

Virginia: 63 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  Christiansburg Kmart and the Hampton Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Chester Kmart, 76 jobs gone by mid-July 2016. The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutdown between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper. Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Winchester Kmart (91 jobs lost), Dale City Kmart (69 jobs lost), Chesapeake Sears and Auto Center (82 jobs lost), Front Royal Kmart (88 jobs lost), Pembroke Mall Sears renting out part of their store to DSW & Nordstrom Rack, Sears Holdings say they’re still looking for a “third tenant” for their occupied space. The current nearby Sears Auto Center will be rented out to REI. Colonial Heights Kmart (113 jobs lost), Virginia Beach Hilltop Square Shopping Center Kmart (82 jobs lost).

Washington: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says a ‘Sears’ property in Yakima is shutting down. 46 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! After officially denying that their Marysville Kmart was shutting down, calling it a “a bad rumor” and swearing to local news media that “the store will remain open”, guess what? Local news media reporting that the Marysville Kmart is now plastered with “store closing” signs, 47 jobs lost by by mid-July. Arrogantly Sears Holdings said the employees can apply at other Sears/Kmart stores, however, local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in all of Snohomish County. Eatonville Sears Hometown store. Walla Walla Sears Full line (in August 2012, it was reported that an independent owner of Sears Hometown stores will open a store in Walla Walla), Lacey Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Kelso Sears (47 jobs lost), Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

West Virginia: 34 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!  The Bluefield Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: The Land’s End outlet in the Madison West Towne Mall Sears store suddenly shutdown.  It was also revealed that Sears connected Land’s End has shutdown at least five stores since 2015, due to crashing sales.  36 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Seritage Growth Properties is ‘downsizing’ the Sears store in the West Towne Mall, according to plans filed with the city of Madison. Those plans show a new restaurant taking up more than half of the space of the Sears store. Administrators refused to answer questions from the local news media. The Wausau Center Sears shutting down, 35 remaining employees became unemployed June 2016. Sears Holdings administrators would only say “we are accelerating the closings of unprofitable stores.” Hartford Kmart. Superior Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 42 jobs lost. West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).

Wyoming: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed a ‘Sears’ property in Riverton is shutting down. Sheridan Kmart, Rock Springs Kmart, Riverton Kmart, Cody Kmart & Auto Center, Laramie Kmart, Jackson Kmart, Gillette Kmart, and in Casper and Cheyenne the Sears Stores & Auto Centers and Kmarts (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!

Business/Economics, International

Food Crisis: U.S. Deforestation caused landslides in Haiti! No more cheap coffee or cocoa?

18 October 2016 (02:09 UTC-07 Tango 01) 27 Mehr 1395/16 Muharram 1438/18 Wu Zu 4714

“We lost cows, and all of our crops. Nothing is left. And our homes are destroyed!”-Geffrard Duplessis, farmer

“The south-west is dominated by rural communities with only 22% Urban. Coffee and other agriculture are key to these locations.”–reliefweb.int

Don’t blame Hurricane Matthew for all the death and destruction in Haiti; corporate coffee  and cocoa operations, which required massive deforestation of Haiti’s mountain region, shares most of the blame for the killer landslides.

This photo shows the massive deforestation of Haiti, compared to its next door neighbor Dominican Republic

It’s interesting that Hurricane Matthew hit right where ‘western’ food corporations encouraged farmers to develop coffee, cocoa and rubber tree plantations (natural rubber tree ops disappeared after the oil industry succeeded in making mass produced synthetic rubber), which required the destruction of the old growth forests.  According to a New York Times article the deforestation was accelerated after the U.S. occupation of Haiti in the 1930s.  By the 1950s deforestation was complete.

Certified Gone?

“The National Institute of Coffee Haiti informs that more than 35,800 hectares [88,463 acres] of coffee have been devastated…”–Haiti Libre

“As well as tearing up food staples and filling fields with sea water and trash, the storm uprooted plantations of cocoa, coffee and fruit trees, cash crops that are exported and that experts said will take at least five years to grow back.”–Reuters

Now many of those coffee and cocoa plantations are washed away so expect prices for coffee and chocolate to go up.  The hurricane hit right when hopes were high about Haiti’s chocolate industry being able to boost its economy: “With 98 percent of their trees gone, Haitians eye cocoa-based agroforestry as a way to combat poverty and renew the land.”–Alternet

Already U.S. coffee retailers are asking customers to fork over hard earned cash to rebuild those plantations. Minnesota based Pelican Coffee Shop promises to donate 100% of its coffee bean profits to hurricane relief efforts in Haiti.

By the way, the official hurricane death toll has surpassed 1-thousand humans in Haiti, and mass-famine is expected within six months due to most of the farmland being washed away.

September 2016 U.S. Food Crisis:  IT’S OFFICIAL; MORE THAN HALF OF U.S. FARM WORKERS ARE ILLEGAL! FARMERS BIGGEST WELFARE PROGRAM?

Business/Economics

“sustained market challenges” : September 2016 U.S. MINING/INDUSTRIAL/LOGISTICS LAYOFFS

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss announcements and shutdowns for September 2016.

Arkansas: Fuel tank maker Amfuel shutting down its Magnolia factory, 3-hundred people jobless due to operations being moved to Texas!

California:    National Oilwell Varco laying off 72 people by Halloween. After reporting ” historic record financial results” at the end of 2015, shipping company United States Lines shutting down their Newport Beach port operations, 92 jobs lost by Halloween.  Taxpayer subsidized (to the recent tune of $300-million USD!) hotel builder Good Hope International laid off 60 people in Anaheim.   Apparently Boeing wasn’t satisfied with last month’s layoff warning for its ops in El Segundo and Huntington Beach, an additional 82 jobs being eliminated.   In Garden Grove, Morning Sun Shirt Company laying off 76 employees in November.  Israel owned clothing maker VF Contemporary Brands laid off 105 people without warning!  Clothing brand Max Azira eliminating 123 jobs in Vernon, by November!  Upscale sunglass maker Oakley issued a shutdown WARN for its Mira Loma operations, 119 jobs gone by January 2017! What automotive industry recovery?  Maker of custom wheels, Carlstar Group issued a shutdown WARN for their Ontario operations, 139 jobs gone by December!   In Santa Maria, Zodiac Seat Shells issued a layoff WARN, 205 jobs gone by Halloween! Kyocera Precisions Tools shutdown their San Jose office.  Also in San Jose, Menzies Aviation issued a layoff WARN, 85 jobs lost by November.

Colorado: Near Hesperus, the King II coal mine revealed it eliminated 38 jobs through attrition and layoffs.

Florida:  Taxsucker Honeywell laying off 52 Sensing and Productivity Solutions factory workers by 2017.   Administrators said it was “driven by just better and better efficiency”.  Sweden based Bonnier shutting down its profitable U.S. (Winter Park) based print magazine ops. Publication of Islands, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, and Caribbean Travel & Life will cease this year due to declining subscriptions, the owners want to get out while they’re still ahead, of course jobs will be lost.

Illinois: What construction industry recovery? In Joppa, the LaFarge cement factory announced that 40 jobs will be eliminated due to crashing demand for cement. In Mossville, Caterpillar eliminating 3-hundred support-management jobs as part of plans to halt overseas productions and massive layoff globally (some reports say more than 10-thousand jobs lost), due to crashing sales!  Dynegy laying off 64 Baldwin Energy Complex employees due to “loss of contract”.  Dynegy also issued a shutdown WARN for its Newton Power Plant, 48 jobs lost in October.  Wholesaler PartyLite shutting down their Batavia location, 144 jobs lost starting after Thanksgiving!  What automotive industry recovery? Maker of electrical parts for vehicles, IAC Belvidere, shutting down by Xmas.

Indiana: Plastics molder CPX shutdown without warning, 214 jobs instantly gone due to “unforeseeable economic circumstances”.

Iowa:  Taxsucking helicopter parts maker Fansteel now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming reduced Department of Defense (DoD) spending.  Flexsteel shutting down their 120 years old furniture factory in Dubuque, at least 250 jobs gone by December 2017!  Adminstrators say it will cost too much money to bring the old factory up to date, and they don’t seem so sure about building a new one.

Kentucky: Coal mining layoffs never stop as Alpha Natural Resources issued shutdown WARNs for two operations, resulting in 117 jobs lost!

Louisiana: In Amite, Bradken laying off 65 people in late October.   Trinity Marine Products shutting down in Brusley, 288 jobs gone between October and December!  In Barkesdale, taxsucking ProActive Technologies failed to get its DoD contract renewed, 51 jobs lost after Halloween (it’s hoped the new contractor will hire them).

Maine: Taxsucking General Dynamics Bath Iron Works about to kill 1-thousand 2-hundred jobs after losing a $10.5-billion U.S. taxdollar funded contract to a company in Florida!

Maryland: What automotive industry recovery? Sweden based Volvo suddenly laid off 143 people at its truck factory in Hagerstown and also revealed they laid off 138 employees during the 1st quarter of the year!

Missouri: Maker of bricks and heat resistant industrial products, HarbisonWalker International shutting down their Fulton factory. 87 jobs gone due to crashing sales.  Administrators say if the economy truly recovers then they might start back up.

New Jersey: Trucking company Veltri eliminating 77 jobs in Kearny, by November.  Packaging maker for consumer products, AQL Decorating eliminating 98 jobs in Fairview, right after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.  In Princeton, Tyco International Management eliminating 45 jobs before the New Year.

New Mexico: Taxsucking Lockheed Martin announced the elimination of 330 jobs due to the loss of a contract with the DoD!

New York: GL Bus Lines issued a layoff WARN, 82 jobs gone right before Xmas. Lock maker Allegion shutting down their Bronx NYC factory, 58 jobs lost starting in December.

Ohio: Cast Fab Tech shutting down their Oakely ops, 97 jobs gone in November due to take-over by competitor Elyria and Hodge Foundries. God powerless to stop christian agnostic Warren Buffett owned NetJets eliminating 80 jobs at its Lunken Repair Station right before Xmas.

Oklahoma: ConocoPhillips laid off 90 people in Bartlesville.  WPX Energy eliminated 40 jobs in Tulsa as part of plans to kill jobs.  In 2015 WPX employed 1-thousand 75 people, local news reports say when the job culling ends they’ll have 650 employees!

Pennsylvania:  Air Products laid off 26 people due to crashing demand for natural gas equipment.  Packaging Corporation of America eliminating 51 jobs before Thanksgiving.  Cheetah Chassis Corporation issued a layoff WARN, but didn’t say how many people would become unemployed.  ATI (Allegheny Technologies) shutting down its Specialty Alloys and Components factory in Frackville, 40 jobs gone by Xmas.

Tennessee: What construction industry recovery?  Maker of plumbing fixtures, Kohler eliminating 161 jobs at its Union City factory!  Administrators blame crashing sales.

Texas: Houston based ConocoPhillips began 1-thousand layoffs around the world, including 3-hundred people in Canada, and is selling-off its stake in the Indonesian oil-gas field!  Houston based Noble Energy warning of more layoffs despite slowly rising oil prices.  Colorado based Whiting Petroleum issued a WARN saying at least 102 Texans will become unemployed by the end of November!  Whiting is selling-off its Texas ops.  In Houston, filter maker Purolator shutting down due to “sustained market challenges”, 74 jobs gone.  Prime Flight Aviation Services lost contracts with several airlines and will eliminate 90 jobs at the San Antonio International Airport.

Virginia:  Industrial fastener and glue maker Norsdon Corporation shutting down its Pulaski factory, as part of plans to consolidate operations to Ohio (which will affect 260 employees in Pulanski, and employees at two other factories in Pennsylvania and Ohio).  Apparently Nordon’s primary cutomers are down to just Deutschland and Thailand, yet they reported their earnings were better-than-expected for their 3rd quarter.

Washington: France based make-up maker L’oreal eliminating 120 jobs at its Redmond and Kent operations, by Thanksgiving!

Washington DC: The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank admitted that U.S. factory production is stagnating.  In August production dropped 0.4%, canceling out the piddly 0.4% increase in July.

West Virginia: US Well Services laid off 60 people (according to employees), administrators admitted their ops in Jane Lew “…did not win the work we thought we were going to…”  Caterpillar Global Mining shutting down their one year old Bluefield call center, an undisclosed number of people jobless by the end of October.

Wisconsin:  Brillion Iron Works shutting down, 342 jobs killed by new owner Metaldyne Performance Group!   Graebel Van Lines eliminating 50 jobs by the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, due to consolidation of billing ops.  Machined parts maker Spirit Manufacturing shutting down one of its operations, 60 jobs lost due to “changing business circumstances”.

August 2016 : “A FINANCIALLY RUINOUS GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”

Business/Economics

“they don’t have the money.” “like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!” : September 2016 U.S. RETAIL/BANKING/SERVICE SECTOR LAYOFFS

Incomplete list of U.S. retail/banking/service sector job loss announcements and shutdowns for September 2016:

Arkansas: Bentonville based Walmart continues eliminating jobs, this time 7-thousand accounting jobs at stores across the U.S., over the next few months!  Administrators claim they’ll hire more customer service employees.  B.Jaxx Accessories shutdown in Saline County after ten years: “I can’t stress enough how important it is to shop local.”-company Facebook post

California: San Francisco based Wells Fargo going down.  At one time the top Too Big to Jail  bank in the U.S., based on ‘market value’, it’s now crashing & burning after revelations by the city of Los Angeles, and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that 2-million of Wells Fargo accounts are fake! Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185-million USD to settle the charges. The state treasurer has suspended billions of dollars in taxpayer funded investments with the bank.  In an apparent move to shift blame Wells Fargo administrators fired 5-thousand 3-hundred employees, many had tried to blow the whistle on the scam!  But that backfired as former employees, some who quit many years ago because they realized Wells Fargo was stacking the deck, have launched massive lawsuits showing it’s been Wells Fargo policy to create fake accounts for decades (supposedly starting in 1998)!  Employees were also made to work overtime without pay.  Wells Fargo illegally repossed military personnel’s vehicles while on deployment, and don’t forget it was proven in court years ago that Wells Fargo was the lead bank in the home foreclosure scams!  How many other Too Big to Jail banks are playing the same game (called Cross-Selling) to make their stockholders happy?  Wells Fargo could be the tip of the banking industry ice berg that’s about to be smashed into tiny pieces. 

CNN: How to tell if any bank opened fake accounts with your name

Forbes: Close Your Account!

In San Rafael, Genworth Financial issued a shutdown WARN, 58 jobs gone after Halloween.  In San Francisco, clothier Benny Gold shutting down its six years old store on 16th Street, and moving to a new location.  Hertz issued a layoff WARN for its vehicle rental/sales ops in San Francisco, 156 jobs lost by November!  In Palo Alto, after 51 years Keeble & Shuchat Photography shutting down in October, the owners warning that “small retail is just really doomed”.  In Long Beach, Tanaka Lawnmower shutdown after 33 years, the aged owners say it’s too hard to see to make repairs to customer’s lawnmowers.  In San Jose, Camera 12 (formerly United Artists movie theater) shutdown after ten years of losses.  In Reedley, Sunnyside Bicycles shutdown due to greedy landlords: “The lease was up, and we just couldn’t come to an agreement with the landowners…..   Business was good….it’s like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane!”-John McCracken

Colorado: Office Max shutting down their Pueblo store as part of plans to shutdown an additional 3-hundred U.S. stores.

Connecticut: In Stamford, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) issued two layoff WARNs, 43 jobs lost between Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Stamford based Starwoods Hotel and Resorts will begin eliminating jobs due ot being taken over by Marriot.  The world’s largest hedge fund company, Bridgewater Associates, has new administrators who think the company has become too large and as such will begin eliminating an undisclosed number of jobs.  After surviving The Great Depression, Clough’s Hardware & Gifts shutdown in Stratford.  God powerless to stop the British empire based Salvation Army from shutting down four thrift stores in The Constitution State.  Perhaps the not-so recovered economy is what Salvation Army admin was refereing to in this statement: “…current circumstances have made supporting these programs through these store locations impossible.”

Florida: France based travel and ’emergency’ insurance agency AXA Assistance  eliminating 40 jobs in Miami, between November 2016 and February 2017.  In Melbourne, after 53 years Southern Photo suddenly shutdown by unfinished road construction: “Quite simply, while we await answers from the Florida (Department of Transportation), we find that our best efforts to operate our business are not enough to navigate through the environment in which we find ourselves today.”– Lisa Stirtzinger, owner

 Underwood’s shutting down its six years old Avenues Mall jewelry store, directly blaming the not-so-recovered economy: “They’re not shopping the same way they did, because they don’t have the money.”-C. Clayton Bromberg, owner

Georgia: In Athens, Masada Leather & Outdoor shutdown after 40 years. The owner says he’ll focus on custom leather work only, at a smaller location.

Hawaii: Japan based Fujifilm shutting down their Oahu office, 24 jobs gone by the end of the year.

Illinois: In Northbrook, Maurice Sporting Goods shutting down, 49 jobs gone by November.  Insurance and financial services company AIG eliminating 70 Springfield jobs by Xmas.  Local news reports say no reason was given.   The Illinois state treasurer is going after Wells Fargo to “suspend billions of dollars” in taxpayer funded ‘investments’.

Indiana: In Alexandria, after 45 years Cox Hallmark Gift Shop shutdown.  In Shelbyville, Connor Jewelry shutdown after 81 years, the current owners blame ‘big box’ and internet competition.

Iowa: In Forest City, after more than 20 years re-sale store, and vocational services for mentally handicapped people, KrysMart shutdown. The operators said they could no longer maintain the operation.  In West Des Moines, after 30 years Letter Perfect stationary shop shutdown, the 71 years old owner said it’s time to retire.

Kentucky: In Lexington two entertainment venues going down, the Cinemark Movies 10 theater and Premiere Home Video.

Maryland: In Cantonsville, 121 years old Plymouth Wallpaper Furnishing & Gifts may-or may-not be shutting down.  A ‘space available’ sign has been posted and the owners told local news “We’re testing the waters for alternatives to the real estate owned by the company.”

Massachusetts: After 54 years The Surrey Shoppe shutdown. It should be noted that the Christian owners (who used a Bible in their window display) admitted that during the time of the christian imposed ‘Sharia’ law (aka Blue Laws) banning businesses from being open on Sunday, they rebelled and remained open seven days a week.  In Greenfield, after almost 1-hundred years Home Furnishing Company shutting down in October.  In Springfield, after 54 years Clothes Tree shutdown the owners blaming unAmerican corporate America for killing the jobs that employed their loyal customers, saying “…they brought in machines and got rid of all the girls.” 

Michigan: In Livonia, after ten years Scrappy Chic scrapbook shop shutting down by the end of October, unless a new owner is found.  In Port Huron, after five years Bargain Barn shutdown becasue the ‘god fearing’ property owners, Cross Current Church, refused to renew the lease.

Missouri: In Woodside, after 70 years Surplus City shutting down, the owner says slow sales (5% -10% decline every year since 2011) are a sign that it’s time to retire.  In Monett, after 46 years retail store Brownsberger shutdown, so the 70 years old owner can retire.  California based First Allied Securities shutting down its Chesterfield office as part of its consolidation operations.

Nebraska: SWBC (SouthWest Business Corporation) laid off 15 people while at the same time is advertising for 20 vacant positions. In Omaha, after 45 years Post & Nickel shutdown, the owners say they need to focus on their Lincoln store.

Nevada: In Sparks, after 19 years The Century 14 Theater shutdown with only a few days notice to the public.

New Hampshire: After 30 years Gilford Gift Outlet shutdown, not because of low sales (the owner claims sales are great) but because the owner is getting ready to retire.

New Jersey: After 70 years the Spring Lake Variety Store shutdown. The 74 years old owner of 80 years old Pettersons Men’s Shop shut-it-down so he can retire. Bankrupt clothier Aeropostale eliminating 108 jobs in Lyndhurst, by November!  In Fair Haven, popular Bike Haven shutting down due to the not-so-recovered economy and to greedy landlords: “They’re basically doubling the rent.”-Cliff Wittenberg, owner

New York: What housing market recovery?  In Elma, Seneca Mortgage will begin laying off mortgage servicing employees in December, due to selling out to competitor National Mortgage Holdings.  In Williamsville, PHH Mortgage laying off 91 people in January 2017, due to “Reduction in loan originations.”  In Rochester, after 67 years R.C. Shaheen Paint & Decorating Center officially shutdown as winners of the auction picked up their merchandise, the owner blames the ‘big box’ stores.  In Massena, 115 years old Smith’s True Value Hardware shutting down by the end of next month.  In Hicksville, matress retailer Sleepy’s issued a shutdown WARN for its Finance & Accounting Unit, 28 jobs lost after Xmas due to “restructuring”.   In NYC, Oscar Insurance moving 31 jobs to The Grand Canyon State of Arizona, right after Xmas.  Best Buy shutting down their Lawrence store by mid November, 60 jobs lost due to “economic” reasons.  Bankrupt clothier Aeropostale issued a shutdown WARN for its NYC HQ and corporate offices, 228 jobs gone right before Xmas! American Capital issued a shutdown WARN for its NYC office, 53 jobs lost before Xmas due to merger with a competitor.  Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs eliminated 90 jobs within its Asian market offices, blaming it on a decline in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).  The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative notified “dozens” of employees of layoffs by the end of the year, due to the wind down of operations.

North Carolina: What housing market recovery? Property manger Kornerstone Community Management now chapter 7 bankrupt dead and under investigation by the Garner Police Department.

North Dakota: In Fargo, successful Junk Giant shutdown so the owners can focus on even more successfull Vinyl Giant. In Williston, oil industry BS forcing two hotels to shutdown, with only a few days notice; Missouri Flats Inn and Marquis Plaza and Suites.

Ohio: Fifth Third Bank shutting down 44 offices in addition to the 1-hundred office shutdowns announced in 2015.  Administrators warned that bank office shutdowns will “…be an annual exercise.”  In Plain, J&D Surplus Junk Store shutting down by the end of October.  The Columbus Motor Speedway shutdown after 71 years of racing, it’s being turned into a park with rugby fields.

Oklahoma: In Oklahoma City, after 69 years iconic ‘hot rod’ parts retailer Parr Automotive shutdown.  A massive auction of hot rodder automobila, and the property itself, will be held towards the end of October.

Oregon: In Roseburg, taxpayer funded Goodwill shutting down their store on Diamond Lake Boulevard (Goodwill’s job training program is mainly funded with federal tax-dollars, not your donations).  Local Goodwill administrators claim they can’t afford the new lease.   In Astoria, after 15 years Rent-A-Center shutdown due to increased competition and rent.  In Springfield, after 26 years Ben Franklin Crafts & Frame Shop shutdown.  The owners blame the greedy landlord for suddenly, and unexplainedly, refusing to renew the lease: “They said they didn’t have someone else in mind for the space. I don’t think they’ve tried to make it available to anyone yet.”-Paul Johnson, co-owner

Pennsylvania:  Customer services contractor IBEX Global eliminating 79 jobs at the end of October.  TV based retailer QVC laid off an additional 1-hundred people at its West Chester HQ!  QVC has eliminated at least 247 jobs since 2015, however, administrators claim they’re hiring for their California operations.

South Carolina:  Best Buy shutting down their Beaufort store by the end of October.  It’s part of Best Buy’s policy not to renew the leases on their stores.

Tennessee:  Citizens National Bank of Athens eliminated 55 jobs due to being taken over by Simmons First National.  In Franklin, soap shop Bathos shutdown after 18 years.  The owner say he will now focusing on internet and event sales, and on his real estate job.  In Hermitage, Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples shutdown yet another store.  In Johnson City, the Animal Shelter Thirft Store shutting down so the owner can retire.  The local animal shelter must now find new funding for its program.

Texas: British empire Canada owned golf retailer Golfsmith now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, for sale, and already shutting down its 109 U.S. stores. Too Big to Jail Capital One shutting down branches in Tyler and Jacksonville by December, they’re going digital.  Mortgage lender One Main Financial eliminating 29 additional jobs in Irvine in November.  News reports say One Main has laid off 116 people in Irvine, since it was sold to Springleaf last year.

Vermont: Five months after a co-op took over management of Underhill Country Store they’ve thrown in the towel saying “Unfortunately with the reserves that we have and the overhead we have, we couldn’t do it there was just no path that was sustainable.”  God refuses to stop ‘his’ British empire based Salvation Army from shutting down their thrift store in Burlington.  Local news said an unnamed employee blamed crashing sales and skyrocketing costs of operation.

Virginia: The Martin Agency laid off 29 people after losing an advertising account with Walmart.

Washington: Taxsucker Chugach Federal Services eliminating 83 government contractor jobs by October in an effort to be more efficient.  In Marysville, after 93 years Carr’s Hardware shutting down. The third generation family owners claim sales are good, they’re just tired of it.

Washington DC: Members of Congress demanded that the Federal Reserve Bank take action against Wells Fargo: “Will you at least seriously consider breaking up Wells Fargo?”–Brad Sherman, Represenative from California questioning Janet Yellen’s lack of action against Too Big to Jail banks 

West Virginia: In Fairmont, decades old The Fashion Scene shutdown so the 77 years old owner can retire.

Wisconsin: Northwestern Mutual eliminating 1-hundred jobs by the end of this year, and “hundreds more” next year!

September 2016 Tech/Communications losses: YES HE CAN, OBAMA GIVES IT ALL TO ICANN!

SEARS KMART UPDATE, September 2016: 2,583 STORES UP FOR LEASE OR SALE!

August 2016: “WE PLAN TO SELL IT DOWN TO THE BONES.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”