Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics

Slow death spiral since 1961, “with no signs of future improvement”! : July 2016 U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics Layoffs

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

California:  Coty shutting down its OPI Products nail polish factory in North Hollywood, 408 jobs gone by September!   Warehouse leaser Brookvale International issued a shutdown WARN for its Carson ops, 107 jobs gone by September!  Ryder issued a shutdown WARN for its Fontana location.  Medical products distributor Owens & Minor issued layoff WARNs for Ontario and Tracy, 189 jobs gone by the end of August! Skywest Airlines issued a mass layoff WARN for their LAX ops, 325 jobs gone by the end of August! In Pittsburg, metal maker USS-POSCO issued a mass layoff WARN, 643 jobs gone by September (supposedly temporarily)!  Orange County based sunglass maker Oakely warned of layoffs due to consolidation of retail operations to Ohio.  Impact Logistics issued a shutdown WARN for the City of Industry, 61 jobs gone by the end of August.

Florida: A “leader in technology-enabled customer service, utilizing in-person and automated service delivery” Faneuil issued two WARNs, 426 jobs in Orlando and Boca Raton gone by the end of August!  Petroleum industry gas supplier Air Products laid off 30 people, despite getting taxpayer incentives to create new jobs.   WestRock Jax shutting down their Jacksonville paper & box factory, 127 jobs lost by September! 

Illinois:  It was revealed that Chicago based aerospace company Boeing eliminated 4-thousand 5-hundred jobs by the end of June!  Boeing administrators are warning of even more job cuts.  Peoria based maker of heavy vehicles, mainly for the mining industry, Caterpillar says their crashing sales continue and warned of even more layoffs for the second half of 2016.  To give you an example of how bad sales for Caterpillar are; in 2012 they made 1-thousand 7-hundred mining trucks, this year they’ll make less than 1-hundred!  Car parts maker Bergstrom issued a layoff WARN for its Joliet factory, 50 jobs lost due to relocation of production.   In Centralia, American Machine Company warned city government administrators that 30 jobs could be lost in connection with parent company Murray Energy’s massive country wide layoffs.  WSIL reported that massive coal industry layoffs are killing mom&pop businesses: “Clientele that we were seeing two and three times a week has dropped to once a week.”-Tyson Cummins, restaurant owner

“It just seems like, Saline County, we just hang on down here, that’s about all we do.”-Mike McKinnies, county board member

Indiana: Audio equipment maker Harman International shipping 125 Elkhart jobs to California and Mexico!  What housing market recovery? Door & window maker VT Industries shutting down their New Albany factory, 120 jobs gone by the end of October!

Iowa: What automotive industry recovery? Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its factory in Monona by March 2017, and moving 146 U.S. jobs to Mexico!  Terex shutdown their crane factory in Waverly, 175 jobs lost to consolidation.

Kentucky: After surviving The Great Depression CAT Whayne Supply (one of the oldest Caterpillar service companies) laying off 87 employees “Due to deterioration in our traditional markets in the eastern Kentucky area and coal industry with no signs of future improvement for some time…”

Louisiana: Oil industry contractor Blue Sky Innovations issued a WARN, at least 58 jobs lost between now and Xmas, due to loss of a contract.  GE (General Electric) Oil & Gas issued a shutdown WARN, almost all of its Pineville employees will be laid off, that’s 269 people unemployed by Xmas!

Maryland:  What housing market recovery? Baltimore based Development Design Group chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to the yet to be recovered housing market.  Administrators say for the first half of this year they’ve lost at least $500-thousand USD, 85 people have been laid off, so far.

Michigan: Dow Corning issued shutdown WARNs for two factories, 348 employees unemployed by the end of September!   PAE lost its USPS Postal Operations Mail Transport Equipment Service Centers contract, 58 jobs lost by November.  What automotive industry recovery? In Detroit, Martinrea Hot Stampings issued several WARNs with layoffs ranging from 32 to 122!   Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its administrative office in Wixom by September 2016.  After being caught lying about car sales, Fiat-Chrysler announced it will halt all U.S. production of cars!  Chrysler brand cars will be made outside of the U.S.  Administrators claim they’ll shift U.S. car factories to SUVs and trucks production.  Here’s why; it costs about the same to build a truck as it does a car, yet stupid U.S. consumers are willing to pay out-the-ass for a truck, meaning the profit margin on a truck, or SUV, is much higher than a car.  Canada based Martinrea International laying off 68 people by the end of August, due to Fiat Chrysler halting production of the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart.   Ford shocked ‘investors’ when it reported that its 2nd quarter pre-tax profits fell by $400-million USD from the same time last year!  Administrators admitted the U.S. vehicle market is going down, and blamed part of their lower profits on increased customer incentives used to trick, I mean convince people to buy a new car they can’t afford.

Minnesota: Essar Steel Minnesota chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to the gov’na canceling the company’s lease on a taconite project. Gov’na Mark Dayton claims the steel company has repeatedly failed to pay sub-contractors.

New Jersey: Kenco Logistic Services shutting down in Robbinsville, 415 jobs gone by mid-September!  Morristown based aerospace company Honeywell says it will eliminate an undisclosed number of jobs due to declining demand.  Perfume maker Chanel eliminating 75 jobs in Piscataway, by the end of September.  Heyco Products eliminating 107 jobs in Toms River, by the end of September!   Jordan Transportation eliminating 81 jobs in Parsippany, by the end of August.

New York: Charter bus service Schoolman Transportation System (Classic Coach) chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down their Bohemia location, 56 jobs lost by the end of September.  In Dunkirk, Berry Plastics issued a shutdown WARN, 54 jobs gone due to consolidation of operations, by the end of October.  Sodium/lithium refiner Chemours issued a shutdown WARN for their Niagara Falls operation, 145 jobs gone by 2017!  Berry Plastics issued a shutdown WARN for their Dunkirk packaging ops, 54 jobs gone by Halloween.

North Carolina: FedEx owned reverse shipper Genco issued a WARN for their Charlotte location, 53 jobs gone by the end of August!

North Dakota: Great River Energy shutting down their 50 years old Stanton coal fired power plant, by 2017, saying they’re not being paid enough for the electricity they create.  At least 65 jobs lost.

Ohio: Saint Clairsville based coal giant Murray Energy is warning that it could layoff 4-thousand 4-hundred employees across six states in September! Administrators blame the Obama regime’s anti-coal policy, coal prices and deteriorating negotiations with employee’s union.  Newspaper The Blade revealed that Cleveland’s factory jobs have been in a slow death spiral since 1961!   What automotive industry recovery? Commercial Vehicle Group shutting down its stamping and assembly factory in Shadyside, 172 jobs gone by June 2017!  Belmont County Commissioner Ginny Favede warned the commercial Vehicle Group shutdown cause “a ripple effect from losing the jobs and the taxes.”

Oregon: Upper Columbia Mill in Boardman shutting down, 67 jobs gone by September. 

Pennsylvania: FedEx issued a shutdown WARN, 139 Pittsburgh jobs gone by August!  “Reclamation” service company Clover eliminating 65 jobs by the end of August.  In Monessen, Murray American Transportation eliminating 63 jobs by the end of August.  In Black Lick, C&J Well Services laying off 73 people in September.  British empire based aircraft interior maker Triumph Industries shutting down their Oakdale operations, 53 jobs lost by March 2017.

South Carolina:  The new owner of battery maker Duracell , agnostic Warren Buffet, shutting down their AA battery factory in Lancaster killing at least 430 local jobs!  Buffett is consolidating Duracell production.

Tennessee:  FedEx owned reverse shipper Genco issued a shutdown WARN for their Memphis location, 160 jobs gone by the end of August!

Texas: Houston based oil company Halcón Resources now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming oil prices.  The bankrupt Sherwin Alumina Company being sold to a competitor and its factory in Gregory shutting down.  Houston based ConocoPhillips announced it will eliminate 1-thousand oil jobs by the end of the year!  Oilfield service company C&J Energy Services now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. DuPont shutting down its La Porte operations, local news media say at one time the factory employed 5-hundred people!

Virginia: Sweden based truck maker Volvo rendering 3-hundred people unemployed by September!  In February Volvo laid off 5-hundred employees, then warned in May that a second round of layoffs would take place.    Ongoing crashing demand for new trucks is blamed.  HVAC company Bristol Compressors laid off and additional 60 people due to crashing international sales.  In May, administrators laid off 120 people.

Washington: Electrical hardware company Minerallac issued a shutdown WARN for a Seattle location.  Triumph Group shutting down their decades old Triumph Structures ops in Everett, at least 99 jobs gone by the end of September. Spectrum Glass shutting down their Woodinville location in September.  In Tukwila, Jorgensen Forge shutting down, 111 jobs gone in September!

West Virginia: 66 years old CAT Walker Machinery laying off 78 people due to crashing demand for service.

Wisconsin:  Cascade Purchase Holdings-New Hampshire Industries issued a shutdown WARN for their Horicon hardware factory, 39 jobs gone by the end of September.  Hydraulic controls maker HUSCO International issued a layoff WARN, 97 Waukesha jobs gone by mid-September.

Wyoming: Ammonia nitrate (you know, fertilizer and bombs) maker Dyno Nobel laying off 15 people due to the coal industry BS.

Food Crisis July 2016: “VIRTUALLY NO SMALL BUSINESSES WILL BE LEFT”

Sears Kmart July 2016: “WE ARE IN A BURNING BUILDING RIGHT NOW…”

Dumbing Down July 2016: “WE ARE GOING DOWN…”

JUNE 2016 : 76% CRASH IN FRIDGE SALES! NO MORE BIKES?

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

“the economy is…killing us” “virtually no small businesses will be left” : July 2016 U.S. Food Crisis

Incomplete list of announced United States food supply shutdowns for the month of July, 2016: Many food suppliers/distributors are consolidating operations and killing jobs due to the collapsing grocery store and restaurant industries, as well as rising costs of food production, spread of disease and extreme weather.

Alabama: In Huntsville, after only one year (and several location changes) Wild Bean Coffee shutdown. The owner said the bad economy is forcing him to return to his old job, but he’s still hopeful about his passion for selling coffee: “I am returning to my profession as a helicopter avionics tech, and will continue to learn about coffee through the travels that my new position will afford me.”-Shelby Ward

Arizona:  In Scottsdale, California style BBQ Smokehaus shutdown.  In Tempe, Marcello’s Pasta Grill shutdown after more than 20 years.  Nello’s Pizza shutdown locations in both Scottsdale and Tempe.

California: In Los Gatos, the 31 years old California Cafe shutdown due to the lease expiring.  Local news reports say city administrators got a request to expand the seating capacity, but so far nothing has transpired, 40 jobs lost.  Florida based cleaning contractor DCS Facility Services issued a mass layoff WARN, 385 jobs gone by August, possibly due to losing their contract with Idaho based WinCo Foods! JBS USA Food Company issued a shutdown WARN for their Santa Fe Springs operations, 101 jobs gone by mid-August!  Tyson Foods issued a shutdown WARN for their Vernon operations.  In Rancho Mirage, after only one year upscale restaurant BBs at the River shutdown due to lack of customers, according to local news reports.  In the San Francisco area, reports that popular Ike’s Place got into trouble with local government planning administrators regarding its latest location, and is pulling out.  After only six months restaurant Cadence shutdown, blaming costs of operation and intense competition.  After only nine months restaurant Oro shutdown, blaming costs of operation and intense competition.  Cafe Flora is now for sale.  In Oakland, after about four years Stag’s Lunchette shutdown due to skyrocketing costs of operation, specifically cost of labor and taxes.   In Valencia, Tri Tipps sandwich joint shutdown and sold-off by the owner who has this grave prophecy: “Between the minimum wage increase, and California taxes and regulations, it makes it very hard to run a business. My prediction is, virtually no small businesses will be left in California in the future.“-Robert White

Connecticut: In Derby, Adams Superfood issued a shutdown WARN, 64 jobs gone by mid-September.

Georgia:  In Loganville, Cupcake Wars contender Sugar Kneads Cakery shutdown.  The owner revealed she’d been dealing with two years of crashing sales, which forced her to make several rounds of employee layoffs before finally giving up.    Patent Seed Company-Super Sod shutting down their 35 years old Lakeland location, 20 jobs lost over the next few months.  Administrators say the costs of operations have jetted too high, and their sales in the Lakeland area have sunk too low. They made a pun when they stated “…the production unit cannot sustain itself here. The growth has just not returned to this region of the state since the recession.” (they used the word ‘growth’ numerous times in their public announcement)  In Valdosta, the Smok’n Pig suddenly shutdown, 60 jobs lost: “We couldn’t get the volume up to where it needed to be. We hated to do it.”-Pat O’Neal, owner

Hawaii: Primo Popcorn shutdown their Honolulu location saying the bad economy is forcing them to consolidate stores.

Idaho: Click pics to make bigger

The Idaho Farm Service Agency claims that 24-thousand Idaho jobs are directly supported by farm exports to other countries.  The IFSA is pushing for passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, claiming it will increase those job numbers, but remember, many farm jobs go to immigrants! 

Illinois:  After 46 years restaurant Beningo’s in Bloomington shutting down in August.  The owners originally wanted to shutdown in 2008, but stayed open after a surge in customer traffic, now they say they must retire while they can since they’re in their 70s.  Farm vehicle maker Deere (aka John Deere) laying off 120 people at its Harvester Works factory in East Moline!  Administrators blame continued crashing sales.

Indiana: Two C&S Wholesale Grocers warehouses shutting down, 186 jobs lost by the end of September due to the loss of a contract!  In Mishawaka, after one year Daihido Gourmet and Sushi shutdown, the owner swears up-n-down it has nothing to do with ongoing multiple health code violations. In Goshen, after five years Mattern’s Butcher Shop & Corner Deli suddenly shutdown, no explanation.  Days prior the building owner leaked news of the shutdown, but when asked about it the restaurant co-owners said it’s all “Goshen gossip” and “We have our reasons……no comment”.

Iowa: In Uptown Ankeny, after less than two years The Bear Restaurant and Wine Bar shutdown, the owner said he needs to “refocus”.   In Cedar Rapids, after nine years restaurant Zins shutdown due to a sudden increase in competition: “We have come to a critical point in our operations.”

Kansas: In Kansas City, a more than 30 years old The Price Chopper grocery store shutting down.  Administrators (Balls Food Stores) claim it’s the only way they can build new stores, but, also admitted the main reason for the shutdown was that the store was losing money.   In Wichita, after ten years Pirate Pete’s restaurant shutdown  due to “…some equipment issues that it’s outside of our price range to fix. We’re just not making the money we need to be making anymore. …..the economy is just killing us.”-Julie Miller, co-owner

Louisiana: Louis Dreyfus Imperial Sugar shutting down their Gramercy packaging factory, 49 jobs gone by the end of September.

Maryland: In Hampden, after six years Alchemy Modern American Eatery shutdown, apparently because the owners opened a new restaurant elsewhere.

Massachusetts: In Needham, after more than 30 years Joel’s Candy shutting down by the end of August, the owner lamented “I have a lot of customers, but not enough.”

Michigan: In Birmingham, after 41 years Peabody’s Restaurant-grocery store shutdown, the family sold it to a property developer.  Now bankrupt Texas based supplier of plants to ‘big box’ stores Zelenka Farms issued a shutdown WARN, 3-hundred people in the city of Grand Haven unemployed by September!  In Flint, McLaren eliminated 83 food service jobs by shifting to cheaper contract workers.

Minnesota: Golden Valley based General Mills announced the killing of 1-thousand 4-hundred jobs around the world, about half those jobs are in the U.S.!  Administrators blame crashing sales.  Since 2014 General Mills has eliminated at least 3-thousand 4-hundred jobs.

Missouri: It was revealed that the following restaurants shutdown: Brickyard Tavern, Electric Cowboy, Ferguson Burger Bar and More, Krieger’s Chesterfield Pub & Grill, Luna Lounge,
Mathew’s Kitchen, Melt, Mexcla, Niche, Social House II, 
Tavern of Fine Arts and Thurman Grill.  In Saint Louis, Old Standard Fried Chicken shutdown.  After one year the R-Bar shutdown “due to increasing demands in our ‘real lives'”.  Also, Amy’s Corner Bakeshop shutdown: “Lease is up, couldn’t make it work, so here we are.”-Facebook post

New Jersey: Netherlands owned Stop n Shop grocery store shutting down in the Hillsborough Towne Centre, officially due to not being able to renew the lease.  General Mills shutting down their Vineland Progresso Soup factory, 370 jobs gone by Summer 2017!  Not sure if this is part of their announcement of massive jobs cuts around the world, but it apparently violates union contracts.

New York: In DeWitt, Ruby Tuesday shutting down their 22 years old Erie Boulevard location due to failed lease negotiations, the building is now for sale.   In NYC, the iconic elitist Four Seasons canteen shutdown due to the owner not wanting to renew the lease, and convicted criminal Martha Stewart was there to celebrate.  Supposedly a new Four Seasons will open in a new location in 2017.  In Schenectady, after 90 years Mastroianni Brothers Bakery shutdown by the board of directors due to substantial financial losses, 51 jobs lost.  In Brooklyn NYC, after 40 years Del Rio Diner shutdown, the owners blamed crashing sales during the last ten years.  In Rochester, after 16 years Wine Sense shutting down.

North Carolina: 23 years old Worms & Coffee (Midway trading Post) shutdown by state highway project.  Blue Spoon Market, Cafe and Cooking School shutdown its market and cafe ops. The cooking school will continue as soon as they find a new location.    In Thomasville, after four years restaurant Southern Sisters shutdown, the owners are now focusing on selling wholesale to grocery stores.   Now bankrupt Texas based supplier of plants to ‘big box’ stores Zelenka Farms issued a shutdown WARN, 240 people in the city of Sims unemployed by September!   In Elkin, after 19 years the Sonic Drive Thru suddenly shutdown without warning by the current owner: “I can tell you that the driving factor is because we’re simply losing money. ….the writing’s on the wall. We’re not interested in business if we’re not making money. Our group took over the store about eight years ago and we’ve really struggled with it. We just couldn’t make it work.”-Chuck Bodine, district manager

Upset, and desperate, employees didn’t care that their employer was losing money: “My mother, my stepmother, and my four little brothers all moved down from New Hampshire because she had a guaranteed job here. Three of us were working here. We were expecting to at least get through the summer.”-Liam Stocktom

Ohio: Hard Rock Cafe shutdown their 18 years old Flats District location in Cleveland.  Two years after a grand re-opening restaurant Chintz Room shutdown, local news reports say it’s the 4th Columbus Food League operation to shutdown in the past two years.  Amcor Rigid Plastics shutting down its recently acquired beverage bottle factory in Dayton, at least 86 jobs gone by Xmas.  The Dayton plastic bottle factory is credited with being the first to make drink bottles with PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate).

Oregon:  Idaho based WinCo Foods issued mass layoff WARNs, at least 198 jobs gone by the end of August!  It might be connected to WinCo ending its contracts with DCS Facility Services.  Now bankrupt Texas based supplier of plants to ‘big box’ stores Zelenka Farms issued a shutdown WARN, 50 Oregonians unemployed by September.

Pennsylvania: In Doylestown, Goodnoe Farm Dairy Barn shutting down due to not renewing their lease.

South Carolina: An independently owned Piggly Wiggly grocery store shutting down on West Beltline Boulevard, in Columbia. Administrators saying “Sales are down and the lease is up”, about 70 jobs gone. In Greenville, after four years Breakwater Restaurant & Bar shutdown its South Main Street location.

South Dakota: British empire Canada based Buhler Industries shutdown their decades old Salem Farm King operations due to “poor farm economy”, 67 jobs lost.

Texas: In Denton, after 63 years Davis Purity Bakery shutdown due to the owner’s retirement.  Irving based supplier of plants to ‘big box’ stores across the U.S.  Zelenka Farms now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  More than 1-thousand 5-hundred jobs threatened as the company is being put up for sale!    In San Angelo, after only two years Greens Grocery and Cafe shutting down when the inventory is gone, the operators blame lack of sales.  In College Station one of three Kroger grocery stores shutting down: “Within the past several years, we attempted to increase sales, profitability and store conditions, but despite our best efforts, we were not successful.”-Joy Partain

Virginia: In Arlington, after 15 years The Boulevard Woodgrill shutting down in August.  The hard times are just too much for Hard Times Cafe, the chili joint suddenly shutdown their Clarendon location. Apparently the property is now leased to another business, but nobody is talking.   After ten years Blues BBQ Company suddenly shutdown their Roanoke location.  Local news reports say the owner, who lives in Washington DC, is focusing on an internet operation.  In Richmond, after five years candy store Pecan Jack shutdown its Stony Point Fashion Park location due to crashing sales, which have gotten worse since the new mall owner began a massive remodeling project.

Washington: DCS Facility Services issued a mass layoff WARN, 220 jobs gone by August, due to the loss of their contract with Idaho based WinCo Foods!  Employee owned Yoke’s Foods took over Trading Company Stores and the yokes on the employees as three Trading Company Stores are being shutdown, about 212 jobs lost by September!

Wisconsin:  Tyson Foods finally shutdown their Jefferson County pepperoni factory, 4-hundred people laid off in the name of improving “overall performance”, and that was after 2-hundred employees voluntarily “left the company”!  The meat factory was 141 years old, Tyson Foods bought it in 2001.   In Green Bay, despite surviving The Great Depression iconic Al’s Hamburgers shutdown due to deaths in the Rank family.  Local news reports say the burger joint was sold and that the purchaser also bought the rights to the restaurant’s name, so locals are hopeful.  In Milwaukee, after 22 years restaurant La Peria shutdown.  Local news reports say the owners are looking to do something new, but also hinted that the building was just too old. After only eight months Jeng’s Asian Kitchen, in Monona, shutdown due to lack of customers: “If they don’t come, they don’t come! You do your best and that’s all you can do.”-Jeng Tong Vue

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

June 2016: MARYLAND KILLS PARK GEESE TO FEED HOMELESS!

Business/Economics

Sears Kmart update, July 2016: “We are in a burning building right now…” Sears goes covert with help of counter-terrorists?

After less than a year the president of Sears Canada quit!  No explanation why, but she’s the second Sears Canada president to quit less than a year into the job: “Sears Canada’s revolving door reputation is only getting worse after announcing Carrie Kirkman is on the way out less than a year into her role as president of the retailer.”

Kmart employees blogged that sold out merchandise is not being re-stocked (‘stealth liquidation sales‘), causing them to think total shutdown was neigh.  Sears Holdings countered with its own blog post saying it was just part of their new “…phased project that gets our newly-delivered products on the stores’ shelves immediately…”

In Rhode Island, a woman was being charged for repair work on a dish washing machine, even though she doesn’t even have a dish washing machine! Things got straightened up when she finally went to her local news media for help.  For the past 13 months Sears had been repeatedly hitting her Sears credit card with charges for dish washer repairs.  She says no matter how many times she explained it to Sears they wouldn’t stop charging her for work on an appliance she didn’t have!  But once the local news media questioned Sears about it, Sears immediately refunded $5-hundred USD!  

And speaking of appliances, New York Post reports that Eddie Lampert is making profits by delivering appliances from rivals like Costco.  77 years old Innovel Solutions (formerly Sears Logistics) is apparently the only division of Sears Holdings that’s making money: “We are in a burning building right now, but we are good at delivering and installing stuff, which is a revenue opportunity. No one who works at a Costco wants a Sears guy delivering their stuff to their customers, so we rebranded the company.”-Brandon Cates, a former counterterrorism consultant now working for Sears Holdings’ Innovel Solutions

June 2016: EMPLOYEES CLAIM TOTAL SHUTDOWN WITHIN 2 YEARS!

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

Alabama: 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, 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).

Arkansas: Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears shutdown in July 2016.

Arizona: Nogales Kmart shutting down 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: 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: 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: 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: Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down by 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: The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutting down by 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: Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 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: 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: 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, Rock Island Kmart (a recent local news article pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving). 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: 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: 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 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 will 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: 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: Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears, 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: 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: 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: Sears Holdings revealed that the July, 2016, shutdown of the Uniontown Kmart will cost 73 jobs. 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: Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

South Carolina: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virginia: 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: 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: 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: 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).

Business/Economics

What car sales recovery? Chrysler investigated for lying about sales!

18 July 2016 (15:59 UTC-07 Tango 01) 28 Tir 1395/12 Shawwal 1437/16 Yi-Wei 4714

A lawsuit by two car dealers, plus the fact that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has halted production of specific cars due to lack of sales, now has the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating FCA’s sales claims.

For at least seven years FCA has been reporting great sales numbers, but two car dealerships have revealed that FCA forced car dealers to lie about sales. 

Blind Bat News first reported in January that FCA was temporarily halting production of Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart vehicles. Now that temporary halt is permanent resulting in hundreds of FCA and subcontractor jobs being lost.  FCA blames it on crashing sales, while at the same time reporting great sales to investors and the government.

Business/Economics

“People…..never returned.”: U.S. Retail/Banking/Service Sector Layoffs June 2016

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

“…not only did we see dishonest lending at the origination stage and then dishonest securitization where the investors were defrauded and told that the loans were of good quality when they actually weren`t, but we saw dishonesty in terms of breaking the transfer process and the chain of title that goes from entity to the other, and when individuals were foreclosed on, they were done so with false documents which was a cover-up… …..the evidence that was used for the foreclosing entity to prove that they actually owned the loan and had an interest in it was faulty. It was fabricated. It was forged….. …this is still going on today…. ….the lender is supposed to make a promise that they`ve underwritten the loan and seen that the borrower has the ability to pay. …..A lot of these defaults were servicer driven where you had loans that were 2 cents short and put into default….people getting foreclosure notices when they paid cash on their homes! There was a serious breakdown in the system of property records law which is 150 years older than the Constitution!”-David Dayen, interviewed on Nightly Business Report

Business Management Daily reported that managers “manipulate” layoff announcements. There are a growing number of court cases where management has been proven to be creating layoff lists to get rid of employees they don’t like (which is illegal), instead of for economic reasons.

Alabama: In Decatur, after 24 years Marvin’s Building Materials shutdown.

Arkansas: Bentonville based Walmart eliminating 1-thousand 5-hundred ‘cash counter’ jobs at 5-hundred U.S. stores! In an effort to increase profit margins Walmart administrators are going to centralize their store accounting ops.   Walmart is ending the acceptance of Visa credit cards in Canada, due to jacked up credit card fees for Canadian retailers.

California:  Amazingly, and despite my continued reporting of massive layoffs across the Golden State, including the Bay Area, the UCLA Anderson Forecast claims that employment in the Bay Area is at full capacity! But wait, the term Full Employment is misleading, it does not mean everybody literally has a job, it means that everybody who wants a jobs and is willing to take whatever slave wage pay level is offered can potentially become employed. What irony, Simply Hired issued a shutdown WARN, 94 people in Sunnyvale jobless by the end of July.   In Ontario, events contractor AEG Management eliminated 280 jobs! Also in Ontario, staffing agency Adecco issued a mass layoff WARN, 730 jobs gone by mid-August!  In Citrus Heights, after 44 years Northridge Music Center shutdown, the frustrated owner literally blames “everything”. In Fresno, after 66 years Sunnyside Department Store shutting down, local news media say its the last of ten family owned stores on Butler Avenue. Home furnishings seller Restoration Hardware laid off 53 people from their Corte Madera HQ.  Employment training service for old people Experience Works shutdown their Napa office, six jobs gone. In San Francisco, now revealed to be a scammer LendingClub eliminating 12% of its jobs due to crashing loan applications, due to the discovery that a former CEO had been using the website to intentionally rip-people-off.  And after 46 years aQuarius Records shutdown, it supposedly will re-open under new ownership. San Francisco based clothier GAP issued a mass layoff WARN, 2-hundred jobs gone by mid-August! Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) laid off 68 people. Here’s how administrators refer to a bad economy: “The competitive demands of this industry require that we continually adapt and innovate to meet evolving client needs.”

Colorado: In Longmont, consignment shop Serendipity shutdown due to “…a steady decline over the past two years” in sales after the landlord put up a For Lease sign: “People thought I was closing. It scared away business.”-Vicky Boone

Connecticut: In Litchfield, after 30 years Robertson Jewelers shutdown due to declining sales.  CAROLEE New York jewelry issued a shutdown WARN for their Stamford operations, 47 jobs gone by mid-August.

Delaware: Draw Another Circle has made it official and placed Hastings into bankruptcy, as part of their plan to try and sell-off the dying entertainment chain. If nobody buys it then all remaining 126 Hastings stores will be shutdown affecting more than 1-thousand jobs! It’s blamed on crashing sales.

Florida: Bankrupt Sports Authority issued a shutdown WARN for their Miami store number 296, 90 jobs gone by the end of August.  After 35 years Turner Tree and Landscape chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to $7-million USD of debts.  The biggest bank in Manatee County now has the smallest deposits on hand, Too Big to Jail Bank of America shutting down and selling-off its iconic Bradenton office.   Clothier Chico’s laid off an undisclosed number of HQ employees in Fort Myers, blaming it on ” the rapidly changing retail marketplace”.

Georgia: In Atlanta, after 46 years recording studio Doppler Studios shutting down, no reason given.  Atlanta based Too Big to Jail mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corporation revealed it laid off 120 people!

Illinois: New car dealer AutoMatch USA issued a shutdown WARN for their Morton Grove location, 30 jobs lost by the end of August.  Payroll contractor RAS Services issued a shutdown WARN, 84 jobs gone by the end of July due to loss of contract.  Despite surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions, Schwartz’s Intimate Apparel shutting down: “Business is changing and we either adapt again and change the way we do things. Or we can say, ‘It’s been a wonderful run. Thank you for 100 years’.”-Ben Schwartz

In Chicago, GE Capital began laying off 44 employees, no reason was given to state employment administrators.   Chicago based job analyst Challenger, Gray & Christmas is blaming crashing teenager employment on the bad economy: “The general trend in summer employment among teens has been downward and that trend has been going on since the late 1970s. …..Restaurants and retail outlets are still hiring teens, but not as many as in the past…… …summer camps, neighborhood pools, amusement parks…the number of these jobs is not really growing.”

Indiana: After 15 years Talbott Street nightclub shutdown because it’s “what the owner wanted to do”.  In Rushville, after 75 years Public Paint & Wallpaper shutdown, the owner blamed increasing competition and changing shopping habits: “We are still hopeful that someone will come along and buy the building and start the dream of having their own business in downtown Rushville. We will begin liquidating all remaining inventory right away…”-Ryan Berkemeier

Iowa: In West Des Moines, Little Padded Seats baby supply store shutting down their Valley West Mall location.  The owners blame crashing foot traffic at the mall, and even tried to sell the entire business unsuccessfully. Todd’s Naturalizer shutdown their Valley West Mall shoe store, the owner said it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease.

Kansas: In Topeka, after 57 years Gardner’s Flooring America shutting down by the end of August, the owners revealed they had been made an offer on the property they couldn’t refuse.  In Topeka, after seven years retailer The Merchant shutdown after being sold to the owners of Cyrus Hotel. Local news media say it’s all about property speculation.

Kentucky: Louisville losing 45 years old Charlie Wilson’s Appliances, the owner decided to move to Clarksville.  In Nicholasville, decades old Carpenters Dish Barn shutting down in July, due to road construction.

Maine: In Bangor, House of Brides shutdown without warning, local police flooded with complaints from customers who paid for undelivered services: “It is not clear at this time what the outcome will be, but rest assured we are looking into the reported incidents.”-Bangor police

Massachusetts: Boston Weak based Too Big to Jail investment Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Company (aka GMO) eliminated 65 jobs, due to a 20% decline in fund values.

Michigan: After 34 years Ypsilanti Cycle shutdown.  In Ann Arbor, after 70 years G&H Barbers shutdown due to the new property owner wanting to redevelop the property.  In Midland, Stanley’s Furniture shutting down after 65 years. The 74 years old owner said he wanted to shutdown five years ago, he credits his success on being able to know what the trends are. In Clare, after 23 years New Wood Store furniture store shutdown, they sold the property.

Minnesota: In Minneapolis, after 68 years Rush’s Bridal shutting down, the family owns the building and can make more money renting it to somebody else.  In Ithaca, Standard Art Supply & Souvenir shutdown, no reason given but local news media discovered the property owner was asking the city for permission for new construction. In Rotterdam, Things Remembered shutting down due to not being able to renew the lease. In Northfield, after one and a half years comic book shop The Quill & Blade shutting down in July. The owner originally planned to shutdown just six months after opening, blaming his lack of business experience. He decided it was more fun reading comics than trying to sell them. In Saint Cloud, thrift clothing store Threads shutting down after eight years, so the owner can focus on her new store. In Willmar, decades old Hardware Hank Express shutting down, the owner blames crashing sales on the intrusion of ‘Big Box’ competitors within the past few years.   In Mankato, after 59 years Ive’s Repair shop for cars shutdown, the retiring owner reminisced about how much he was paid when he started out as a gas station attendant: “I think I made 75 cents an hour if I remember right, pumping gas, scrubbing toilets, scrubbing the office, and scrubbing the shop floor, that was our job…”-Gary Iverson  (I remember my father telling me about his high school job in a grocery store in Barstow, California, in the 1950s.  He made pennies per hour, yet the cost of living was so low back then he was able to buy, and fully customize, a 1949 Mercury as his first car! Try doing that now, even being paid $15 per hour it can’t be done!)

Mississippi: In Clinton, the United Artist movie theater shutdown this weekend. In Hattiesburg, after 18 years Trees n Trends Unique Home Decor shutting down due to “downward” trending customer traffic, which began when a big call center was built next door.

Missouri: Springfield base John Q. Hammons Hotels, and 70 of its affiliates, now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

New Jersey: In Hackensack, after 22 years Gold Ray Jewelers shutdown due to the landlord refusing to renew their lease. In Brick, after 50 years kayak and canoe seller Jersey Brick suddenly shutdown, the owners didn’t explain, they just wrote “Closed thanks for 50 years!” on a chalk board.  In Vineland, after 22 years Music Central shutdown: “…our industry is not as vibrant as it was 10 or 20 years ago. Since 2008 we have found it hard to make a profit.”-John Epifanio, co-owner

New Jersey:  Saks Fifth Avenue eliminating 137 Short Hills jobs by September!

New York: Real estate market analyst Reis issued a shutdown WARN for their NYC office, the Big Apple to lose 52 jobs as Reis gets the hell outta Dodge and moves to Westchester by the end of September.  AIG (American International Group) revealed it suddenly laid off about half a dozen people mid-month.   Elitist Ralph Lauren issued a mass layoff WARN for its NYC ops, 316 jobs gone between now and October!  Ralph Lauren also shutting down 50 stores and eliminating 1-thousand jobs across the country due to crashing sales! Ralph Lauren revealed there is no economic recovery saying its sales have crashed for the past three years, and needs to cut costs by $220-million USD, just for next year! Office sharing startup WeWork froze hiring and will layoff about 70 people. Amazingly administrators say it’s part of their plan for “growth and expansion”, claiming they will hire “hundreds… by the end of the year.” WPH Midtown Associates decided not to renew the lease on their Buffalo Holiday Inn Hotel, 82 jobs gone by September. After 53 years Chatham Bowl suddenly shutdown, no explanation reported by news media. The Cheshire Cat clothing store shutting down by mid-July.   In NYC, after 28 years Rebel Rebel Records blaming jacked up rent for their shutdown. In NYC, Ansonia Laundromat shutdown blaming crashing revenues. Bankrupt Sports Authority shutting down their Glendale, Woodside and Westbury stores, 173 jobs gone by the end of August!  NYC based Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs announced it will kill-off an additional 98 jobs in a third round of layoffs between July and October, blaming a 47% crash in revenues. In NYC, after 33 years Belraf Fabrics shutdown their store on Orchard Street, due to the rent being jacked up.  In Bronx-NYC, ABC Carpet and ABC Home Furnishings shutdown, 78 jobs gone. In Niagara Falls, despite surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions Harris & Lever Florists shutdown, the owner blames competition and the city’s shutdown of Lewiston Road: “People rerouted after that, and they never returned.”-Maggie Murgia, co-owner

North Carolina: In Wilmington, after five years Arrow Fine Art supplies shutting down, the owner Linda Arrow yearning “I want a life, and I want to create my own art.” In Hickory, after 70 years eccentric Berndt’s store shutting down due to increased competition. Charlotte based Too Big to Jail Bank of America announced it will ‘accelerate’ its job destruction by 8-thousand jobs as part of its “digital banking” plan! It’s blamed on a sudden 15% increase in people using digital banks instead of brick-n-mortar banks (never mind the fact that increase was forced by BoA shutting down 23% of its offices since 2009). In Raleigh, children’s clothing and toy seller  Nüvonivo shutting down their brick-n-mortar store, but will continue with internet sales.  The owners said it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease on the brick-n-mortar property.  In Kannapolis, after 32 years Baucom-Phillips Jewelers shutdown, the owner revealing that being a business owner mean no quality time: “When you are 78-years-old, if you are going to have any quality of life you have to stop working sometime.”-Rex Baucom

Ohio: In Columbus, after six years Objects for the Home shutting down, apparently the owners will be opening another smaller version of their furniture store at some future unknown date and location.

Oregon: Northwest Community Credit Union shutdown their Coos Bay office. In Salem, after 116 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest shutdown due to the owners not being able to find “the right person” to take over the business.

Pennsylvania: After 29 years Hanover Home & Garden shutting down in July, the owners saying “it’s time to retire”.

South Carolina: In Florence, after 22 years Phil Nofal’s Fine Footwear shutting down, the owner (who’s worked in the shoe business since he was 12) says “I’m tired. I’m 61 and I’ve done this my whole life.”

Texas: In El Paso, after surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions Regis-Bernard Furniture shutting down due to the owner wanting to retire. In Pampa, Hastings books-video-music shutting down due to not being able to meet corporate’s profit expectations, 28 jobs gone by September.  Big 5 Sporting Goods shutting down five of its eight Texas stores! Local news media say administrators refused to talk about it.  In Houston, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase eliminating 90 car loan jobs.  In Irvine, Too Big to Jail Maryland based OneMain Financial eliminating 116 jobs by mid-July, saying only that they must “downsize”!

In northern Texas there appears to be an exodus of teenagers as the number of kids on their Summer break, and looking for a job, has been halved from their peak in the 1970-80s, Texas job analysts blame it on a rise in low paying back breaking jobs usually reserved for migrants: ”Most jobs involve more grunt work, more low level work and Generation Z doesn’t find those jobs appealing…. …There is no such thing as a kid job anymore because companies are reliant on every level of labor they have.”-Ron Newton

However, down south in Houston TV station CW39 conducted an unscientific survey and found that many U.S. teenagers are looking for a job, but nobody is hiring: “I’m looking for a job right now which is kind of hard. This is like the fourth place I’ve gone, but most places are sort of slow in the summer so it’s a lot harder to find a job.”-Sanitago Navarrete

“I couldn’t find a job or an internship and I thought I could be useful in some other way. I’m volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary.”-Alexis Acevedo

“What the numbers show for Houston is that, they’re not interested in kicking back this summer. We’ve had over 4,000 applications for 1,500 opportunities.“-Vanessa Ramirez, SER Jobs for Progress

Virginia: Radford University shutdown its 20 years old non-profit Small Business Development Center due to losing money on the non-profit operation. In Virginia Beach, after surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions Crawford House Furniture shutting down when the inventory is gone, no explanation. After 60 years The Clock Shop shutdown their Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall store. In Reston, after five years Baby Blossom supply and gifts shutdown because the property has been sold by the greedy landlord.  In Richmond, after 34 years Dave’s Comics shutdown due to the death of the owner.  Union Bank & Trust shutting down five offices located inside Martin’s Food Markets, due to low transaction volumes.  Florida based Home Shopping Network (HSN) eliminating 257 jobs starting in August! It’s part of their plan to shutdown their fulfillment facility. Internet based Vicarious Clothing shutting down their Fredericksburg brick-n-mortar store: “We can’t justify the overhead when there isn’t enough foot traffic.”

Washington: OfficeMax shutting down their Gateway Shopping Center store in Yakima, no further details were given.  In Seattle, after 58 years A-1 Laundry shutdown: “The industry has changed quite a bit and it’s a little tougher as a small business to exist.”-Chris Eng, owner

Washington DC: The Pew Research Center reports that Summer jobs for teenagers on break from school are getting harder to find, the main reason is due to crashing sales for the employers who usually hire teens for the Summer. In 1978 summertime teen employment hit its high at 58%, but ever since 2010 it’s hovered around 30%. The Brookings Institution reports “Employment rates fell most dramatically among teens, and large disparities between whites and blacks persist, particularly among teens and young adults.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank says 76-million U.S. citizens barely get by financially. 46% of U.S. citizens would be devastated by a financial emergency. 45% say it’s because their jobs do not give them steady income as their work hours constantly change.

Wisconsin: After 34 years JR’s Waupaca True Value Hardware shutting down after failed attempts to sell it. The current owner blames family health problems and the fact he’s tired of working 67 hours per week (owners of businesses don’t get paid overtime).  Bankrupt Sports Authority issued a shutdown WARN for their Greenfield store, 46 jobs gone by mid-August.

30-31 May 2016: “NO OTHER CHOICE…WITHOUT A LINE OF CREDIT” 

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

76% crash in fridge sales! No more bikes? : U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics Layoffs June 2016

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

Arizona: Switzerland owned solar panel maker ABB shutting down its Phoenix-Sky Harbor factory and moving to Italy and Latvia!  At least 89 U.S. jobs will be lost.

California: Maker of foam cushion products Carpenter Company issued a shutdown WARN for their Lathrop factory, 198 jobs gone by mid-August! ‘Product development’ company Thermo Fisher issued a layoff WARN for their Carlsbad ops, 33 jobs gone by October.  Los Angeles based independent film distribution company Alchemy preparing for bankruptcy.   Republic of China (Taiwan) owned, but Newbury Park based, Giant (aka Giant USA, Giant Bicycles) warned of mass layoffs due to “flattish sales”.  The bicycle maker says ‘soft market conditions’ have forced them to begin consolidating sales and distribution operations, which means people will lose their jobs.  France owned security camera and equipment maker Pelco laid off at least 43 people in Clovis. Administrators say the current economy is forcing them to “focus” their operations. In San Francisco, British empire United Kingdom based BAE revealed it laid off 54 people in May. Alcoa issued a layoff WARN for their Fontana operations, 189 jobs gone by August! National Retail Transportation issued a shutdown WARN for its Fontana location, 125 jobs gone by the end of July! Also in Fontana, Ryder laying off 47 people by August.  Bankrupt Sports Authority shutdown their Fontana distribution warehouse, 122 people jobless! In Chowchilla, Brake Parts continues its shutdown, 65 people laid off by the end of July. Benz Sanitation-Propane issued a layoff WARN, 132 people in Tehachapi jobless by August!  Bearings maker SKF USA issued a layoff WARN for San Diego, 55 jobs gone by the end of September.

Electric car maker Tesla has been caught directly importing migrants to work in The Golden State! The San Jose Mercury News reports that the migrants are not legal H-1B workers but are illegal immigrants. The newspaper tracked an immigrant from Slovenia who worked for Tesla. When confronted Tesla administrators flat denied employing the immigrant.  Irvine based hobby industry remote controlled vehicle maker Novak Electronics (aka TeamNovak) suddenly shutdown after 38 years: “We are announcing that we have decided to close down our operations effective today. This decision was difficult to make, as this has been a family business spanning two generations.”-Novak family statement

Save Mart issued a shutdown WARN for their Vacaville distribution center, 325 jobs gone by mid-August!  Food packager Pactiv shutdown their Vernon operations, 106 jobs gone!  In Salinas, Foothill Packing has been fined $235-thousand USD for falsely firing U.S. citizens and replacing them with H-1B migrants: “The employer claimed the workers — who were U.S. citizens — had failed to meet production standards. Investigators found that many of them had consistently exceeded the production of many of the foreign workers doing the same jobs, yet Foothill did not terminate these foreign workers.“-U.S. Department of Labor press release

Colorado: Bankrupt Arch Coal eliminating 80 jobs at its West Elk Mine.  Denver based Triangle USA Petroleum now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

Connecticut: Korea owned Doosan Fuel Cell America revealed it laid off at least 33 employees in the past few months.  The mayor of South Windsor said company administrators told him they had to “regroup”.  The company makes 4-hundred kw natural gas powered fuel cells.  Packaging maker Norampac New England shutting down their Thompson operations, 63 jobs gone between July and August.

Florida: Caterpillar issued a WARN for its Work Tools ops in Jacksonville, 63 jobs gone by the end of November.

Georgia: Maker of fake grass AstroTurf chapter 11 bankrupt busted after losing a legal fight over patent rights.  General Dynamics owned Gulfstream Aerospace ‘offering’ voluntary buyouts of employees, starting in August.  It was revealed after news was leaked to local news media by employees.  In December 2015, it was revealed that Gulfstream Aerospace eliminated 1-thousand 1-hundred U.S. jobs.

Idaho: 15 years after shutting down their Power County phosphorus operations FMC declared their EPA superfund site is now ready to be the new home to Rupert based Valley Agronomics‘ new fertilizer plant (Valley Agronomics is owned by Minnesota based Land O’Lakes). The arrogant ‘christian’ governor of Idaho, Butch Otter, proudly boasted that this was a sign the area’s economy has “risen from the ashes” and then flat lied by saying “…when somebody says we’re gonna return, we’re gonna come back! You can trust us that we will keep our promise in coming back. I want you to remember this day Valley Agronomics and FMC because they told us that! They told us that we can trust them…” This is a lie because it’s not FMC “coming back”, and Valley Agronomics never operated out of the site before! The so called Phoenix Site (as declared by Otter) will employ a measly 50 people once it’s up and running in 2017 (incompetent local TV stations have been reporting 70 jobs created, but those are the temporary construction jobs). I don’t think that qualifies as a local economy that’s “risen from the ashes”.

Otter also quietly revealed to local news media that the once touted Solar Farm project at the Pocatello Airport is dead.

Illinois: Rex Energy shutting down their petroleum extraction ops near Bridgeport, 102 jobs gone by mid-August! The Aurora Laundry Company issued a shutdown WARN, 64 jobs lost by August due tot the linen supply business being sold.   Trunk Club shutting down its Goose Island distribution center, 250 jobs lost under a new deal with retailer Nordstrom!   In Elgin, design company Southern Graphic Systems issued a shutdown WARN, 30 jobs gone by the mid-July. In Edwardsville, wholesaler United Pet Group issued a layoff WARN, 48 in-house employees unemployed by mid-August due to their jobs being contracted-out. In Bedford Park, Northstar Aerospace lost their contract, 226 jobs gone! In Chicago, Georgia packaging maker WestRock issued a layoff WARN, 173 jobs gone due “to market conditions”!  Pony Tools revealed they laid off 61 people back in mid-May. Lake Forest based car parts maker UCI Holdings-International now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, including their subsidiaries Airtex, ASC Industries and Champion.  Chicago based bicycle parts maker SRAM laid off 12 people due to 12 months of down sales: “The quarters before were soft as well. It’s been cumulative. Certainly the softness of the last 12 months has not helped. It’s definitely lowered the water level and exposed the rocks.”-Stan Day, president

Indiana: General Electric (GE) shutting down its Bloomington fridgerator factory. The remaining 329 employees to become unemployed due to a 76% crash in sales since 2008! 130 people were laid off in 2013.  In Middlebury, motor-home builder Evergreen RV suddenly shutdown (employees were simply told not to come to work) 4-hundred jobs lost! Local news reports say up until the sudden shutdown employees were told the company was doing well financially, and was actually in ‘growth mode’.  Some employees had just been hired. Motor-home dealers confirmed they were told the company is dead, because when a company goes out of business the product’s warranty is void. So far company administrators have refused to explain what is going on.

Iowa: What automotive industry recovery? The maker of CO cooling systems for Jeep Liberty, Modine Manufacturing, announced more layoffs at their Washington factory. An additional 60 people becoming jobless on top of those already laid off, in preparation for production to move to Mexico.  Canadian Pacific Railroad shutting down their Nahant maintenance shop, 21 jobs lost.  In Spencer, Ireland based Eaton Hydraulics eliminating 70 U.S. citizen jobs over the next 12 months. Administrators claim the economy is worse than they thought and they need to “expand some of our restructuring and cost-reduction activities this year.” However, the Sioux City Journal revealed that “Eaton had been training Chinese nationals here in recent months.”

Kansas: LMI Aerospace shutting down a Wichita sheet metal factory and moving it to Mexico, due to the crashing U.S. aircraft manufacturing industry: “With customer demand on these platforms declining significantly, and in a competitive pricing environment we had to make the difficult decision to close this operation and move its remaining work….”-Joe DeMartino, coo

Kentucky: Blackhawk Mining issued a shutdown WARN, more than 2-hundred jobs gone between now and August!

Maine: De-inking mill Cascades Auburn Fiber shutting down in July, 45 jobs lost due to the crashing paper market. Twin Rivers Paper Company shutting down paper machine 3 at its Madawaska mill, 49 jobs gone by July. It’s the result of $12-million USD in upgrades to make the paper mill more efficient.

Maryland:  In an example of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs, Baltimore based sports clothing maker Under Armour (they claim to be an American company yet spell ‘armor’ the British empire way) admitted the massive bankruptcy and shutdown of hundreds of Sports Authority stores will cause Under Armour to lose $23-million in its 2nd quarter of 2016!  Japan owned plastic maker Hedwin laying off at least 129 people in Baltimore, by the end of August! Hedwin is moving operations to Delaware, and the Baltimore property has been sold to a developer.

Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? Detroit based General Motors (GM) is creating 7-hundred new jobs, not in the United States but across the northern border in Toronto, Canada!  Local news media confused as France based vehicle interior maker Faurecia North America has been caught firing employees just as fast as it hires new ones! 105 employees in Sterling Heights will be laid off by July, yet 90 new employees will be hired at the same time at the same location. The new hires are partially paid for by a $350-thousand USD taxpayer funded state grant! So much for the ‘free market’, welcome to covert socialism.  The consolidation of Midland based Dow Chemical and Dow Corning will result in 2-thousand 5-hundred jobs lost and the shutdown of a factory in North Carolina and in Japan!  Independent drug wholesaler Frank W. Kerr Company suddenly shutdown due to “an unexpected business circumstance.” 

New Jersey: Aquity Brands Lighting issued a WARN, 168 people in Edison jobless by mid-August!

New Mexico: Peabody laid off 65 miners at its El Segundo and Lee Ranch mines.  Texas based oil field service company Baker Hughes admitted to laying off employees in Farmington, due to “consolidation” ops, but refused to say how many.

New York: Toy maker Fischer Price laying off 75 people at its Aurora toy factory.  The jobs will now go to a cheap-o contractor from another country! Process equipment designer Buflovak issued a shutdown WARN for their Buffalo operations, 53 jobs gone by the end of September. In Jamaica, Ultimate Aircraft issued a mass layoff WARN, 145 employees unemployed by August!

North Carolina: What automotive industry recovery?  Ryder shutting down its Charlotte GM (General Motors) logistic operations, 124 jobs gone by the end of August!  Germany owned truck maker Freightliner laying off 8-hundred people in Gaston County, due to crashing sales!

North Dakota: Maker of mini-excavators Bobcat eliminating 140 jobs at their Gwinnier factory, by Xmas! They’re consolidating operations.

Ohio:  Bendix laid off eight people at its commercial vehicle brakes factory in Elyra, and another 16 employees elsewhere, blaming the trucking industry: “Since the start of 2016, build levels at truck and trailer manufacturers have declined rapidly. This decline has now trickled to the industry’s primary suppliers, including Bendix. The layoffs were the result of the down market conditions….”

Oklahoma: Kimray laying off 120 people by Friday, blaming the oil industry BS!  Oil field company Seventy Seven Energy chapter 11 bankrupt busted and turning itself over to its bond holders, due to $1-billion USD in debts. D&L Oil Tools conducted a second round of layoffs, 53 jobs lost. In February they laid off 78 people.

Oregon:  In Portland, Germany owned truck maker Western Star laying off 170 workers due to crashing sales!

Pennsylvania:  Chemical company Koppers issued a shutdown WARN for their Clairton factory, 46 jobs gone by August due to the crashing aluminum industry. Victor Paving and Construction fined $115-thousand USD for failing to pay employees for overtime worked during the past three years! The U.S. Department of Labor says company administrators actually ‘doctored’ employees’ pay records to make it look like they did not work overtime.  Japan based Fujifilm shutting down their Hunt Chemicals factory in Dayton, 84 jobs lost. Like most corporations Fujifilm-Hunt is being consolidated.

South Carolina: British empire Canada based bicycle distributor Hawley-Lambert laid off 13 people at its Lexington office.  Those jobs are being consolidated back to Canada due to crashing sales.

Tennessee: In Chattanooga, after 45 years MetalTech shutting down their machine shop, 46 jobs lost.  General Electric (GE) shutting down three Alstom factories, 235 jobs gone by Xmas due to the crashing railroad industry!

Texas: Dallas based Maxus Energy chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming it on the cleanup costs for New Jersey’s Passaic River. Hercules Offshore now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Draw Another Circle owned Hastings told 375 distribution and HQ employees in Amarillo they will become jobless within 60 days, due to bankruptcy!  Weatherford International confirmed they laid off at least 90 people in Katy.  The same place where it was revealed that most of the oil workers are migrants: “80 to 100 families have relocated to their home country primarily because of job changes and changes in the economy.”-Richard Rowell, business owner in Katy City

Vermont: Coffee products maker Keurig still in trouble, now 108 people being laid off as production of Keurig Kold is shutdown! It’s blamed on non-stop crashing sales.

Washington: Accell North America’s Seattle Bike Supply has been sold to British empire Canada based Hawley-Lambert. Boeing issued two layoff WARNs for their Puget Sound operations, 211 employees unemployed by mid-July, followed by 99 employees becoming unemployed by the end of August!  Once again Seattle based Amazon is in trouble. This time it’s being fined $350-thousand USD by the FAA after United Parcel Service employees were sickened by a chemical reaction in some packages from Amazon. Those packages were filled with chemical cleaners, which are banned in the U.S. from being shipped by air. The chemical cleaning product is called Amazing Liquid Fire, and the UPS employees said they felt like they were burning after fumes came from the package.

Washington DC: The U.S. Department of Labor said the month of May saw the lowest new job growth since 2010, only 38-thousand new jobs created. Unofficial propagandists of unAmerican corporate America, main stream news media ‘experts’, had been promising at least 160-thousand new jobs! The U.S. Department of Labor tracks people considered “not in labor force” in their official unemployment reports, but for some reason the main stream news media refuses to publish the data.

The U.S. Department of Labor is also dealing with an issue I’ve experienced myself; your employer suddenly says you’re now a contractor, reduces your pay and ends benefits. It’s called Employee Misclassification.

Wisconsin: Ameridrives Power Transmissions issued a shutdown WARN for their Green Bay factory, 37 jobs lost by November. The maker of parts for heavy duty “off highway” vehicles is joining the rest of unAmerican corporate America in consolidating operations. In Manitowoc, after 60 years Groz-Beckert shutting down their Foster Needle felting needle factory, 64 jobs gone between July 2016 and January 2017.  In Milwaukee, Global Industrial Services issued a shutdown WARN, 27 jobs lost by mid-August.  Air Wisconsin Airlines also issued a shutdown WARN for their Milwaukee location, 53 jobs gone by mid-August.

Wyoming: Buckskin Mine laying off an additional 45 employees, local news media reports it brings total Buckskin Mine layoffs close to 6-hundred since 2010!  Uranium miner Ur-Energy eliminating 12 jobs due to crashing demand (and prices) for the intensely radioactive metal.

U.S. FOOD CRISIS JUNE 2016 : MARYLAND KILLS PARK GEESE TO FEED HOMELESS!

IDAHO ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION JUNE 2016 : “RISEN FROM THE ASHES”? WE STRUCK OIL!

U.S. FEDERAL/STATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAYOFFS JUNE 2016 : Local Sheriff says “WE’RE NOT TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN PEOPLE, THAT’S BULLSHIT!”

OBAMACARE JOB DESTRUCTION JUNE 2016 : “NO LONGER SUSTAIN THE FINANCIAL LOSSES”

U.S. CHRISTIAN SELF-DESTRUCTION 2ND Q 2016: “ALL THE CHURCHES ARE EXPERIENCING THIS DECLINE IN ATTENDANCE.” THE RAPTURE?  

DUMBING DOWN THE U.S. JUNE 2016 : “MORALE IS REALLY LOW.” “THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE.”

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 Update 22 June 2016 : “Lampert has…destroyed it!” Employees claim total shutdown within 2 years!

A Business Insider article says that since 2007 Sears Holdings has killed at least 137-thousand jobs! The same article also says employees claim Eddie Lampert wants to totally kill-off Sears-Kmart within two years, as proven by no pay raises in the past eight years, no improvements for most stores, and the Shop Your Way Program which actually reduced sales and customer service: “Lampert has taken this company and, with pompous arrogance, has destroyed it! Customer care is vital to a retail business. Lampert just couldn’t understand that.”–unnamed former Kmart employee laid off after 41 years 

In another article it’s argued that Eddie Lampert is slowly killing Sears-Kmart just to make investors happy: “He has defended his use of stock buybacks…..His theory on not investing in stores is that we can’t invest in everything. The company told me they truly believe they are positioning the department store for a resurgence….If you talk to industry experts and analysts, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that agrees with that.”–Hayley Peterson, Business Insider

Desperate Lake Zurich, Illinois, considering raping taxpayers to fund a new tax district for the abandoned Kmart property! And they’re spending $40-thousand tax dollars to study the feasibility of it!

In Pennsylvania a man is suing Sears for selling defective freezers.  He claims his Sears freezer burst into flames and burned his house.

Update  27 May 2016

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

Alabama: 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, 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).

Arkansas: Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears.

Arizona: Nogales Kmart shutting down 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: Sears Holdings issued a shutdown WARN for a Los Angeles Kmart, 132 jobs lost May 2016! Dinuba Kmart, 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: 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: 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: Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).

Florida: Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down by 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: The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutting down by 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: Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 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: 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: 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, Rock Island Kmart (a recent local news article pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving). 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

Nevada: Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New Jersey: 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: Artesia Kmart shutting down by August, there was no official announcement, only advertisements for a liquidation sale. 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: 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 will 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: 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: Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).

Ohio: 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears, 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: 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: 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: Sears Holdings revealed that the July, 2016, shutdown of the Uniontown Kmart will cost 73 jobs. 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 shutting down by June 2016, 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: Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

South Carolina: 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: 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: 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 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: 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: The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virginia: 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: 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: 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 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).

Business/Economics

“It’s not like they’re taking jobs from Americans” 5-million migrants refuse to leave! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 15 June 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama: What construction industry recovery? In Decatur, after 24 years Marvin’s Building Materials shutting down by July.

California: In Salinas, Foothill Packing has been fined $235-thousand USD for falsely firing U.S. citizens and replacing them with H-1B migrants: “The employer claimed the workers — who were U.S. citizens — had failed to meet production standards. Investigators found that many of them had consistently exceeded the production of many of the foreign workers doing the same jobs, yet Foothill did not terminate these foreign workers.“-U.S. Department of Labor press release

Electric car maker Tesla has been caught directly importing migrants to work in The Golden State!  The San Jose Mercury News reports that the migrants are not legal H-1B workers but are illegal immigrants.  The newspaper tracked an immigrant from Slovenia who worked for Tesla.  When confronted Tesla administrators flat denied employing the immigrant. Watch the video:

Idaho: The Fire Chief of Chubbuck resigned in connection to the planned merger of the city of Chubbuck’s fire department with the city of Pocatello (both cities are dealing with cash problems despite continually telling the taxpayers the economy is good): “Whether the consolidation goes forward or not it’s not going to be affected by whom the chief is at the time.”-Joshua Ellis, Chubbuck city councilman

Speaking of Chubbuck and Pocatello, the county of Bannock made an appeal to property owners to pay their property taxes, warning of fines and interest charges.  It sounded like the county is having problems with property tax collections, which would not be happening if the economy was good.  I gotta message for Bannock County: “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.”

Kansas: In Wichita, Via Christi Health eliminating 70 more jobs on top of the 80 they’ve already cut!  Yet, at the same time hospital administrators told local news that they plan to hire 80 people!

Massachusetts: The city of Boston Weak and the college of Babson announced they will create their own migrant ‘visa’ program to get around the federal H-1B!   An unnamed ‘official’ connected to the scam flat out lied and said “It’s not like they’re taking jobs from Americans, they’re giving jobs to Americans.”

Michigan: Benton Harbor Area Schools eliminating 43 jobs in an effort to save $1.4-million USD.  However, local news sources say the district is also planning on creating 12 new positions.

New Jersey: Inspira Medical Center eliminating at least 67 jobs at two locations by August.  Saks Fifth Avenue eliminating 137 Short Hills jobs by September!

New York: Old Country Buffet issued a shutdown WARN for their Bay Shore operation, 42 jobs gone by mid-September.  Unnamed sources say the Daily News laid off 22 people, after attempts to sell the newspaper failed.

North Carolina: Charlotte based Too Big to Jail Bank of America announced it will ‘accelerate’ its job destruction by 8-thousand jobs as part of its “digital banking” plan!  It’s blamed on a sudden 15% increase in people using digital banks instead of brick-n-mortar banks (never mind the fact that increase was forced by BoA shutting down 23% of its offices since 2009).

Oregon: Law firms (American Immigration Lawyers Association and  American Immigration Council) in Oregon are suing the federal government over the H-1B program,  not because H-1B is taking jobs from U.S. citizens but because their foreign clients were turned down for H-1B visas!

Texas: Big 5 Sporting Goods shutting down five of its eight Texas stores!  Local news media say administrators refused to talk about it.    Recently two people were convicted and sentenced to federal prison for seven years, for running an H-1B scam.  They were falsifying H-1B documents to bring in migrants from India.  An Indian news source stated the H-1B program was created “to create a low-cost workforce in the US.”  This news came at the same time it was revealed the oil industry in Texas was employing thousands of people from around the world.  The recent oil industry BS hit one Texas town hard as it was home to many of the migrants: “80 to 100 families have relocated to their home country primarily because of job changes and changes in the economy.”-Richard Rowell, business owner in Katy City

Washington DC:  More proof U.S. jobs are going to immigrants; during a Congressional hearing it was revealed that at least 5-million migrants violated their H-1B visas and now refuse to leave the United States!  This means they’re now illegal immigrants but the federal government isn’t doing anything about it, a grand total of 10-thousand visa violation cases were investigated out of the now 5-million violators known to be in the U.S.!   Despite the latest revelations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a  new Visa Waiver Program which allows immigrants to enter the United States without getting visas from U.S. consular officers!

Indian news media revealed that the U.S. government is making bank on its H-1B visa program.  At the end of last year the Obama regime jacked up the fees paid by foreigners for H-1Bs by $4-thousand USD!  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services handles the H-1B applications.

FALSE FLAG: DENMARK REPORTS 50,000 MIGRANTS “DISAPPEARING”!

14 June 2016: “We are announcing that we have decided to close down our operations effective today.”

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

Amazon caught shipping chemical weapons? Drone laws kill R/C company? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 14 June 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama: After 55 years McCollum’s Catfish and Seafood Restaurant shutting down next week, the owner saying “Food cost have gone up, and we just don’t have the business to keep it open.”

Arizona: In Phoenix, Sir Veza’s Taco Garage suddenly shutdown its Speedway location because “It just didn’t fit our needs anymore.”   California based internet health insurance management company YourPeople-Zenefits shutting down their Grand Canyon State sales office, at least 1-hundred jobs lost!

Arkansas: Bentonville based Walmart is ending the acceptance of Visa credit cards in Canada, due to jacked up credit card fees for Canadian retailers.

California: Irvine based hobby industry remote controlled vehicle maker Novak Electronics (aka TeamNovak) suddenly shutdown after 38 years: “We are announcing that we have decided to close down our operations effective today. This decision was difficult to make, as this has been a family business spanning two generations.”-Novak family statement

In Bell, critically praised restaurant Corazon y Miel shutting down next week, however the owners swear they will resurrect their popular eatery in the future, somewhere in Los Angeles.  Oxnard based Mandalay Berry Farms shutting down, 565 jobs gone by the end of July! The Farm Bureau of Ventura County did not blamed it on the drought, but on three years of crashing prices for berries.

Indiana: Despite surviving The Great Depression and numerous recession, god powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Saint Mark’s Catholic Church.  In White Township, after 17 years Ironwood Grill shutting down by the end of the month.  It’s blamed on a combination of unaffordable upgrades and a disagreement with the landlord.  What automotive industry recovery? In Middlebury, motor-home builder Evergreen RV suddenly shutdown last week, employees were simply told not to come to work this week, 4-hundred jobs lost!  Local news reports say up until the sudden shutdown employees were told the company was doing well financially, and was actually in ‘growth mode’.  Some employees had just been hired.  Motor-home dealers confirmed they were told the company is dead, because when a company goes out of business the product’s warranty is void.   So far company administrators have refused to explain what is going on.

Kentucky: Blackhawk Mining issued a shutdown WARN, more than 2-hundred jobs gone between now and August!

Maryland: New Windsor junior high and three other Carrol County schools shutting down now, due to crashing enrollments and taxpayer funding.

Michigan: In Midland, Oscar’s Bar & Grill shutting down on Wednesday, according to employees.  The owners refused to talk to local news media.

New York: In NYC, Ansonia Laundromat shutdown this past Sunday, blaming crashing revenues. NYC based animator Frederator Networks laid off 15 people, calling it “a fairly typical restructuring”.

Oklahoma: Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College eliminating three programs, raising tuition by 9% and eliminating 27 jobs, blaming reduced taxpayer funding.

Pennsylvania: In Chadds Ford, Chef Anthony’s Italian Market shutting down this Sunday, due to competition from larger operations.

Tennessee: Shelby County Schools ordered the 60 years old Carver High School shuttered.  It’s been ‘temporarily’ closed since 2013. School administrators say the combination of crashing enrollment, funding and student achievement requires them to permanently shutdown schools.

Texas: What automotive industry recovery?  In Houston, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase eliminating 90 car loan jobs.

Virginia: In Reston, after five years Baby Blossom supply and gifts shutting down next week because the property has been sold by the greedy landlord.

 

Washington: Once again Seattle based Amazon is in trouble.  This time it’s being fined $350-thousand USD by the FAA after United Parcel Service employees were sickened by a chemical reaction in some packages from Amazon.  Those packages were filled with chemical cleaners, which are banned in the U.S. from being shipped by air.    The chemical cleaning product is called Amazing Liquid Fire, and the UPS employees said they felt like they were burning after fumes came from the package.

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

“financial position is extremely perilous” Hastings dead! 122% ObamaCare insurance cost increase for Idaho! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 13 June 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arizona: Walgreens shutting down all 40 of their Grand Canyon State Theranos Wellness Centers and ending its partnership with California based blood testing lab Theranos.  It’s connected to Medicare and Medicaid rejecting numerous test results from Theranos.

California: In Fresno, after 66 years Sunnyside Department Store shutting down, local news media say its the last of ten family owned stores on Butler Avenue.   Blood tester Theranos facing shutdown after Medicare-Medicaid declared their test results invalid, and losing their major contract with Walgreens.

Delaware: Draw Another Circle has made it official and placed Hastings into bankruptcy, as part of their plan to try and sell-off the dying entertainment chain.

Idaho: ObamaCare insurance providers are demanding premium increases from anywhere between 27% and an insane 122% for Blue Cross’s ObamaCare Gold Plan!  The Idaho Public Charter School Commission warning Syringa Mountain School of financial peril because state funding can’t come close to covering the charter school’s outrageous operating costs: “SMS’s financial position is extremely perilous. While fundraising efforts have met current cash flow needs, SMS has struggled with lack of funds periodically throughout its years in operation.”

Illinois: Lake Land College eliminating jobs due to “significant reduction” in state taxpayer funding.  Desperate Lake Zurich considering raping taxpayers to fund a new tax district for the abandoned Kmart property! And they’re spending $40-thousand tax dollars to study the feasibility of the Kmart tax district!

Kentucky: ValuMarket shutting down their Louisville store on Hurstbourne, by July.  Local news media says the property owner is redeveloping the property.

Maryland: It’s revealed that taxpayers are being forced to pay more than $320-million each year to shore up the state’s failed retirement system that is now tied to the volatile stock markets!

Michigan: In Ann Arbor, after 70 years G&H Barbers shutting down due to the new property owner wanting to redevelop the property.

New York: In Potsdam, after more than 25 years The Cheshire Cat clothing store shutting down by mid-July.  In Jamaica, Ultimate Aircraft issued a mass layoff WARN, 145 employees unemployed by August.

Ohio: The city of Lorain notified 23 firefighters they will become unemployed due to the city being short $3.6-million USD.  City administrators are trying to get a taxpayer funded grant from the federal government.

Oklahoma: Kimray laying off 120 people by Friday, blaming the oil industry BS!

Pennsylvania: After surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions god powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Holy Innocents Catholic Church: “We can’t afford to keep it open. We don’t get enough money in the collections to maintain it.”-Medio Mercolini, loyal member

Texas: Draw Another Circle owned Hastings told 375 distribution and HQ employees in Amarillo they will become jobless within 60 days!

Washington: Redmond based Microsoft is buying LinkdIn for $26.2-billion USD, expect mass layoffs.

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.”