Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics

WinCo: Conspiracy to destroy California’s economy? Oregonians nit-picky & moronic when it comes to zoning rules? Consumers still don’t get what ’employee owned’ means!

09 March 2016 (00:10 UTC-07 Tango 01) 19 Esfand 1394/29 Jumada al-Ula 1437/01 Xin Mao (2nd month) 4714

In Albany, Oregon, complaints about a new WinCo grocery store violating local zoning rules have been settled simply by changing the name of the type of ornamental windows to be used.  ‘Frosted glass’ has been changed to ‘spandrel glass’, what’s the difference? Nothing!  Even local news reports say the city council considered the terminology “synonymous”.  Everybody knows that frosted glass is opaque.  Here’s the definition of spandrel glass by glass maker PPG: “…spandrel glass is designed to be opaque…”.  This proves my assessment of many Oregonians as being obsessive compulsive about government rules, yet, they still can’t come up with a plan to deal with the approaching catastrophic Cascadia earthquake, 3-hundred years in the making.

By the way it was the anti-employee owned business group known as United Food and Commercial Workers Union that filed the complaint about the ‘frosted glass’!

And it’s possibly unions who’re behind the opposition to a new employee owned and operated WinCo in Mose Lake, Washington.  iFiber reported that United Food and Commercial Workers Union adamantly denies being behind the opposition.  Officially the group trying to prevent the new WinCo from moving in is called A Stronger Moses Lake.  This group’s new official complaint is that the new WinCo would pose a threat to pedestrians and bicyclists due to increased vehicle traffic in the area!  Previously they accused the city of not complying with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process regarding the approval of construction.

A commentator in Durham, California, revealed his ignorance when he used WinCo in an editorial about unAmerican corporate America executives jacking up prices at WinCo to pay for their personal assets: “The CEOs and the bankers can squeeze only so much profit from selling a Chevy or Chantix or a box of Cheerios or a mortgage. If the cash for their third houses and second yachts and political contributions has to come off the top, then they have to pay workers less, charge consumers more. And then the price-tags at Winco go up.“

He obviously doesn’t understand what an employee owned business is.

Staying in California, it’s been revealed that the Sacramento property formerly housing an old Gottshalks, and supposedly to become a WinCo, has suddenly been sold to a company out of Los Angeles for more than $12-million USD.  My research shows WinCo has expressed a desire to move into that property since 2013!

In 2014 EDM Reality bought the property known as Country Club Plaza.  However, recently EDM sold-off the section that was supposed to be the site of a 92-thousand square foot WinCo to LA based Boma.H LLC ( a new REIT created in California in November 2015, keeping busy buying up commercial retail properties).  To make this even stranger I found reports that WinCo actually signed a lease for that property last year!   I also found reports from 2014 opposed to WinCo moving in.

According to KFBK radio “members of an Arden-Arcade community council” will fight WinCo every step of the way.  It makes you wonder, California’s economy is suffering (the Gottshalks space has been vacant sine 2009) and yet there are groups adamantly opposing businesses that want to move in!

New stores for Texas, Washingtonians & Oregonians want WinCo out!

Business/Economics, Idaho

“It hit me like a brick!” Romney style Vulture capitalist behind sudden shutdown of 166 restaurants, with no paychecks for thousands of employees! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 08 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Delaware:  In Newark, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ British empire based 23 years old Salvation Army Thrift Store (in the Park N Shop plaza).   Obviously money is the true god as the greedy landlord demanded more in rent!

Florida: The saga of the sudden mass Ovation Brands restaurant shutdowns continues. This time reports that several Ryan’s Buffets shutdown without warning, or paychecks for employees, in Horry County. A local news report said as many as 3-hundred restaurants across the U.S. are affected by the sudden bankruptcy!    In Pensacola, after 28 years Dollarhide’s Music Center shutting down, the owners want to retire: “I turned 70, it hit me like a brick!”-Bill Dollarhide, co-owner

Idaho: East of Boise, after 73 years iconic Ben’s Crow Inn shutting down by September.  The owner admitted in the early years all he served was pizza and beer. Now it’s famous for seafood and steak.  The owner also admitted that the ever expanding metro of Boise has jacked up local property values so much that he couldn’t refuse an offer from a greedy property developer.

Illinois: In Naperville, after 3-million customers the 21 years old Zero Gravity Food-Dancing club shutting down mid-month.  Rumors say it’ll be replaced with a bigger operation.

Iowa: The saga of the sudden mass Ovation Brands restaurant shutdowns continues.  This time a Ryan’s in Clive, and an Old Country Buffet in Des Moines shutdown without warning or final paychecks.

Maryland: Allen Harim Foods shutting down their 71 years old Cordova operations, 3-hundred jobs lost as the company consolidates ops to save money!

Massachusetts:  More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Boston Weak based sports app Fancred now for sale, all employees now unemployed!  It’s blamed on a failed crowd sourcing attempt.  After 47 years Johnny D’s Restaurant Music Club shutting down this weekend.  In Lowell, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’  108 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Franco American School.  It’s blamed on increasing costs and declining student enrollment.

Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) furloughed more than 3-thousand people at its Sterling Heights factory back in February! They were supposed to be back to work this month, but FCA has extended the furlough ’till April! FCA is ending production of its slow selling Chrysler 200.

Minnesota: God powerless to stop ‘his’ 70 years old mega-church North Heights Lutheran from shutdown. Local news reports say it’s due to a “civil war” inside the church!  Traverse City Area Public Schools shutting down the Interlochen Community School and the International School at Bertha Vos, blaming a $1.2-million USD shortfall.  Administrators will also not replace retiring employees (attrition) and reduce school bus service.

Nebraska: Schweser’s shutting down their 87 years old store (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) in Columbus, by this weekend.  Last year the Fremont based clothing retailer announced it would begin shutting down stores due to “…a dropoff in sales…over the past 3-4 years…We can come up with many excuses from the rise of internet shopping, reduced trips to physical stores, or changing demographics, but whatever the reason, we have not been able to overcome them quickly enough in some towns. Our expenses continue to rise….”

Pennsylvania: Joy Global Underground Mining conducted mass layoffs in Venango County, 382 jobs gone!  In Fredericksburg, after 28 years ‘natural’ food store The Pantry Self shutting down due to the death of the owner.  The saga of the sudden mass Ovation Brands restaurant shutdowns continues. This time the Old Country Buffet in Summit Township suddenly shutdown, claiming it was for “asset inventory” and asking employees to return on Wednesday for an update.  Non-profit Historic Philadelphia Center shutting down, the bad economy is forcing the non-profit operator to focus on more popular Historic Philadelphia sites.

South Carolina:  The saga of the sudden mass Ovation Brands restaurant shutdowns continues. This time six Ryan’s restaurants (in Columbia, Conway, Greer, Orangeburg, Spartanburg and Surfside Beach) suddenly shutdown, no warning, no paychecks for hundreds of employees! Local news reports say this is the third bankruptcy for Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC since 2008!  Nation’s Restaurant News reports that 92 restaurants across the country were shutdown over the weekend without warning! That’s on top of 74 restaurants shutdown last month, for a total of 166 in the past five weeks!  Not only did they shutdown the restaurants without warning, but they quickly removed cooking equipment and hauled it away (this must be what they mean by “conducting asset inventory”)!  Ovation Brands/Buffet LLC was taken over last year by Texas based FMP (Food Management Partners).   In the bankruptcy filing FMP claims their take over of Ovation Brands was a big money losing mistake as sales immediately crashed by 22%!  Nation’s Restaurant News discovered that FMP is a Mitt Romney-Bain Capital style vulture capitalist group that is responsible for the sudden shutdown of California based Catalina Restaurant Group’s Coco’s Bakery and Carrows restaurants last year!  “FMP has also acquired Don Pablo’s, Furr’s Fresh Buffet and Zio’s Italian Kitchen.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

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

Profiteering corporations avoid taxes! Mo massive restaurant shutdowns & no final paychecks! Healthcare provider kills shopping mall! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 07 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence only 28 corporations made 50% of all profits in the U.S. in 2015, and 27 avoided paying U.S. taxes due to pro-corporation tax laws! The 28 profit stealers are: Apple, Too Big to Jail JPMorgan Chase, Warren Buffett’s job killing Berkshire Hathaway, Too Big to Jail Wells Fargo, drugs maker Gilead Sciences, Verizon Communications, Too Big to Jail Citigroup, Alphabet-Google, despite low oil prices Exxon Mobil, Too Big To Jail Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart (who recently announced mass store shutdowns and layoffs), AT&T, IBM, Intel,  Microsoft, Cisco Systems, General Motors (GM), Oracle, Disney, Procter & Gamble, Comcast, Dow Chemical, American Airlines, United Technologies, Ford Motor,  Coca-Cola, and United Continental.

Alabama: In Huntsville, the now shuttered non-profit Sci-Quest museum is officially chapter 7 bankrupt busted.

California: The once Sears Holdings owned Orchard Supply Hardware shutting down their stores in Watsonville and Folsom.  The Watsonville store is apparently being kicked out by the landlord, who wants them out by January 2017, 40 jobs lost.  The Folsom store will shutdown during Summer.  These shutdowns come after Orchard Supply donated $5-thousand USD to the McClellan Ranch Preserve, and revealed they’ve been building new stores.  In Watsonville, the owner of the Crossroads shopping center served eight tenants with eviction notices! Yep, it’s the same landlord that’s kicking out the Orchard Supply store.  The eight mom-n-pop tenants being kicked out in the next 30 days are Crossroads Books, Arcadia Hair Salon, Wild Rose Artists’ Supplies & Custom Framing, Jansen Music, The Gamer’s Den, Queen’s Shoes & More, Trop-Aquarium & Pet Center and Claudio Franca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Some of the tenants have been there for the past 22 years!  You can blame this on the  Crossroads property owner signing a more lucrative deal to allow healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente to move in.  City administrators are pissed at the uncouth healthcare provider and greedy property owner, who gave no warning of the deal: “It’s not a good way for them to come into the community, by kicking out eight businesses with eviction notices. I am going to make sure they know that the mayor is opposed to the 30-day eviction…..!”-Felipe Hernandez, mayor

Connecticut:  More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise;  Hartford based healthcare provider Aetna eliminated 26 jobs with its iTriage App in Colorado.  Aetna then announced plans to merge iTriage App with WellMatch App.  No word on how many more IT jobs will be lost.

Florida: In Miami, food service contractor Boykin Management issued a mass layoff WARN, 119 jobs lost by May!

Illinois:  In Chicago, after two years critically acclaimed restaurant Tete Charcuterie shutdown without warning over the weekend, due to lack of sales.  In Frankfort, Burger King shutdown their Town Center location without explanation.

Michigan: What construction industry recovery? Germany based WKW Roof Rail Systems shutting down their Battle Creek factory, 130 jobs eliminated to “reduce costs and improve competitiveness”!

Minnesota: State Department of Employment and Economic Development reports that in 2015 The North Star State lost 1-thousand 990 mining jobs!  And in what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL), another 4-thousand 7-hundred suppliers and contractors lost their jobs as a result!  Employment administrators also admitted that not all those who lost their jobs registered with the  Department of Employment and Economic Development (one reason why official unemployment rate is down).

Missouri: In Saint Louis, Peabody Energy revealed it eliminated more jobs, but would not say how many.  Reports say creditors are pushing for bankruptcy.

New York: In NYC, after five years Team Gallery shutting down its space on Wooster Street due to the greedy landlord wanting to double the rent to $50-thousand USD per month!

Pennsylvania: In Wilkes-Barre Township, two Old Country Buffet restaurants shutdown without warning, leaving almost 1-hundred people without a job or a paycheck!  It’s connected to the sudden bankruptcy of Ovation Brands (see South Carolina below).  Weis Markets shutting down its 56 years old Manchester Township grocery store by the end of the month, claiming it’s too small: “Given the age and size of the building, it was no longer possible to operate a full service supermarket in this location.” 

   

South Carolina: Greer based restaurant operator Ovation Brands (formerly known as Buffets) now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, affecting restaurants Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan’s, Ryan’s Family Steakhouse, Granny’s, Tahoe Joe’s, Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse, Soup ‘N Salad Unlimited, Roadhouse Grill and J.J. North’s Grand Buffet.  Already local news reports say 74 restaurants have been shutdown across the U.S. without warning.  Two Ryan’s restaurants suddenly shutdown in Upstate South Carolina leaving 80 people without a job or paycheck!  (a warning shutdown took place in Moline, Illinois, the day before)

Texas: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; in Austin after moving into new HQ, 10 years old internet based wholesaler network Bazaarvoice announced it will eliminate 50 jobs in order to remain successful “…in the coming year and for many years to come.”  Invista Victoria issued a WARN, 50 jobs lost by May.  What automotive industry recovery? In Grapevine, Standard Motor Products issued a WARN, 93 jobs lost by the end of April. In El Paso, Bruce Foods shutting down, 171 jobs lost by May!  The Forever 21 clothing store in Dallas shutting down, 68 jobs lost by the end of April.  San Antonio based Palmaz Scientific now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to being “…seriously impaired by a negative campaign of false information disseminated by certain individuals about the company. Litigation involving these false charges was brought by and against the company in 2015.”

Washington: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise;  Redmond based Microsoft announced it will shutdown two game development studios, one in United Kingdom the other in Denmark.  In Bellingham, Albertsons-Safeway shutting down their 56 years old store on Birchwood Avenue, 66 jobs lost by May.

Wisconsin: In New Berlin junk food maker Mexican Accent issued a WARN, 155 jobs lost by the end of April!   In Yorkville, Publications International eliminating 50 jobs by April.  In Watertown, Eaton Corporation eliminating 91 jobs starting in June.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

05-06 March 2016: “We don’t pay well!”

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

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

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

Business/Economics, Idaho

“This sudden decline in demand was unexpected.” Idaho’s youth get the hell outta Dodge! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 05 – 06 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arizona: In Phoenix, Fuego Bistro shutdown its CityScape location.  In Glendale, after 46 years restaurant La Peria shutdown due to not being able to pay its rent.  In Scottsdale, Stingray Sushi shutdown.  RT O’Sullivans sports bar-eatery shutdown on U.S. 60.

California: Illinois based drugs maker Baxalta eliminating 1-hundred jobs in Thousand Oaks by May, due to being taken over by an Irish company.  In Stockton, S-Mart grocery store shutting down mid-month, 50 jobs lost due to lack of profits.

Connecticut:  More proof of Depression; the city of Bridgeport eliminated 24 jobs due to lack of tax revenues.  Administrators warned “There may be more than that.”  And here’s another reason why tax revenues will continue to go down,  battery maker Duracell warns it will move its Bethel HQ to Illinois due to being taken over by job killer Warren Buffett.

Florida: Tomato Land Farmers Market store-restaurant shutting down next month, due to the property being sold-off.  In Tampa’s Ybor City, after 33 years The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant shutting down on Wednesday. No specific reason was given, but in 2010 the Church of Scientology became the new landlord.

Idaho:  Good news if you hate loan sharks, bad news if that’s how you make your living; according to the state Department of Finance the number of ‘licensed’ payday loan business crashed by 34% in 2015!  More will shutdown as new tougher federal laws go into effect: “What we are hearing and reading nationally is the lenders are saying they cannot afford to stay in the business.”-Mike Larsen, Idaho Dept. of Finance Consumer Finance Bureau

The Idaho Department of Labor admits that many Idahoans born between 1980 and 2000 are fleeing the Right to Work (you over) Gem State, and the biggest reason is the same reason I’ve heard since arriving in 1997, not enough good paying jobs: “People want to stay here, but there aren’t many options or much industry available in Idaho.  We’ve been avoiding this issue for a long time, because our employers don’t like to hear it: We don’t pay well!”-Ken Edmunds, Idaho Department of Labor

Back in 2003 I interviewed several Idaho State University Alumni who graduated in 1973.  They all stated they were making more money back in the 1970s.  One social sciences graduate stated he continued working at his loading dock job because he was making more money than what he would get with his sociology degree, but once Idaho became a Right to Work state (in the 1980s) everything went to hell.  As a dock worker in Pocatello (on Garrett Way) he was making $15.00 per hour in the 1970s, and that’s not adjusting for inflation!  He wasn’t married and his rent, utilities and food was so cheap by today’s costs that he felt like he was living in luxury.  By 2003 most of the distribution/warehouse jobs left the city, and at his age he was lucky to find a job that paid him $7.00 per hour.  He said the only reason why he wasn’t homeless was because he paid-off his cheap mobile home in the late 1970s and was still living in it.  Many of the older Pocatellans I interviewed wondered how young adults were surviving financially.   For decades local and state level politicians promised to bring god paying jobs to the state.  In Pocatello and Chubbuck there is a covert push to make the area a warehousing/distribution hub again, but the average starting wage for such jobs is between $10 and $15 per hour.  When adjusted for inflation that’s way less than what the same jobs paid in the 1970s!

Illinois: In Moline, Ryan’s Steakhouse shutdown without warning, pissing off employees.  The restaurant was shutdown officially for an “asset inventory”, but then, the employees were told they could pick up their final paychecks!  A local TV news report said one employee was told of the layoff after she clocked-out to go home.

Kentucky: An example of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL), Carmeuse Lime and Stone eliminating 76 jobs in Maysville, blaming it on a customer who suddenly announced it will shutdown a coal fired power plant in Pennsylvania: “FirstEnergy is the largest customer for Carmeuse’s Maysville Operation and the idling of the Bruce Mansfield power generation capacity has caused a significant and abrupt decline in demand for our products. This sudden decline in demand was unexpected.”    

Minnesota: Stillwater School District shutting down three elementary schools. Interestingly administrators blame increasing enrollment!  They claim they’re shifting children out of older schools into new buildings designed to handle more students.

New York: In NYC, after 29 years never ending building remodeling by the landlord killed-off Cardiology gift store: “We lost all the morning business. It’s a struggle every month to make the rent.”-Richard Barbosa

Pennsylvania: FirstEnergy suddenly shutting down its Bruce Mansfield power generation plant, after asking PJM Interconnection to grant a surcharge rate increase to its utility customers, and after claiming it spent $450-million USD on upgrades last year.  The news of the sudden shutdown was revealed by a major supplier in Kentucky.  385 jobs threatened! 

Texas: Aluminum maker Alcoa announce more layoffs, this time a second round of layoffs at their Howmet Castings ops in Wichita Falls.  They already laid off 60 people back in January, no numbers given for this section round of job culling.

Virginia: In South Richmond, after less than six months White Horse Tavern shutdown due to lack of dinner sales.  News reports say yet another restauranteur is about to take a whack at opening an eatery in the same location.

In Richmond, low income daycare Southside Child Development Center shutting down in June: “Funders are saying that they just can’t continue to support us without us being able to support ourselves, which is a hardship when you deal with the families that we serve.”-Sheila Pleasants

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

03-04 March 2016: “unsustainable”

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

Potential Presidential candidate kills 1,000 jobs! 2016 kills big sales for Kroger! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 03 – 04 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

California: Saddleback Memorial Medical Center shutting down in May.  Administrators say ObamaCare has driven away so many patients that it’s now “unsustainable”.  Japan based video game maker SEGA (SEGA was created in the U.S. territory of Hawaii in 1940, where it made slot machines) revealed they eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs from their San Francisco SEGA Networks ops.

Colorado: Russia based steel oil pipe maker EVRAZ expanding their job destruction to Pueblo, 70 jobs lost to low oil and steel prices.  This is on top of the 230 jobs in Oregon.

Connecticut: In Stamford, after 50 years Pat’s Hubba Hubba restaurant shutting down by the end of the month.

Illinois: In Lake Zurich the Sears Appliance & Hardware shutting down by the end of April.  John A. Logan College eliminating 55 jobs claiming to be short $7-million USD.  Protesting students pointed out that certain departments are not suffering job losses and that school executives refused to say why.   Computer Systems Institute shutting down campuses across the state, eliminating 172 jobs between now and September!  In Chicago, Computershare issued a layoff WARN, 56 jobs lost by the end of April.  Food giant Tyson issued a shutdown WARN, 170 frozen food jobs eliminated between April and August!  In Elk Grove Village, food service company Sodexo issued a shutdown WARN, 54 jobs lost by the end of April.  Also in Elk Grove Village, Arrow Plastics shutting down after being sold-off, 165 jobs lost by mid-April! In Westmont, IlliCare Health shutting down due to loss of contract, 68 jobs lost by the end of this month.  In Bensenville, Tek-Cast issued a shutdown WARN, 119 jobs lost by mid-April! Deer Run Mine issued a layoff WARN, 84 jobs lost between March this year and January 2017 (blamed on a “natural disaster”).  Joliet Generating Station eliminating 94 jobs between April and October.  Bankrupt Sports Authority shutting down their Romeoville store in April, 66 jobs lost (for a list of all the Sports Authority stores being shutdown as part of the bankruptcy, click here).  TDC Filter shutting down their Bolingbrook factory, 91 jobs gone by the the end of this month. In Rochelle, Ryder truck rentals issued a shutdown WARN, 2-hundred jobs lost by the end of April!  The Kewanee child prison being consolidated with other prison ops, 203 jobs lost by July!

Maryland: In Amherst, beef eatery White Hut shutting down by the end of the month.  The family owners say sales have only been “modest” and not enough to justify renewing the lease.  They hope their flagship Great Depression era restaurant in West Springfield doesn’t meet the same fate.

Massachusetts: Framingham based, Mitt Romney (yep, the very same Mormon guy who’s threatening to run against Donald Trump) co-founded Staples announced it is shutting down an additional 50 stores.  Mitt Romney’s Staples has shutdown 242 North American stores in the past two years, and eliminated 1-thousand jobs between November 2015 and January 2016!

Minnesota: Dow shutting down their warehousing ops at their GMO seed factory in Olivia, 25 jobs lost.  However, GMO “Research and Development (R&D) activities will continue at the site.” 

New York: Solar equipment supplier Direct Energy shutting down their Henrietta operations, 53 jobs lost in May.  Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs eliminating 43 jobs in May, they accuse the employees of being “under-performers”!   Berkley Publishing Group revealed they eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs last week, blaming crashing paperback book sales.  News reports say the book publisher has been eliminating jobs since Summer 2015.

Ohio: Grocery store giant Kroger warning investors that same store sales crashed in the last three months of their fiscal 2015 (for the entire year their sales were still up)!  Kroger owns stores that sell more than just food, but administrators warn that across the board sales will be down for 2016, which breaks Kroger’s record of more than 12 straight years of sales increases!  Kroger administrators blame competition, and deflation which will kill profit margins.

Oregon: The Kroger owned  Fred Meyer distribution center in Clackamas is threatening 2-hundred jobs, as Kroger decided to find a new contractor to provide the labor!

Texas: God powerless to stop ‘his’ 30 years old Central Christian Academy from shutting down. Church leaders blame The Rapture, I mean declining church membership for forcing them to sell the school property (told you before, this proves money is the true god).

Utah: British empire United Kingdom based Rio Tinto eliminating about 2-hundred jobs at their Kennecott mine, blaming low prices for metals!

Vermont: Entergy eliminating 97 jobs at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant due to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission eliminating the ten mile emergency evacuation zone.

Virginia: After 89 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) clothier Young Men’s Shop shutting down.  The owner said that despite most of his clothing being made in the U.S. more and more people buy off internet.

Washington: Seattle based retailer Nordstrom’s revealed they eliminated ten IT jobs, last week.  This is despite the fact that Nordstrom’s internet sales have gone up.

Wisconsin: OEM Fabricators laying off 34 people in Baldwin as the company shuts down in April.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

02 March 2016: “We have to remove ourselves from what once was.”

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

“We have to remove ourselves from what once was.” No help for those who work for God? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 02 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

What housing market recovery? “…under the new federal real estate settlement procedures that took effect late last year, an unexpected problem is taking shape: Many lenders and title companies are refusing to provide copies of the final closing documents to real estate agents representing home buyers. That, in turn, is threatening to jeopardize one of the traditional services agents perform for their clients: scrutinizing closing statements for inaccuracies that could cost them money or delay the settlement unnecessarily.”-The Washington Post

California: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Palo Alto based ‘cloud’ computing company SurveyMonkey eliminating 1-hundred jobs, saying “The products and solutions in place were not going to generate long-term value for SurveyMonkey.”  

Colorado: Just a few days after Blind Bat News was told by an unnamed Kmart employee of pending shutdown, Sears Holdings confirmed they will shut down the Fort Collins Kmart, 33 jobs lost in May.    Englewood based Sports Authority now officially chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Last month I wrote that they were shutting down 140 stores, on top of the shutdowns already conducted.

Illinois: Troubled drugs maker Abbott Laboratories about to fire U.S. workers and replace them with migrants from India: “-You have given 180 U.S. employees 60-days notice, and their last day of employment at Abbott Labs will be April 22, 2016.

-To add insult to injury, the Abbott Labs IT staff who will be laid off will first be forced to train their replacements.

–You have awarded Wipro Ltd, a large Indian outsourcing firm, with a contract to take over the jobs of these American workers.

-You are offering the U.S. workers severance of a week’s pay for each year they spent at the company, but in order to receive this severance you are requiring these employees to sign away their right to sue or disparage the company. The severance packet you gave your workers contains a full-page ad listing jobs at Wipro.

-The people you are laying off have stellar experience, credentials, and performance reviews, and some have been with your company for 15-20 years.”-Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator

Maine: In Portland, God is powerless to stop economic warfare within ‘his’ own church! Non-profit Good Cause Thrift Shop being shutdown by its owner, the Catholic girls only Catherine McCauley High School, which claims it’s an economic decision.  According to Maine’s employment law, if you work for God’s non-profits you do not qualify for unemployment assistance!  A local news report revealed the employees were ordered by ‘christian’ leaders not to reveal the shutdown, but the employees basically said ‘bullshit on that’!  (that’s why we know about it)

Maryland: After 58 years Harbin Farms shutting down due to A-Hole zoning rules which will impose at least $375-thousand USD of property upgrades upon the family owners: “We’re probably going to move. We have to remove ourselves from what once was.”-Kim Taylor

Minnesota: Ferrara Candy shutting down their Winona factory and consolidating to its factory in Illinois, more than 120 Minnesota jobs lost!  

Nebraska:  In Lincoln, after 21 years Doozy’s sandwich shop shutting down: “There are a number of reasons….We have other jobs and other things happening.”-Tafe Sup Bergo, co-owner

New York: New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott hotel coming under new management, 191 jobs threatened by the end of May!  Japanese company Canon Solutions lost their contract with New York Life, 38 jobs lost by the end of May. In Saratoga Springs, after only seven months restaurant Spa City Trifecta shutting down tomorrow “Due to the fact that the restaurant is no longer permitted to use its smoker on the premises…”  Germany based Siemens Dresser-Rand eliminating jobs at their Wellsville factory, so far they won’t say how many.  

Reports that Armonk based IBM began eliminating more jobs, just a month after reducing their six month severance plan down to just one month.

Oregon: Pinnacle Workforce Logistics issued a WARN, they’re eliminating 190 jobs in Clackamas by April!

Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh-Post Gazette warned unionized employees of mass layoffs, apparently due to efforts to bribe (voluntary buyouts) more than a hundred people to quit have failed.

Tennessee: Kroger shutting down their Memphis grocery store on South Perkins, admitting they built too many Kroger stores, several within a mile of each other!

Washington: Apollo Education-University of Phoenix shutting down their Seattle operations, 46 jobs lost by the end of April.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

01 March 2016: “Our outlook for 2016 reflects the weakening in the industrial economy that began broadly impacting our businesses late last summer.” 

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

Mo layoffs with no final pay! Mo oil industry BS! GEICo Gecko shafts you with Green Weenie! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 01 March 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Delaware: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; software company SevOne revealed that it eliminated about 50 jobs last week.

Florida: In Fort Lauderdale, “notorious” Tropicana Motel shutting down after 60 years.  It’s being replaced with a giant expensive hotel.

Georgia: In Albany, after five years Christian owned (Flint River Presbytery) non-profit Bare Bulb Coffee shop shutting down due to road construction that killed customer traffic.

Illinois: Chicago Public Schools laid off 62 people on Monday.  The village of University Park eliminating 50 jobs due to “Mismanagement of funds, borrowing and never paying it back. Now we have a poor rating, and we can’t borrow money.”

Indiana: Texas based Trinity Containers shutting down their Quincy ops starting in May.  72 jobs lost due to a sudden decline in demand for their propane tanks.  It should be noted that Trinity reported a record 4th quarter 2015 profit of $200-million USD!  However, administrators said despite the 2015 profit “Our outlook for 2016 reflects the weakening in the industrial economy that began broadly impacting our businesses late last summer.”

Maryland: Plastic container maker Graham Packaging shutting down its Baltimore operation,  79 jobs lost by the end of Summer.

Massachusetts: 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shuts down in May.  More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; software company Avid Technology eliminating $68-million USD in jobs and services, blaming bad management decisions such as failing to keep up with new technological developments!

Mississippi: In Quitman (yep, that’s the city’s name), Solvay Biomass Energy revealed it laid off 32 people last week.  They can’t compete with cheap oil prices.

Nebraska: Omaha based job killer ‘christian’ Warren Buffett says vehicle insurance rates are going up due to increased accidents.  He should know, the insurance industry is his forte.  Buffett got his start with GEICo, which stands for Government Employees Insurance Company, in a ’round-a-bout way making his first fortune off taxpayers.

New York: In NYC, Iowa based marketing company Meredith Corporation revealed they laid off 29 people last Friday.  EmblemHealth Services shutting down their Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 82 jobs lost beginning at the end of May.   It’s blamed on a lost contract.  More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Manifest Digital shutting down its Saratoga Springs office, as a result of its merger with McMurry/TMG.

Ohio: 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutting down in May. 18 jobs lost as the Dixie Highway Sears Appliance & Hardware shuts down this Friday.

Oklahoma: D&L Oil Tools laid off 78 people, blaming low oil prices.

Pennsylvania: After suddenly laying off ambulance technicians in New York, with no final paychecks, TransCare suddenly shutdown their Monroeville facility, 120 people out of work and with no paychecks!  Local TV news reports reveal even more bad news for employees. 

Rhode Island: Memorial Hospital announced it must eliminate an undisclosed number of employees, and shutdown a birthing center, a surgical department and intensive care unit.

South Carolina: 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutting down by May.

Texas:  Investor’s Business Dailey issued a WARN saying at least 14 people in Plano will become jobless by the end of April.  Luminant Mining Company issued multiple WARNs, 80 jobs lost by the end of April.  Denmark based Maersk Drilling laid off 35 people in Houston. Also in Houston, Boeing plans to layoff at least 15 people by the end of April.  Grapevine based oil field service company Green Hunter Resources now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

Virginia: In Radford, after 17 years Wade’s Foods shutting down, the owner blames skyrocketing costs and competition with big corporate stores, more than 50 jobs lost.  Local news says plans to shutdown were made last year.

Washington DC:  U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) reporting that despite the tens of thousand of U.S. oil industry layoffs and hundreds of rig shutdowns, U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico will hit record levels in 2017.  The EIA expects Gulf of Mexico production to hit 1.9mbd (million barrels per day), and that’s separate from the Obama regime’s plan to authorize a 45 million acre expansion of oil operations in the Gulf!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

28 -29 February 2016: “took a knife and cut my heart out”

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 02 March 2016 : More closings, blame it on the demise of the Middle Class!

“They just can’t compete. Department stores are the worst segment in retailing. The sector is not a good sector….  …People are watching their pennies. The customer is trading down, and people in the extreme value business are booming.”-Howard Davidowitz, retail analyst explaining what happens when your exalted leaders destroy the Middle Class

A Kmart employee in California notified Blind Bat News that Sears Holdings plans on shutting down another Kmart in Colorado, as well as another Kmart in California (not confirmed).  Sears Holdings is shifting most full time employees to part time, and consolidating district and regional management jobs across the country, saying it’s necessary to “proactively transform” the dying business!

27 February 2016: While sales crash, customers steal work clothes & stores are literally given away, Sears exec spends millions on new home! 

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:

Arizona: The Prescott Valley Kmart shutting down by April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Local news reports say there is a Now Hiring sign posted on the Kmart store front. 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!

Alabama: 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).

California: Anaheim Kmart shutting down, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutting down 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: 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: The Lutz Kmart shutting down by March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutting down by 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 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016. Dublin Kmart will 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 shutting down 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 shutting down by mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutting down by 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: 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: In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutting down in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart by April, 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: Ottumwa Kmart shutting down by 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shuts down 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 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 will be shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutting down 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 by April 2016, 32 jobs lost. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutting down 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: The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutting down 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: 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: 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: 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 will 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: Las Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York: 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: 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: 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutting down 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 shutting down by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW will shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutting down 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: 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: 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: 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutting down 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: The Pierre Kmart shutting down by the end of March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutting down in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: The Murfreesboro Kmart shutting down by the end of April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutting down in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutting down in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutting down 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: 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: 35 years old Richfield Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutting down by 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: The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutting down between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper shutting down by the end of the month. 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: 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: Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: Superior Kmart shutting down 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).

In April 2015, Sears Holdings (through Seritage Growth Properties) and General Growth Properties (GGP) became 50/50 joint owners of 12 Sears stores.

Here’s a list of 11 Sears stores 100% owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall (it’s official the Sears is closing, see above), and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall (this does not involve the two repair centers being closed by Sears)

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center. Due to a favorable lease agreement the GGP owned Provo Sears will continue to stay open under Sears Holdings management)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall (it’s official, the Sears closed, see above)

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center (closed, see above)

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall (Bellingham store, see above)

Minnesota: Apache Mall (see update above, GGP will close Sears store by 2014)

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center (see update above, GGP closing store)

Business/Economics

Global Depression as China kills 1.8 million jobs & begins monetary easing! Blame ‘western’ led G20!

29 February 2016 (12:36 UTC-07 Tango 01) 10 Esfand 1394/20 Jumada al-Ula 1437/22 Geng Yin 4714

“…the G20 recognized that while the global recovery continues, it remains too weak and uneven–and falls short of our collective ambition for strong, sustainable and balanced growth. To confront this challenge, we need action now.”-Christine Lagarde, IMF

If Walmart is the canary in the coal mine for the U.S. economy, then China is the same for the entire world economy.  China’s Ministry of Human Resources says factory orders are so low there is no justification to keep 1.8-million steel and coal workers employed!  They gave no date for when the massive layoffs will begin.  Ministry of Human Resources calls the layoffs “resettlement”.

The announcement came after Premier Li Keqiang revealed that the equivilant of $15.27-million USD is being set aside for expected mass unemployment!

On top of that, the People’s Bank of China is dropping the amount of cash commercial banks must keep in the vaults, for the 5th time since February 2015!  Analysts say this 5th drop in the reserve ratio is meant to inject the equivilant of $100-billion USD into the Chinese economy.    This comes after members of the G20 revealed the global economy is actually crashing, not recovering.

Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the U.S. based International Monetary Fund (IMF), blamed the lack of global recovery on the lack of implementation of past G20 agreements: “…bold multilateral actions. This requires following through on past G20 commitments and, in particular, renewed momentum this year to deliver on the goal of achieving 2 percent additional growth by 2018.”

Business/Economics

“took a knife and cut my heart out” Landlords stab tenants in the back! “wild swings in currency” killing shoe stores? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 28 – 29 February 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama: ‘Elected lawmakers’ have shit-canned a proposal to increase minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  The minimum wage increase was an attempt by the ‘lawmakers’ of the city of Birmingham to increase living standards for the residents, but state level ‘lawmakers’ stepped in and passed their own law forbidding cities from setting their own wage standards!

California: Ojai Unified School District is deciding the fate of five elementary schools due to what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome and (this is so typical of California) the school’s property values!  Local news reports say greedy school administrators have already met with local real estate agents about selling off the schools!  By the way, last year it was discovered that embezzlement was being conducted by some Ojai district employees.  A reader, and Kmart employee, says the City of Commerce Kmart is shutting down. Several district managers for California Kmarts have been laid off as well.

Colorado: A Kmart employee in California notified Blind Bat News that Sears Holdings plans on shutting down another Kmart in The Centennial State.  Yet another Denver restaurant shutdown.  After 12 years popular Gypsy House Cafe shutting down mid-March due to the greedy property owners selling out without warning the operators of the Cafe.

Connecticut:  Fairfield based federal tax dodger General Electric (GE) just admitted its mass U.S. job culling (through off-shoring of jobs, layoffs and selling their assets) has resulted in their lowest level of U.S. employment in more than two decades!   In 2015 alone GE eliminated 11-thousand U.S. jobs!  GE says it currently employs 125-thousand U.S. citizens, a number not see since 1993! And great news for investors; GE plans to continue to U.S. job destruction!

Florida: Troubled Aramark issued a shutdown WARN for its Florida Gulf Coast University ops, 288 jobs lost by May!  Aramark has been downgraded by investment analysts, and an Aramark prison food service supervisor in Michigan was sentenced to prison time for hiring a prisoner to attack another prisoner!   

Illinois: Local news reports say Chicago Public Schools is expected to begin ‘mid-year’ mass layoffs, today.  Western Illinois University eliminating an additional 1-hundred jobs!  They laid off 30 people in January.  Unconfirmed reports to Blind Bat News that Hoffman Estates based Sears Holdings is shifting most full time employees to part time, calling it a necessary “realignment”!  Also, district and regional management jobs across the country are being consolidated, hundreds of managers will become unemployed!  Without warning, Chicago based Starcom MediaVest Group laid off 80 people.  Administrators called the layoff ‘routine’, implying it had nothing to due with the loss of a major client; Walmart.

Indiana: Traderbakers flea-market in Evansville shutdown after the building they were in was sold out from under their feet.  Yes, even their lease was sold to a major corporation who then said ‘get out’!

Maryland: In Arlington, after five years Tweet Tweet toy store shutting down for “personal reasons”.

Michigan: Battle Creek based shoe seller Wolverine Worldwide announced they must shutdown 1-hundred stores in 2016, that’s on top of the 104 stores they shutdown in 2015!  Their brands include Stride Rite, Merrell, Sperry, and Saucony, and now dead Patagonia Footwear and Cushe.  They also sell the Sebago brand of shoes loved by British empire princess Kate, and their CAT brand shoes are even promoted by the false working class spokesman Mike Rowe.  Interestingly Wolverine Worldwide reported “Performance of our retail stores has improved significantly…”, but blamed the mass store shutdowns on currency wars for “wild swings in currency” that they think will adversely affect their revenues. This is because of where their shoes are made versus where they sell them.  What automotive industry recovery? In what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs, Grand Rapids Plastics eliminating 85 jobs due to the loss of a major customer; Fiat Chrysler.

New Jersey: Enclara Health issued a WARN for their West Deptford operations, at least 1-hundred jobs lost by May!

New York: What automotive industry recovery? In Massena Hamilton’s Automotive Service Center shutting down due to a greedy landlord: “Our building was sold from under us that we faithfully paid and kept up for the past 8 years. It saddens me cause of the loyal and faithful friends and customers we have grown to know and like. It feels like someone took a knife and cut my heart out…”-Kevin Hamilton

North Carolina: In Durham, after 12 years restaurant City Beverage shutdown. Local news reports say the owners have failed to pay $1-million USD in state & federal taxes!  

Two Hawk Employment Services being sued, accused of illegal pre-employment medical inquiries and then using the information to destroy job applications and deny employment!  The accusation comes from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Two Hawk Employment is a privately owned company.

Ohio: The city of Niles eliminated 12 jobs, including most of its police detective positions.

South Dakota: God powerless to stop the shutdown-consolidation of 41 of ‘his’ churches!!!   The Catholic Diocese of Sioux City will begin the drastic operation in Summer 2017, blaming The Rapture, I mean declining membership which results in declining revenues, inadvertently revealing their true god is money.  Some of the surviving consolidated churches won’t even operate on a weekly bases!

Texas: In Dallas, after less than a year restaurant Hickory & Fry shutdown.  Apparently residents of Dallas-Fort worth can’t handle the concept of a tapas bar (reports say it was the only one).  Houston base food distribution giant Sysco says they have to kill more jobs, this time 1-thousand 2-hundred employees will become unemployed over the next 15 months!  Administrators say the economic environment is forcing them to find ways to increase profits without relying on sales (because sales suck).

Virginia: After 137 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions), more proof the true god is money as the Belle Haven Presbyterian Church announced it will shutdown after the ‘pagan’ Ishtar inspired holiday of Easter: “It’s for sale, someone can turn it into a restaurant if they want to.”-Nancy Bunce, church treasurer

Washington: Maslow Media Group shutting down their Seattle ops by the end of April.

Washington DC: Proof we’re in a deflationary depression?  The U.S. Postal Service is dropping the price of a postage stamp for the first time in 97 years, or is it?  In April the cost of a Forever stamp might drop from 49 cents to 47 cents.  I must point out that the last price increase was only temporary and that time has expired, which is why it should be coming down. However, postal officials are actually begging Congress not to go forward with the price drop.        The president of the United States, Barack Obama, claims his first ‘real’ job was scooping ice cream in Hawaii: “…it taught me some valuable lessons: Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school.”  My first real jobs (after graduating High School a year early) were part time as a 12F (MOS no longer exists, consolidated with 12B) in the California Army National Guard and as a full time civilian contracted bombing range technician at Edwards AFB!  So Obama becomes president and now I’m unemployed! What does that teach me?

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

27 February 2016: “They are laying off workers, cutting out their hours, their pay and their rights, and now they can no longer afford living!”-Stephanie Padilha, American Apparel employee 

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.”