Category Archives: Business/Economics

Business/Economics, Idaho

“Walmart won.” No more GoPro? Gas supply at record highs, demand down, yet prices in Idaho go up! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 14 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

After only two years Qatar based news source Al Jazeera is getting the hell outta Dodge! Al Jazeera America is shutting down in April, administrators say that despite increasing numbers of viewers the suck-ass U.S. economy makes doing business in ‘Merica “no longer sustainable”!  7-hundred employees affected!

Arizona: The Prescott Valley Kmart shutting down by April.  No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.”

California:   Four Kmarts shutting down between March and April, one in Anaheim, Chula Vista, San Mateo and Citrus Heights, a total of 407 jobs lost!  More proof high-tech is not recession resistant, San Mateo based GoPro digital cam systems announced it must eliminate at least 7% of its jobs (about 105 positions) due to holiday sales that sucked!  GoPro’s 4th quarter revenues are about $100-million USD short of what the ‘experts’ thought they would get!

Connecticut:  Fairfield based industry giant General Electric (GE) announced it is killing off 6-thousand 5-hundred jobs in Europe!  It’s the result of GE’s takeover of Alstom SA Energy.

Florida:   Sears Holdings announced the 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutting down by mid-March, 86 jobs lost.   The Lutz Kmart shutting down by March, 62 jobs lost.  

Pokey Runway liquidating

Idaho:  In Pocatello about two years after opening, previously worn clothing seller Runway Fashion Exchange “going out of business” and liquidating everything.  Essentially a for-profit thrift store, Runway Fashion Exchange has been shutting down stores across the U.S. since 2013.   There are reports that the supply of gasoline is at record levels, and demand is down (again), yet here in eastern Idaho gas prices went up by ten cents per gallon compared to last week ($2.05 in Chubbuck/Pocatello, last week it was at $1.95).  

The decade old drought is causing taxpayers to fork out more funding for aquifer recharge projects.  Governor Otter is proposing a one time $10-million USD payment plus $2-million yearly for the Egin Lakes-Egin Bench canal near Rexburg.  Supporters of the plan complain it’s not enough money!

Illinois: Hoffman Estates based Sears Holdings announced they will shutdown up to 120 Kmart and Sears stores in 2016!

Michigan: The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutting down by mid-March, 48 jobs lost.

Mississippi:  The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutting down in April, no word on job losses.

Missouri:  Noranda Aluminum joins the list of aluminum smelters cutting way back on production.  190 people at Noranda’s New Madrid ops to become unemployed by the end of the week, and another 480 employees to be let go by the start of February!

New York: In DeWitt, it’s been revealed that the owner of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Yogen Fruz shut them both down due to low sales and high operating costs.   The same owner is shutting down his Pop’s Media Cafe claiming his labor costs are now double his sales, and his rent is about to be jacked by the greedy landlord.

North Carolina: In Greensboro, ConvaTec shutting down their medical products factory and laying off 250 people by the beginning of 2017!  It’s their way of becoming more competitive in the global market.

Oklahoma: In Ponca City, Mertz Manufacturing laid off about 45 people, blaming “…continued decreased product demand from the oil and gas industry.”  SandRidge Energy announced the elimination of 226 jobs (87% of its positions) with its Lariat Services Group, due to crashing oil prices!

Ohio: Steubenville Kmart shutting down by April, 65 jobs lost. 

Pennsylvania:  In Clairton, Koppers shutting down their chemical factory, 52 jobs lost over the next six months.  The factory makes chemicals for industries that are now shutting down due to crashing commodities prices.  After 60 years Trader Horn shutting down all seven stores, 2-hundred jobs lost!  It’s blamed on the deteriorating health of the owner.

South Dakota:  The Pierre Kmart shutting down by the end of March, 45 jobs lost.  The Michell Kmart shutting down in April, 52 jobs lost.  

Tennessee:  Cleveland Kmart shutting down by mid-March, no job numbers reported.  A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutting down, 109 jobs lost!

Virginia: The Sears Hometown store in Culpeper shutting down by the end of the month.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

13 January 2016: “cuts like a knife…we can’t compete” Idaho eateries give you a discount if you bring your gun! 

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 13 January 2016: More than one hundred stores to be shutdown!

Hoffman Estates based Sears Holdings announced they will shutdown up to 120 Kmart and Sears stores in 2016!

12 January 2016: Massive store shutdowns! Kroger changes its mind!

Here’s the updated list (new shutdowns in bold) of U.S. store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011:

Arizona: 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: 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: Three Kmarts shutting down by April, one in Chula Vista, San Mateo and Citrus Heights, 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: Sears Holdings announced the 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutting down by mid-March, 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: Mount Berry Square Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March, 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 Nimitz HWY Kmart shutting down in March, 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).

Kmart Pocatello

Big Kmart, with small sales, in Pocatello

Idaho: Finally official (I’ve been warning about it after a manager told me at least a year ago they were in an unofficial “holding  pattern”), Pocatello Kmart shutting down by April, 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: 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: 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, 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 by Spring, 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: North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost).   Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutting down.  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: Three Kmart stores by April, one in Virginia, Superior and Ironwood, 137 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: Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutting down in April, 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: 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: 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: 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 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: Steubenville Kmart shutting down by April, 65 jobs lost.   Boardman Kmart by April, 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: 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: 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, 45 jobs lost.  The Michell Kmart shutting down in April, 52 jobs lost.   Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: Cleveland Kmart shutting down by mid-March, no job numbers reported.  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 Sears (56 jobs lost right before Xmas).

Utah: North Logan Kmart shutting down by April, 58 jobs lost.  Murray Sears (for some reason Mormon controlled 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: Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost),  South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virginia: 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: 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).

On top of that, Sears Holdings sold stores to General Growth Properties (GGP), of which it has been reported that most of those stores will be closed.

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now 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, Idaho

“cuts like a knife…we can’t compete” Idaho eateries give you a discount if you bring your gun! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 13 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

British empire based British Petroleum (BP, formerly known as Anglo-Iranian Oil) announced it will eliminate at least 4-thousand jobs around the world.

British empire based polymer products maker Fenner announced a 20% cut in jobs in its North American operations, blaming the oil industry.

California:   Cupertino made the Texas based retailer JCPenney‘s shutdown list for April.  Wine maker to the elites, Premier Cru,  chapter 7 bankrupt busted and shutdown without warning.  Wealthy customers are stuck as $70-million USD in paid orders will not be delivered (oh boo hoo).

Colorado: According to Colorado Oil and Gas Association only 22 oil rigs were in operation at the end of 2015, compared to 77 in 2014. The Colorado School of Mines is in danger of losing students due to the crashing oil industry: “Students are asking ‘How long is this going to occur?’ ….This is a big change as far as what they’re expectations were compared to what the realty is.”-Will Fleckenstein, adjunct professor interviewed by 9NEWS

Connecticut: In Stratford, after 82 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recession) Clough’s Hardware shutting down.

Florida:  The Venice public library shutting down by the end of the month due to unsanitary conditions that never go away despite numerous attempts to repair the building.   British empire based U.S. tax-sucking BAE announced more job cuts at its Jacksonville boatyard.  This time 3-hundred jobs to be eliminated!  Last year 1-hundred Jacksonville jobs were eliminated.  It’s blamed on reduced tax spending by the U.S. Navy.  Jacksonville based rail company CSX announced a 13% drop in revenues due to the crashing coal market.  In Coral Gables, Preferred Medical Plan issued a WARN saying 35 people will be let go in March.

Georgia: Mount Berry Square Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March, 86 jobs lost.

Hawaii: Nimitz highway Kmart (the first Kmart opened in Hawaii) shutting down in March, 141 jobs lost!  Imported furniture and textile seller Chai Studio shutting down this month due to a property developer re-purposing the retail property.  The owner of Chai Studio is looking for a new location to open a new textile design studio.

Idaho: It’s finally being revealed by local news sources that state taxpayers were funding the maintaining of the JR. Simplot mansion to the tune of nearly $1-million USD during the time the property was in possession of the state!   Back in 2004 the mansion (estimated to be worth $2-million) was given to The Gem State, however, it was supposedly given back to the Simplot family in 2013 because the utility bills alone were costing taxpayers $150-thousand per year!  This info was originally reported by the United Kingdom’s DailyMail back in 2013.    The Simplot family can no longer pay the upkeep on the mansion and are tearing it down.

To counter the growing trend of chain restaurants openly opposing guns, local Gem State eateries are offering discounts if you’re packin’ heat!  Dueling Irons restaurant knocks off 15% from the price of your meal: “The open carry discount is being expanded to included ccw permits, and increasing to 15%.”-Dueling Irons facebook post

I warned in the past (after a manager told me at least a year ago they were in an unofficial “holding  pattern”) now it’s official, the Pocatello Kmart shutting down by April, 65 jobs lost.

Indiana: Sears Holdings revealed it will shutdown the Terre Haute Kmart by April, 62 jobs lost.  Crummy clothier Old Navy shutting down their 15 years old Kokomo store within two weeks, blaming crashed sales in December.

Iowa:  Ottumwa Kmart shutting down by April, 38 jobs lost. In Dubuque, Second Time Around Consignment shutting down this weekend.  Local news says it’s the second time in two years a consignment shop shutdown in that very location.

Kansas: North Topeka Kmart shutting down by Spring, 49 jobs lost.

Maryland:  Pier 1 Imports shutting down their Towson store.  In Ownings Mills, JCPenney shutting down by April.

Massachusetts: Nuclea Biotechnologies eliminating jobs at two locations and shutting down their Pittsfield genomics ops as part of a “major internal reorganization”.   In Waltham, Evolving Closet consignment store shutting down this month.  In Woburn, after 12 years Kay’s Hallmark gift store shutting down in February.

Michigan: Sears Holdings revealed it will shutdown three Kmart stores by April, one in Virginia, Superior and Ironwood, 137 jobs lost!

Minnesota: The rumors have been confirmed, the Kmart located in the Thunderbird Mall will shutdown, at least 48 jobs lost.   After 55 years Buck’s Unpainted Furniture shutting down this month, co-owner Roger Buck saying “We don’t want to unload trucks any more  and work weekends any more.”  Two stores shutting down in the Hutchinson Mall; Claire’s Accessories and Urban Express.

New Jersey:  Moonachie based clothier Joyce Leslie now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to crashed sales.

New York:  In Brooklyn, Angry Wade’s bar shutting down after the greedy landlord jacked the rent to $16-thousand USD per month!  NYC based clothier Aeropostale announced it will eliminate at least 1-hundred jobs due to continued declining sales!  Stop & Shop shutting down its Freeport store in February, 91 jobs lost.  Too Big to Jail Morgan Stanley finally revealed how many New Yorkers will become unemployed between March and April; 414!  

North Carolina:  Haywood County in big trouble, they’ve reduced their operating budget by $2.4-million USD and will have to shutdown at least one school, conduct layoffs and reduce pay for remaining employees!    It’s blamed on the loss of state school funding (due in part to crashing enrollment) and half a million dollars in tax collections being diverted to other counties that are in bigger trouble than Haywood!

Ohio: Sears Holdings revealed it will shutdown the Boardman Kmart by April, 81 jobs lost.  The 11 years old Regal movie theater in the Indian Mound Mall shutting down this week, 11 jobs lost.  American Eagle clothier shutting down their Upper Valley Mall store by the end of January.

Oklahoma: In Utica, after more than 70 years Petty’s Fine Foods shutting down in February, 50 jobs lost.

Pennsylvania: Jerry Sandusky founded The Second Mile charity asking courts to approve a shutdown request, citing lack of donations.  Pittsburg based clothier American Eagle (American Eagle Outfitters) revealed at an investor’s conference in Florida that it will shutdown 150 stores across the U.S. over the next three years!  In Cranberry, the JCPenney shutting down by April.

South Carolina: Beaded Frog jewelry/beading store in Greenville shutting down: “Our rent will more than double at the end of our lease. The new rent structure exceeds what a bead store should pay…”-Heidi Woody, owner

Tennessee:  After spending money to paint their eatery in the colors of East Tennessee State University the owners of Alley Kat Sandwich Shop shutting it down by the end of this week.  In Morristown, the JCPenney shutting down by April.

Texas: In Dallas, after seven years Green Bean Toy Boutique shutting down, the pissed manager blames looky-loos: “They will come in and see something, and say I can get that cheaper on Amazon. That kind of cuts like a knife…we can’t compete with that.”-Marchell Dean

Utah: Sears Holdings shutting down their North Logan Kmart by April, 58 jobs lost.   In Price, the JCPenney store shutting down by April.

Vermont:  Entergy shutting down their Vermont Yankee nuclear plant HQ offices and eliminating 150 jobs by May!  It’s part of the ongoing decommissioning of the nuclear power plant.

Virginia:   British empire based U.S. tax-sucking BAE notified 530 people they will be laid off in March!  Last month BAE laid off 160 people at its Norfolk shipyard!  In November BAE laid off 185 people!   BAE blames decreased tax spending by the U.S. Navy.  At the Chesapeake Square Mall, American Eagle clothier shutting down by the end of the month.  Across the street a Michaels arts & craft store shutting down.

Washington: Eatonville Sears Hometown store shutting down.  In Everett, God refusing to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Trinity Lutheran College, due to The Rapture, I mean what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome: “…the Board of Directors of Trinity Lutheran College has come to the conclusion that any efforts to increase enrollment at Trinity will no longer sustain the college.”-Kevin Bates

In Yakima, after almost ten years Garden Girl shutting down by the end of February: “I’m worn out, that’s the bottom line.”-Lenette Roehl, owner

Wyoming: JCPenney shutting down their Rock Springs store in April, 25 jobs lost.  The Cowboy State is the birth place of the iconic retailer.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

12 January 2016: “It was a shock.”  Puerto Rico kills GameStop!

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, Idaho

Sears Kmart update 12 January 2016: Massive store shutdowns! Kroger changes its mind!

Sears Holdings has issued notice of massive shutdowns of Kmarts across the U.S.  and grocer Kroger has backed out of plans to lease the top floor of the Sears store in the Cumberland Mall in Tennessee.  The space is currently owned by Seritage Growth Properties (a shell game company created by Sears Holdings).

Sears Kmart update 01 December 2015: Corporate cannibalism in Canada! 

Here’s the updated list (new shutdowns in bold) of U.S. store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011:

Arizona: 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: 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: 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: 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: Mount Berry Square Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March, 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 Nimitz HWY Kmart shutting down in March, 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).

Kmart Pocatello

Big Kmart, with small sales, in Pocatello

Idaho: Finally official (I’ve been warning about it after a manager told me at least a year ago they were in an unofficial “holding  pattern”), Pocatello Kmart shutting down by April, 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: 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: 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, 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 by Spring, 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: North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost).   Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutting down.  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: Three Kmart stores by April, one in Virginia, Superior and Ironwood, 137 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: Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutting down in April, 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: 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: 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: 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 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: Boardman Kmart by April, 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: 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: 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: Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).

Tennessee: 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 Sears (56 jobs lost right before Xmas).

Utah: North Logan Kmart shutting down by April, 58 jobs lost.  Murray Sears (for some reason Mormon controlled 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: Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost),  South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Virginia: 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: 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).

On top of that, Sears Holdings sold stores to General Growth Properties (GGP), of which it has been reported that most of those stores will be closed.

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now 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

“It was a shock.” Once again, Federal Reserve says college not worth it! Puerto Rico kills GameStop! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 12 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama: Earth Fare shutting down two grocery stores by the end of the month; one in Montgomery and one in Hoover (Birmingham).  In typical Orwellian double-speak company administrators said the shutdowns were necessary “…for continued expansion.”   No word on how many people will become unemployed.

California: In Irvine, the 24 years old IHOP restaurant in Parkview Center is shutting down, local news reports say no reason is being given, other than the lease is not being renewed.  Another Irvine restaurant also not renewing its lease, Marie Callender’s also shutting down.    San Diego based award winning gourmet Donut Bar shutdown their Fountain Valley shop (apparently replaced by yet another donut shop).  In Santa Ana, Pinkberry shutdown their City Place food shop.  In Tustin, Toys ‘R’ Us shutting down their Market Place store by the end of the month.

Connecticut: After 11 years Westport’s Bobby Q’s Bodacious BBQ & Grill shutting down by the end of March.

Florida: In Tampa, furniture seller BoConcept shutting down their Channel District store by the end of the month: “The Tampa store was not delivering the sales expected from the metropolitan area.”

Indiana: Bargain Books shutting down its Mishawaka store. Company administrators admitted their profit margin is much higher with their internet sales than with brick-n-mortar ops.

Iowa: In Avoca, the new owners of iconic Charlie Drug store are shutting down and selling-out to ShopKo, in violation of the terms of sale with the previous owner: “It happened so fast. It’s unfortunate; I just feel bad about it. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”– Terry Carley, former owner

Even long time employee Ronda Holst said “We did not see it coming. It was a shock. It was devastating. Not only for just us, but for the whole community.”

Kansas: In Wichita, Redbird Boutique shutting down because the successful owners of multiple businesses say they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

Massachusetts: In Longmeadow, after more than 40 years the Hu Ke Lau restaurant (on Williams Street) shutting down next week.  Local news sources could not get a reason.

Minnesota: News reports say I Zen Spa in Shakopee shutdown back in November, but it’s been revealed that the owner is refusing to refund the many gift cards that were sold before the shutdown.  The owner of the spa is a local ‘elected official’ who claims she had to shutdown due to lack of qualified employees.

Missouri:  In Joplin,  after five years Pacific Rim restaurant shutdown.  Local news reports say it’s the third Asian restaurant to shutdown in the past 12 months.

New Mexico:  Intrepid Potash laid off 35 people from its mining ops in Carlsbad.  Local news reports say its part of a larger company-wide layoff due to low commodity prices.

New York:  The Federal Reserve Bank’s New York office posted the results of their investigation into the viability of college/university educations.  They found that of those people who graduated between 2009-13 about 45% were working jobs that do not require higher education (typically low paying)! 

North Dakota:   Aartisan Home Designs shutting down their Fargo store, apparently to be replaced with another furniture store.

Pennsylvania: In Elizabethtown, after 33 years Barry’s Train Shop shutdown due to the owner’s health problems.

Puerto Rico: Video game store GameStop shutting down all 40+ island stores (according to GameStop PR director Joy Mooring, other reports said 35 stores), more than 4-hundred jobs lost starting in March!  It’s blamed on government regulations and the suck-ass economy in the defaulted U.S. territory!

South Carolina: In Myrtle Beach, “high end” cookware seller Williams-Sonoma (on Howard Avenue) shutting down next week.

Tennessee: In Franklin, after ten years Main Street Toy Shoppe shutting down in February due to a 50% increase in rent: “You look around my little shop and you say, ‘$6,500 dollars a month for this?’ That’s a lot of toys to sell!”-Kim LaRocca

Wisconsin:  Low farm sales continue to force CNH (Case-New Holland) to eliminate even more factory jobs.  105 Mount Pleasant employees will become unemployed before the end of the month!   Imperial Supplies shutting down its Green Bay area warehouse, at least 43 jobs lost and another 11 jobs being consolidated. 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

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, Idaho

Texan 1-percenters screw over Idaho 99-percenters with massive land grab! National Parks kills nearly 2,000 California jobs! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 11 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

California: In San Jose, integrated circuit maker  Maxim Integrated Product intends to shutdown by March, 150 jobs lost!  In Chowchilla, Affinia Brake Parts issued a layoff WARN saying 43 people will become jobless in February.  AT&T issued a layoff WARN saying 102 people in San Ramon will be let go in February!   Germany based medical plastics maker Balda C. Brewer issued a shutdown WARN for its relatively new Irvine factory, 193 jobs lost by the end of February!   At Yosemite National Park, DNC Parks & Resorts issued a massive shutdown WARN, 1-thousand 718 jobs lost by the end of February!   In Santa Barbara, chemical giant DuPont issued a shutdown WARN, 41 jobs lost next month.   Motion control company Parker Hannifin shutting down their Anaheim ops by March, 197 jobs lost!   The Walnut Creek Pyramid Alehouse shutting down next week, 49 jobs lost.   Los Angeles based clothier Kitson finally issued shutdown WARNs for its California stores, 188 jobs already lost!  (they’re shutting down their Oregon and Nevada stores as well)   Switzerland based human resource company Adecco Group shutting down their Palo Alto ops by March, 108 jobs lost!   Macy’s revealed how many jobs will be lost when they shutdown their Irvine and Sacramento stores, 223 by the middle of March!

Colorado:  The Center City Police Department shutting down.  The city is broke and will rely on the county sheriff’s department.

Georgia: In Atlanta, after ten years K-La boutique in The Forum plaza shutting down by the end of the month.  News reports revealed it’s the third K-La boutique to shutdown since New Year’s Day!  After January there will be only two K-Las, both in North Carolina.

Idaho: In Idaho County, according to local news reports two Texas billionaires bought-up 38-thousand acres of land and then shut it all down to local residents who traditionally use it for recreation and hunting!  Residents are outraged as previous land owners allowed public access for recreation and hunting.

According to a new report called The Financial Condition of Idaho Agriculture: 2015, Idaho farmers saw an overall 9% drop in cash receipts (even with a 2% drop in operating costs) from 2014 to 2015, due to crashing food prices: “The low prices in 2014 bled over into last year. The shortages, the supply and demand factors bleed into the following year.”-Garth Taylor, University of Idaho agricultural economist

The good news is that prices for livestock went up, but the low crop prices were low enough to adversely affect state tax collections. To break it down with a few examples; milk prices resulted in revenues dropping by one third.  Wheat down 17%.  Hay down 12% and potatoes down just under 3%.  Sugar beets and barley made revenue gains, with sugar beets bringing in a whopping 20% increase.

Indiana: In Anderson, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Family Christian Stores.  Company administrators said the only thing that would keep them from shutting down was a better lease deal or “100-thousand new customers”!

Maine: It’s been revealed that the shutdown of two biomass alternative energy plants will also affect 2-thousand 5-hundred logging industry jobs!  The plants used logging industry wood waste.

Missouri: Saint Louis based coal miner Arch Coal now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

New Hampshire:  In Dover, the Uno Pizzeria & Grill joint shutdown, even though days prior local news media were told by managers the shutdown was just a “rumor”.   Corporate administrators in Boston Weak, Massachusetts, refused to talk to local news media.

New Mexico:  Kroger is shutting down their Smith’s Food and Drug Store in Socorro, 66 job lost next week.    

New York:  NYC based drugs pusher Pfizer just jacked up the cost of your drugs.  A Fortune article says Pfizer jacked up prices (again?) on 105 drugs by as much as 20%!   After it was revealed by local news media, JCPenney finally issued a WARN regarding their Shoppingtown Mall store shutdown, at least 99 jobs lost by the end of April.  The shutdown of four Empire State Macy’s stores will cost at least 306 jobs!   Cumberland Packing shutting down its artificial sweetener (Sweet-n-Low) factory in Brooklyn, 3-hundred jobs lost by the end of the year!

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, The Oxford pub shutting down by the end of the month.

Ohio: It’s been confirmed the Lakewood Hospital will shutdown inpatient service in February, eventually the hospital will be replaced with a smaller clinic operation.  Warren Steel Holdings shutting down their Warren factory during the 1st quarter 2016, about 150 jobs lost! 

Texas: Gregory based, and evil Glencore controlled, Sherwin Alumina now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to crashing aluminum prices.

Washington: The shutdown of the Seattle Macy’s will kill-off at least 94 jobs.  

West Virginia:  Kentucky based coal miner Blackhawk Mining announced it will layoff 146 people due to the crashing coal market!  The latest news reports said more than 2-hundred employees have received layoff notices!

Wisconsin:  News reports say mass layoffs-shutdowns skyrocketed 60% in 2015 under Right to Work (you over) govna Scott Walker’s rule!  Believe it or not, layoffs still aren’t as numerous as they were during the 2008-09 debacle.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

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, Idaho

“…eliminate all the small independents.” “We have not been getting paid!” Job re-training costing former employees more than it’s worth? : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 09 – 10 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama:  British empire based British Petroleum (BP) sold its Decatur ops to a Thailand based company called Indorama.  The new owner claims they will not eliminate any of the 444 jobs at the plant (famous last words?).

California:  More proof high-tech is not recession resistant, San Francisco based Mixapanel laid off 18 employees admitting that in 2015 they “overhired”.   Also in San Francisco, after 23 years the El Majahual restaurant shutting down next week.  The owners finally wised up and realized it’s better to own than rent, they’re moving to their new location ‘across the bay’.  Los Angeles based Capital Music Group laid off ten people (including executives) on the orders of its new chairman.   Another ‘green’ company shutting down, this time in the small city of Atascadero the Recycling Buy-back Center shutting down at the end of the month, affecting at least 115 customers.  The owner, Atascadero Waste Alternatives, blames crashing commodity prices.

Connecticut: Post University eliminated 15 jobs and reclassified another 15.  One teacher said her ‘reclassification’ included a 53% cut in pay! 

Georgia: In Macon, 100 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Arvin’s Pawn shutting down in March.

Idaho: In Ada County, this year’s Garden City gun show might be the last.  County administrators are worried about safety issues after a couple of incidents where idgit galoots accidentally fired off weapons at other Idaho gun shows.   The University of Idaho’s McClure Center for Public Policy Research discovered that one third of Idaho high school grads surveyed see no reason to ‘Go-On’ to college or university because the job market doesn’t justify the cost of higher education.  The study also discovered that while 53% of females go on to higher education only 38% of Idaho males ‘Go-On’.  That means Idaho’s ‘Go-On’ gender gap rate is higher than the national average.

Illinois: What construction industry recovery?  Netherlands based overhead door company FlexiForce shutting down their nearly seven years old Dixon factory by the end of the month, saying it’s no longer “profitable”.

Iowa: In Sioux City, after three years the owner of Funkalicious decided to shutdown her brick-n-mortar boutique and sell on the internet only.

Kentucky:  People suffering from the coal industry shutdowns revealed it’s costing former employees a lot of money to re-train: “If they switch everything from coal to gas, that retraining program that they’re doing now is going to take five to six years of training. Woth Eastern Kentucky Power down there, if they switch everything to gas…if they change all that then everybody is going to have to go through more school after they already went through their apprenticeship and pay their $600 for their book and pay for that gas going to that school.“-Dakota Cones, interviewed by WOWK

Louisiana: The live action Old Marquer Theater (aka Shadowbox) shutting down in February because they can’t afford to renew the lease.

Maryland: After 60 years Watson’s Garden Center (known for real reindeer displays at Xmas) shutting down by the end of the month, the owner blames the suck-ass economy.  Local news reports say the property is not for sale and nobody seems to know what will become of it, there is another business located on the property.

Massachusetts: In Cambridge, after 30 years East Coast Grill shutting down by the end of the month.  No reason was presented.

Michigan: After almost 70 years the B.C. Cobb power plant shutting down in April, blaming changing government regulations and skyrocketing costs to maintain the aged electricity maker.  At one point the power plant employed 2-hundred people.

Minnesota: After 28 years Suzanne’s Jewelry shutting down in April, the owner will not renew the lease and intends to retire.   The 1950s style K&B Drive Inn south of Eveleth shutdown without warning.   After 93 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Falkowski’s Market shutting down, Mike Falkowski blames “The tough Range economy is hurting our business. Can’t keep operating losing money every month. Just couldn’t survive.”  The Hallmark gift store in the Thunderbird Mall shutting down at the end of the month.  There are rumors the Kmart, also located in the Thunderbird Mall, will shutdown.    In Minneapolis, after two years Brasserie Zentral shutting down, a co-owner saying “This industry has always been hard, but right now, it has never been harder.”   Essar Steel revealed it started laying off employees.  Apparently the company ran out of money to finish its new taconite plant and is struggling to get more loans.  In Little Falls, after 85 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Pap’s Sports Shop shutting down, the owner blamed many things including manufactures: “…a lot of the manufacturers are putting a lot of dollar limits that if you don’t spend this amount, your account is closed, and it is really a shame, because that’s going to eliminate all the small independents.”-Paulette Pappenfus

Montana: In Great Falls, the Townhouse Inn shutting down in March.  The owners say the 50 years old hotel does not meet today’s standards and they plan to build a new hotel, however, they have yet to find a new property to build that new hotel on.  Local news did not ask why they don’t build the new hotel on the old property.  25 jobs affected.

New York:   NYC based door-to-door “women’s” products seller Avon announced it will eliminate in-house IT jobs as it has signed a contract with failed California based tech company Hewlett Packard (HP).   Allure magazine laid off at least 13 people.   Proof that being positive won’t stop negative things from happening as “positive” NYC based website Upworthy laid off 14 people connected to internet video trends.  Company leaders used Orwellian double-speak terminology and called the layoffs “an investment”!  Huffington Post also warned employees that jobs will be eliminated due to shifting internet video trends, which is proof the internet is not recession resistant.

North Carolina:  The Books-A-Million Bookland in the Signal Hill Mall shutting down by the end of the month.  It leaves Signal Hill Mall with just 11 tenants!

Ohio: By the end of the 1st quarter 2016 Republic Steel will eliminate 2-hundred jobs at its factory in Lorain!  This will result in the shutdown of their factory as Republic Steel has already eliminated 7-hundred Lorain jobs in 2015, resulting in the city suffering a $2.3-million USD budget shortfall due to reduced tax revenues.      Chapel Hill Mall losing two clothing stores by next month; the Old Navy and the Express.

Oklahoma: Society of Exploration Geophysicists laid off 19 people in connection to the oil industry shutdown.

Pennsylvania:  In Allentown, after only six months Shula’s Steak House shutdown without warning, it might have something to do with a lawsuit in which the Florida based restaurant chain settled claims that it failed to make rent payments.    General Electric (GE) laid off 4-hundred people at its Lawrence Park Plant, as part of planned job cuts for 2016!  Hotel Carlisle has been secretly shutdown according to employees, and the shifty owners are nowhere to be seen.  Local news sources are getting flooded with calls from employees who have been left out to dry: “We have not been getting paid! We are pretty much five weeks behind in pay!”-Jasmine Johnson, a house cleaning supervisor

Tennessee:  In Franklin, after 11 years the Main Street Toy Company shutdown, the owner blames low sales for not being able to pay the high rent.

U.S. Virgin Islands: Sugar Bay Resort hotel eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs without warning, due to lack of vacationers from the mainland.

Virginia:  After 40 years Fluvanna County based Blue Ridge Mountain Sports finally saying “goodbye” as it shuts down its remaining seven stores across three states.   At one point there were 12 Blue Ridge stores.  They blame their demise on increasing competition.  In Alexandria, Old Time Coffee, Tea and Spice shutting down in February because the landlord is jacking up the rent.

Wyoming: In Casper, after 80 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) iconic Wolford’s Shoe Store shutdown due to a 44% crash in sales due to the local oil bust!  According to news reports at least 27 Cowboy State oil rigs were shutdown in 2015, and 54 in 2014.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

08 January 2016: “It’s not working.”

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, Idaho

“it’s not working.” More mass store shutdowns! More proof Idaho’s Right to Work a failure! Yahoo mass layoffs prove economy not recovered! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 08 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Arizona: In Hereford, after almost 30 years The Mesquite Tree restaurant shutdown.

California:  More proof the internet is not recession resistant; Sunnyvale based Yahoo eliminating more than 1-thousand jobs starting as soon as the end of this month!  In-side sources say it’s because a three year ‘turnaround’ plan has failed to get the intended results (more proof the economy has not recovered).   Sausalito’s only movie theater, CineArts’ 60 years old Marin, shutting down by the end of the month due to lack of sales.  In Berkeley, after 33 years Black Oak Books shutting down, the owner lamenting “I wish I could have kept it open, but, in the end, you have to say ‘it’s not working.'”  It must be noted that current owner Gary Cornell has been subsidizing the rent payments out of his pocket, store revenues are not high enough, and he said the city’s minimum wage increases are the final straw.  I ask you; How can mom-n-pop business owners pay employees more money when their sales can’t even cover the costs of rent and utilities?  Wage increases work only when the economy is good!  After losing a federal level lawsuit The Alameda County Jail system laid off 49 nurses at the end of December, the current nursing staff says conditions at the massive county jail system are “…a mad house right now. It’s crazy, it’s really difficult. We’re severely understaffed and we’re basically working with a skeleton crew. The nursing staff that are there currently are worn out.”-Melissa Brown, licensed vocational nurse at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

Florida: The Sunshine State experienced at least 16-thousand 947 job cuts in 2015, that’s the numbers officially reported to state administrators under the federal WARN program.  Not every employer is required to comply with WARN.  Bowling, movies, food  joint Latitude 360 shutdown its Jacksonville location, no reason given.  Medley based shoe store operator Traffic Shoes now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, 83 stores across the U.S. threatened.  God refusing to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ 40 years old Emerald Coast Rescue Mission for homeless people next week, the property is being sold-off.

Hawaii:  The Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company suddenly shutdown and laid off 645 people!  Administrators blame low commodity prices for causing them to lose $30-million USD in 2015, which is enough to shut them down!  It’s the last sugar farm in Hawaii!

Idaho: Grocer Supervalu issued a WARN for three Boise stores (North Ancestor, South Denver Way and Parkcenter locations), at least 80 jobs lost by March.  It might be connected to Supervalu’s plan to take its Save-A-Lot discount grocery ops ‘public’.  Back in October Supervalu laid off 115 people at their East Baybrook Court, Boise location, in connection with the merger of Albertsons and Safeway.  Also in Boise, after at least 25 years the Twin Dragon restaurant is shutting down by March.  The owners are trying to sell it to help fund their retirement plans.  A Meridian woman is now in federal prison after co-leading a fraudulent investment scheme (known as Alternative Energy Holdings) once claiming to build a nuclear power plant near Mountain Home Air Force Base.  Her partner in crime, a man, is on the run and being pursued by federal agents.

The state Department of Labor is admitting in a round-about way that the decades old Right to Work (you over) labor laws are a failure as 50% of Idahoans who graduate Idaho colleges/universities leave the state after four years due to low wages and salaries!   It took decades of Right to Work you over-ism for state administrators to realize that highly educated workers are not going to work for peanuts?  Of course the pro-Right to Work ‘lawmakers’ refused to blame their Right to Work policies and instead blamed “market conditions”, failing to realize that their Right to Work policies are directly influencing Idaho “market conditons”.  Maybe the ‘lawmakers’ need to go back to school and take some economics classes?

Illinois: In East Dundee, after only one year Blues BBQ & Grill now bankrupt busted and shutdown.  The owners are hoping to re-open as soon as they settle with creditors.  What automotive industry recovery? In Normal, Japan based Mitsubishi is back to shutting down its only U.S. factory.  Originally they were going to shut it down in November 2015 but then tried to sell it, unfortunately nobody wanted to buy it.  Production was halted in November 2015 and 1-thousand 250 people lost their jobs!  Oreo cookie maker Mondelez International shutting down its allergy free Schiller Park factory by Summer, about 130 jobs affected as work is being consolidated to a new factory in Indiana!  At the Northwoods Mall 43 years old Kirlin’s Hallmark gift store shutting down as part of Hallmark’s plan not to renew store leases.

Indiana: Indianapolis based athletic clothing chain Finish Line shutting down 150 stores over the next four years blaming crashing sales! Bowling, movies, food  joint Latitude 360 shutdown its Indianapolis location, no reason given. Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital-Glencore manipulated Alcoa aluminum maker continues its factory shutdowns started back in 2012, this time Alcoa’s largest U.S. smelter in Evansville shutting down.  Along with the shutdown in Texas, 1-thousand 270 jobs will be lost!   Only one U.S. Alcoa smelter will remain in operation, in New York (which is staying open only because taxpayers gave Alcoa $70-million USD to keep it operating)!

Maine: More proof going green (ecology) does not equate to seeing green (economy), Covanta Holding shutting down its biomass energy farms in Jonesboro and West Enfield because it can’t compete with low oil prices, at least 44 jobs lost.

Minnesota: Iron miner Magnetation eliminating 160 jobs at their Bovey ops!  CEO Larry Lehtinen warned that the layoffs could expand, depending on the markets.   New Jersey based medical tech company C.R. Bard shutting down their Stewartville factory.  Since C.R. Bard took over the plant in 2013 at least 247 jobs gone, some to Mexico!

Missouri: Better Learning Communities Academy being shutdown due to low academic achievement and money  problems.  State Attorney General investigating the sudden shutdown of at least three Title Boxing Clubs.  Pissed-off members say they were never given warnings or refunds.

Nevada: Las Vegas based taxsucker Bigelow Aerospace laid off as many as 50 people saying “…we analyzed the amount of staff that we employed throughout all of our departments at Bigelow Aerospace, and discovered that numerous departments were overstaffed.”  Yet another solar panel company leaving The Silver State, this time Sunrun is using the same excuse that Solar City used, the new evil anti-solar power laws the evil state ‘lawmakers’ created which actually force homeowners to make extra monthly payments to the utilities monopoly for going green!

New York:   HVAC company Daikin Applied issued a final phase shutdown WARN for their Auburn operations. The shutdown should be complete by April 2016, Daikin Applied is joining the mass exodus from The Empire State.  Corning Community College announced it must layoff 21 employees by March, and will try to fill six open positions with current employees.   In DeWitt, JCPenney shutting down its 60 years old ShoppingTown Mall store in April, the mall manager said JCPenney administrators put the store on their new 2016 shutdown list.  In Haverstraw, after nearly 70 years 20 acre restaurant Platzl Brauhaus shutdown because it was sold-off.   In Smithtown and Riverhead, Developmental Disabilities shutting down its OPTI-HEALTHCARE operations, 46 jobs lost by the end of April.  China founded NYC based insurance company AIG laid off employees across the United States, administrators refused to give details such as how many or their locations: “On January 7, we restructured our AIG Financial Network (AIGFN) business….”

North Dakota:  Job Service North Dakota ironically eliminated 60 of its own jobs.  It’s blamed on the oil rich state government being short $4.1-million USD!

Oklahoma: More proof going green (ecology) does not equate to seeing green (economy) as eco-friendly resort The Canebrake shutdown without warning due to the sudden loss of a major funding source.  Ignorant management claimed The Canebrake was “a successful venture” but then admitted it could not survive “without our investor”.  A little wake up call for you, if you can’t survive on sales revenues that means you’re a failure!  Which shows you that unAmerican corporate America, as a whole, is a failure because it relies on ‘major investors’ like debt financing and the stock markets to survive.

Oregon: In Hillsboro, Jacobsen’s Books & More shutting down because the owner is tired of being told by looky-loos “I’ll just go buy it on-line.”  In Portland, Detour Cafe shutting down in February after 15 years, the owners are focusing on their other restaurant.

South Carolina:  Dillard’s shutting down their Aiken Mall store, 75 jobs affected.  

Tennessee: In Brentwood, local news sources were able to identify 128 people who got laid off by AIG (see above, New York)!

Texas: Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital-Glencore manipulated Alcoa aluminum maker continues its factory shutdowns started back in 2012, this time Alcoa is shutting down its Point Comfort alumina factory.  Along with the shutdown in Indiana, 1-thousand 270 jobs will be lost!

Virginia:  Norfolk based rail service Norfolk Southern laid off 38 conductors, halted training for seven new conductors and shutdown 3-hundred miles of track, blaming declining coal shipment orders.  Department of Motor Vehicles shutdown its Oak Hall office due to an expired contract.

Washington: In Oroville, after 82 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Hughes Department Store and Hughes Warehouse shutting down.  Most of the customers are from Canada: “But this year, with the Canadian exchange rate at 70 cents on the dollar and the fires; it was a terrible summer season for us. It was just a combination of a lot of things. It just isn’t viable.”-Jack Hughes

Wisconsin:  Another Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples store going down, this time the Morgan Square store in Beloit shutting down by March.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

07 January 2016: “we have exhausted our emotional reserves” Macy’s to kill 4,800 jobs! 

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

“we have exhausted our emotional reserves” Macy’s holiday sales sucked green Grinch weenie! 8,000+ jobs gone! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 07 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Alabama:  In Selma, the Winn-Dixie grocery store shutting down in February, apparently due to low sales.  Local loyal customers are pissed off, Gracie Bennett exclaimed “I don`t want to hear that! I won`t like that at all! It is just an inconvenience.” referring to the long drive she’ll have to make to go to the nearest grocery store.

California: In Hanford, the owners of ‘new age’ Cosmic Corral shutting down their brick-n-mortar store and shifting to internet sales.  Medical device maker Abbott Vascular confirmed it is shutting down its Redwood City operations blaming ObamaCare for “…an ever-changing environment.”  In San Francisco, Yellow Cab CoOp now chapter 11 bankrupt busted saying they see no economic recovery in their future: “We are in a midst of serious financial setbacks….due to business challenges beyond our control and others are of our own making…Today we are faced with fiscal obligations that far exceed expected income.”-Pamela Martinez, president

Connecticut:  A shutdown that’s actually good news, the Niantic Prison Annex shutting down this week due to lack of prisoners.  News reports say the prison population has dropped from 585 to just 44, the govna claims it’s because they “…are making real progress in Connecticut to change lives and break that cycle of poverty, crime and prison…”.

Florida:  After 40 years popular nightclub Nightown shutdown without warning or explanation.     More proof high-tech based businesses are not recession resistant; despite winning a lawsuit against Japan’s Mitsubishi,  Naples based Grail Semiconductor now chapter 11 bankrupt busted saying their debts are far greater than the money they’re supposed to be getting from Mitsubishi.  In Mount Dora, after at least four years the arrogant Bowersock Gallery shutdown, insulting locals by saying  “The art market here couldn’t sustain the quality of art that we were carrying.”  The Hampton’s Drive-in eatery in DeLand shutdown by greedy property developer.

Hawaii: After more than 50 years Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel shutting down at the end of the month, 37 jobs lost.  The operators blame the never ending demands of state regulators: “We have spent more than simply money in attorney’s fees, appraisal evaluations, business plans and, not to mention, keeping an aging property in service beyond its functional capacity; we have exhausted our emotional reserves…”-Aaron Whiting

Illinois:  Restaurant III Tomassos Italian Bistro in Springfield shutting down next week, blaming lack of development and lack of neighboring tenants for lack of customer traffic in the new Legacy Pointe complex.  Also in Springfield, Brickhouse Pub & Grill Downtown and Julia’s Kitchen shutdown.

Indiana: Emmis Communications warned of layoffs at its radio stations, exact numbers not given.

Iowa: New York based clothier Ann Taylor shutting down their Jordan Creek Town Center store by the end of the month, publicly/officially refusing to say why.  It’s becoming clear that Ann Taylor is joining the club of shutting down stores as leases expire.   A pizza joint known for helping homeless people, Rock Power Pizza, shutting down due to escalating operating expenses and de-escalating sales/donations: “It’s going to affect hundreds and hundreds of people, and we don’t know where that’s going to take it. That’s the part that really tears me up.”-Derrick Walton, owner who says he was once homeless

Maryland:  Florida based Acosta Sales & Marketing eliminating 93 jobs at it’s Hanover food service ops, WARNing that more layoffs are in the works over the next three months!   More proof being green (ecology) does not equate to seeing green (economy); Illinois based taxsucking electronics recycler Sims Recycling Solutions shutting down its Elkridge operations due to losing a federal contract, 160 jobs lost!   In Silver Springs, after 11 years restaurant Jackie’s shutting down in March, the owner has too many other projects to worry about. 

Michigan: Ottawa County’s Community Mental Health continues to kill jobs, this time 20 people laid off due to A-hole state ‘lawmakers’ reducing taxpayer funding.

Missouri: Evil Saint Louis based chemical & GMO maker Monsanto continues to kill jobs, this time 1-thousand people added to the previously announced 2-thousand 6-hundred job eliminations to take place later this year!

New York:  In Brooklyn, after 32 years Fiorentino’s Ristorante shutting down next week.

North Carolina:    Morrison Healthcare laying off an additional 47 food service workers due to losing a contract with Carolinas HealthCare Systems.  News reports say a total of 127 jobs will be lost!  So-called affordable home furniture store Rooms to Go issued a layoff WARN saying 98 distribution center employees will become unemployed by March.

Ohio:   Upscale outdoor clothier Eddie Bauer shutting down its Groveport call center and distribution center, at least 311 jobs lost by May!

Cincinnati based retailer Macy’s revealed end of Gregorian year holiday sales flushed their optimistic outlook down the financial toilet, ongoing store shutdowns will continue and as many as 4-thousand 8-hundred people will become unemployed!!!  These job losses and store shutdowns will also include the store brand Bloomingdales, which is owned by Macy’s.

Macy’s released a list of store shutdowns scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2016:  California; Irvine, 112 jobs!  Sacramento, 111 jobs!  Los Angeles, 108 jobs!  Connecticut;  two Enfield locations,  104 jobs!  Georgia;  Decatur, 89 jobs. Hawaii; Kailua, 57 jobs.  Idaho; Moscow, 47 jobs. Illinois; Peoria, 62 jobs. Louisiana; Baton Rouge, 62 jobs.  Maryland; Hagerstown, 59 jobs.  Massachusetts; Lanesborough,  58 jobs.   Springfield,  71 jobs.  Missouri; Columbia, 81 jobs. New Jersey; South Plainfield, 69 jobs.  New York; two Buffalo locations, 75 jobs. Horsehead, 79 jobs. Kingston, 72 jobs. Williamsville, 80 jobs.  Cary, 63 jobs. Ohio; Akron, 63 jobs. Elyria, 64 jobs.  Oklahoma; Oklahoma City, 87 jobs.  Oregon; North Bend, 54 jobs.  Roseburg, 59 jobs. Pennsylvania; Ardmore, 74 jobs.  West Mifflin, 101 jobs! Texas; Fort Worth, 92 jobs. Virginia; Chesapeake, 69 jobs. Glen Allen, 81 jobs. Hampton, 109 jobs! Norfolk, 95 jobs. two Richmond locations, 135 jobs! Washington; Spokane, 94 jobs.

Pennsylvania:  Pier 1 Imports shutting down two stores, one in South Middleton and one in Shrewsbury.  It’s blamed on crashed sales in 2015.  In Flourtown, after 65 years eatery Cisco’s shutdown.  In Philadelphia, Marabella Meatball restaurant shutdown.  Bring Your Own Beverage restaurant Blue Cat shutdown because sales sucked: “I was burned out. Business was OK, but it was not worth it, I was shopping by myself, cooking everything. There’s no lunch business up there….”-Guy Shapiro, co-owner

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

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

“…some extremely shady circumstances….threats have been made…” Owe taxes, IRS can seize your Passport! Apple 6s sales suck! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 06 January 2016

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Career Trends used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to create their top ten list of U.S. industries destroying U.S. jobs: Nondurable Goods makers, Durable Goods makers, Transportation-warehousing-utilities, Mining-Logging, Real Estate (what housing market recovery?), Retail, Hotel-Food Service, Business (legal, medical, etc) Service, Construction, and the number one job killing industry is Arts-entertainment-recreation.

Alabama: In Shelby County, Jesse Creek Mines eliminating 170 jobs due to the crashing coal market!

California:  American Medical Response shutting down their Modesto billing center in February, laying off the final 47 remaining employees, in total 330 jobs were eliminated!  Cupertino based Apple is drastically cutting production of its new iPhones by 30%!  This is causing the factory in China to conduct mass layoffs, and forced the city of Zhengzhou to pump $12.6-million USD into the factory to minimize the impact.  Apple stocks lost 24% of their value from last year!   It turns out that sales of the new Apple iPhones are not as great as what the mainstream news media was reporting!

Connecticut: In New Canaan, after six years popular Chicken Joe’s restaurant shutdown by astronomical rent.

Delaware: In Dover, 94 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) jewelry store Forney’s shutdown without warning,  local news reports say the owners refuse to explain why.  More job killing by DuPont, this time 2-hundred highly educated people (many with doctorates) at the Central Research and Development division at the Experimental Station in Wilmington now unemployed: “As part of this restructuring, we are redesigning the existing Central Research & Development operating model to assess and seed new, transformational science-based ventures as the next step in the evolution of corporately funded R&D for DuPont.” 

  Georgia:  In Rome, Ohio based clothing store Express shutting down their Mount Berry Mall store by the end of the month, no reason given.

Florida:   After two years The Juice Spot in the Brickell area of Miami shutting down.  There are signs the owners, the LeBron James family, is hurting for cash as the basketball star sold his Miami mansion in August for $13.4-million USD.

Illinois:  State tax administrators are holding back on tax refunds until at least March claiming it’s their way of preventing tax fraud, however, it’s more likely because Illinois is financially broke!   God refuses to stop the shutdown of three of ‘his’ Christian schools; Saint Agatha Catholic Academy, Saint Peter elementary and Seton Academy.  It’s blamed on The Rapture, I mean what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome.

Kansas: New York based clothier Ann Taylor shutting down their Wichita store by the end of the month, publicly/officially refusing to say why.   State administrators shutting down the Cheney Lake Marina by February.  The state is forcing the operators of 17 years out and placing the marina store up for contract bidding.  The operators say they were not given a reason but were told they could bid on the new contract, but bidding won’t start until they’ve vacated the property.

Maryland: The Baltimore School Board approved the shutdown of four schools; Westside Elementary School, Maritime Industries Academy High School, Baltimore Community High School and the Maryland Academy of Technology & Health Sciences.  The school board is considering shutting down a fifth school as well.  The shutdowns are blamed on poor academic performance and what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome.  Baltimore County Public Schools shutdown Deep Creek junior high school due to lack of heating.

New Jersey:  Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a group forcing homosexuals into heterosexual lifestyles, shutdown by lawsuits brought by former clients who said the ‘conversion’ therapy didn’t work!

New York:   NYC based Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings revealed they laid off employees but refused to say how many.  The convicted fraudster Martha Stewart reportedly gave the employees the bad news herself.  The layoffs are connected to the fact that Martha Stewart no longer owns her namesake, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is now owned by Sequential Brands Group.

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, after less than ten years restaurant The Borough shutting down, the owner saying she has to sell it.  

Ohio: In Columbus, after only one year the Bosco Lanes bowling alley suddenly shutdown.   The operators blame a surprise eviction notice by the greedy landlord, describing it as “…some extremely shady circumstances….threats have been made…”    The Ohio Health Nelsonville Medical and Emergency Services facility shutdown their emergency room operations earlier than expected.  Administrators blame ObamaCare for forcing 80% of customers to go to urgent care operations instead.

Oklahoma:  After 105 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) iconic elitist Miss Jackson’s upscale retail store in Tulsa shutdown, word is it was no longer “sustainable” in the new economic reality.   God refuses to stop ‘his’ bankrupt busted Teen Mania Christian recruitment op from shutting down due to massive debt and legal problems.

Pennsylvania:  Philadelphia eliminating at least three jobs as part of the magazine’s restructuring.  In State College, Callao Cafe shutting down due to the owner’s health problems.

Texas:  Retailer Macy’s shutting down their Ridgmar Mall department store.   Local news sources reporting that the city of Houston lost more than 60-thousand oil jobs since April 2014, and is expected to lose another 30-thousand oil jobs in 2016!  And what housing market recovery? Despite crashing employment the cost of housing in Houston is still so high that there is an exodus of young people from the city: “Too many young people are living outside Houston because they can’t find housing in this city.”-Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston

Virginia: Capco Machinery Systems suddenly laid off 40 employees on New Year’s Eve and shutdown, no warning or explanation.  The shutdown was revealed by former employees who went to local news media, Capco administrators refused to comment.  Local news reports say the company announced expansion plans in 2013, even began excavating ground for a new building, but suddenly stopped.  County administrators even offer tax breaks to restart the expansion, but nothing happened.   In Roanoke, WDBJ television station was sold-off.  WDBJ is the TV station that saw two reporters killed, by a former employee, live on TV.  The once Indiana owned WDBJ is now owned by a company out of Georgia.  As a former local TV news producer I can tell you that TV station takeovers always involve people losing their jobs.

Washington:  In Bellingham, God refuses to stop ‘his’ bible software company Faithlife Corporation from laying off 60 Christians, due to declining demand for their Logo software.

Washington DC:  A new law secretly passed last year gives the federal tax collector (Internal Revenue Service, IRS) and the Department of State the power to prevent you from leaving the country if you owe $50-thousand USD or more in taxes.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

04 – 05 January 2016: “It’s part of our new business model…” Idaho hit with skyrocketing poor U.S. migrants! 

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.”