1-163rd CAB Sniper Team, Orchard Combat Training Center, August 2013:
IDAHO STRIKE EAGLES DEPLOY TO MIDDLE EAST!
“THIS IS WHERE ARMOR FIGHTS!” IDAHO NATIONAL GUARD RETURNS TO COLD WAR TRAINING!
1-163rd CAB Sniper Team, Orchard Combat Training Center, August 2013:
IDAHO STRIKE EAGLES DEPLOY TO MIDDLE EAST!
“THIS IS WHERE ARMOR FIGHTS!” IDAHO NATIONAL GUARD RETURNS TO COLD WAR TRAINING!
The United Kingdom, the mortal enemy of the United States, tried to show goodwill by taking USAF personnel on a goodwill flight with their new European made Airbus A400M Atlas. It took place at Scott AFB, Illinois, December 2016.
Transition from QF-4 to QF-16:
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: USAF ADMITS IT MUST MAKE ITS OWN DRONE PARTS!
UTAH: PHINAL PHANTOM PHLIGHT
Sears Holdings settled a lawsuit brought by ten California counties. The suit accuses Sears of knowingly selling nutritional supplements with inaccurate labels. Sears agreed to pay $235-thousand USD to settle the accusation.
CNBC revealed that 80% of Kmart leases, and 50% of Sears leases, expire within five years. This is significant because most of the Sears Holdings shutdown operations take place when a lease expires.
Investors are showing their love the sudden announcement of store shutdowns, and Lampert’s willingness to loan his ‘own’ money to Sears, by driving the price of a share of Sears Holdings stock, up.
Sears Holdings reported a net loss of $748-million USD for its 3rd quarter 2016! Two weeks after Eddie Lampert ‘loaned’ Sears Holdings an additional $300-million, he did it again, loaning an additional $200-million, plus some reports say it could hit $500-million if creditors approve! Since 2010 Sears Holdings lost almost $10-billion!
Sears Holdings spin-off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores revealed it has shutdown 51 contracted stores so far this year, and plans to shutdown another 1-hundred by the end of January 2017! It was also revealed that last year 137 Sears Appliance & Hardware, and Sears Home Appliance, stores were shutdown!
A Hindu organization has forced sears.com to remove items that have Hindu images on them. Apparently Hindus don’t like the idea of kids riding skateboards with artwork of Ganesha on them.
In Illinois, a woman bought a Nordic Track treadmill, plus the extra Sears ‘protection’ plan, but “…I tried many times to schedule my annual maintenance appointment but all I got was endless telephone holds and referrals to other numbers. The only person I managed to speak with told me Sears no longer did protection plans for treadmills.”
In Ohio, a woman who ordered some boots on the Kmart web site was shocked when she was told the “free in store pick-up” meant she had to drive 563 kilometers (350 miles) to pick them up: “There was an email saying I had to pick up my order in Chicago, Illinois!”-Sharla Harris
In California, Sears Holdings, along with JCPenney, Kohl’s and Macys, being sued for false advertising. The city of Los Angeles accuses the retailers of creating “a false sense of value and to persuade customers to purchase the merchandise at an allegedly reduced ‘sale’ price”.
In Colorado, shoplifters were caught by Southgate Sears employees who tried to trap the robbers in the store. The shoplifters were armed with guns and escaped by blasting their way through the glass doors.
In New Mexico, a man and woman managed to steal $2-thousand worth of pants from the Mesilla Valley Mall Sears store, and it was caught on video. (Remember the Kmart Ship My Pants advertisement?)
November 2016: MORE TAXPAYER FUNDED BULL-SHIT!
WARN = Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification
Here’s the updated list of U.S. Sears-Kmart store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011, new revelations in BOLD:
Alabama: Jasper Mall Kmart. Phenix City Kmart on US 280. Sears Hometown Store in Prattville shutting down in January 2017. The Madison Square Mall Sears store & Auto Center shutting down in January 2017, but only because the leaders of Huntsville want to redevelop the mall property. No word on how many people will become jobless. Supposedly a new, and much smaller, contractor operated Sears appliance only store will be part of the mall redevelopment. Taxpayers of Huntsville are expected to spend at least $12-million USD on the redevelopment! Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Cullman is shutting down. 27 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! After 16 years the Troy Sears Hometown Store suddenly shutdown, the contracted owners said they couldn’t find anybody willing to take over the contract. Oxford Sears (local news reports said the Oxford Sears opened in 1985 with 225 employees!), Birmingham Kmart on Chalkville Mountain, Decatur Kmart on Beltline Road, Homewood Kmart, Mobile Kmart on Z Schillingers Road. The Montgomery Sears store and Auto Center in the Eastdale Mall shutting down, 56 jobs lost in June 2016. City leaders of Anniston have agreed to fork over $3-million precious local tax dollars to fund the re-development of an abandoned Kmart. Prattville Kmart will shutdown in April 2016, 70 jobs lost. Florence Kmart in March, 64 jobs lost in 2016. A local news report said the employees knew nothing about it and were shocked to hear it from the news media! Dothan Kmart (south side of Ross Clark Circle) shutting down in March, 56 jobs lost in 2016. Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost), Sears Store and Auto Center at the Bel Air Mall in Mobile (more than 100 jobs lost).
Alaska: The Anchorage Sears Store & Auto Center, the Wasilla Sears Store, the Fairbanks Sears Store & Auto Center made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.
Arkansas: 17 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Sears store and Auto Center in Pine Bluff shutting down in August 2016. Little Rock Sears shutdown in July 2016.
Arizona: In Tucson, Sears Holdings spin-off Seritage Growth says it will shutdown and lease out half of the floor space in the Park Place Sears store. Sierra Vista Kmart shutting down in December 2016. 42 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nogales Kmart shutdown by July 2016, despite the fact that it’s a profit making store (many of its cash paying customers cross the border from Mexico). The Prescott Valley Kmart shutdown April 2016. No word on how many jobs lost, but one employee was quoted by local news as saying “Walmart won.” Reports that the Glendale Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors. Recently revealed Arrowhead Towne Center Sears sold-off then rented back! Chandler Fashion Center Sears sold-off then rented back!
California: A Kmart near the UC-Riverside campus will shutdown by mid-March 2017. The Town & Country Center Kmart in Indio shutting down right before Xmas. The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Bakersfield Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. A shutdown WARN issued for the Fontana Kmart, 133 jobs gone before Xmas! A shutdown WARN issued for a Los Angeles Kmart, 234 jobs gone right before Xmas! 233 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!!! Sears Holdings shutdown a Los Angeles Kmart, 132 jobs lost in May 2016! Dinuba Kmart 68 jobs lost, Lodi Kmart, Tulare Kmart, Wasco Kmart. Sears Holdings created Seritage Growth Properties is renting out half of three Sears stores; one in Roseville, one in Citrus Heights and one in Sacramento. Supposedly Sears will continue its operations in the other half of the buildings. On 10 March the Garden Center roof of the Santa Rosa Kmart collapsed during a rain storm. Fire inspectors said the roof was already compromised due to dry rot before the rain storm, a local news reporter said managers knew about the condition of the roof because it was sagging, and they called in contractors. The contractors tried to prop up the roof before the rain storm hit. Anaheim Kmart shutdown, 107 jobs lost in 2016! The Chula Vista Kmart, San Mateo Sears and Citrus Heights Kmart shutdown between March and April 2016, a total of 3-hundred jobs lost! El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”
Two San Diego Sears (more than 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost), Torrance Kmart, Fairfield Kmart (63 jobs lost), Lampert owned OSH taken over by Lowe’s home improvement in bankruptcy court, at least 17 of 99 stores to be closed down (935 jobs lost!), Rancho Cordova Kmart (97 jobs lost), San Clemente Kmart/Sears/Kmart on Camino de Estrella (58 jobs lost), placed on an official hit list in 2011 the Oceanside Kmart on College Boulevard finally being shut down, Banning Kmart (91 jobs lost) recently revealed that Sears Holdings is still paying rent on the abandoned property, Laguna Hills Mall Sears, San Diego Mid-City Kmart (73 jobs lost), Hemet Kmart (77 jobs lost), Oakland Sears repair center (75 jobs lost), San Mateo Kmart (82 jobs lost to an apartment building connected to public transportation), Hesperia Kmart building sold at a loss to a vulture capitalist REIT, no word on if the Kmart will be shutdown. Customers complain that the Kmart employees have a bad attitude, gee I wonder why? Yuba City Kmart (63 jobs lost), Rocklin Kmart (at least 63 jobs lost, the store had just posted “Now Hiring” signs), San Leandro Kmart (102 jobs lost), San Jose Mercury News says the El Centro Kmart to shutdown in January, the website Foursquare says the Covina Kmart is now shutdown (other sources say it will shutdown in December), Cupertino Sears and Auto Center (98 jobs lost), somebody posted on yelp* that the Diamond Bar Kmart was shutting down in December (confirmed by Armijo Newspapers), Westfield Topanga Sears (122 jobs lost), it looks like the Blythe Kmart is being slowly shutdown despite denial by Sears Holdings. San Mateo Kmart being demolished to make room for 599 unit apartment complex, as part of the the Hayward Park Caltrain Station project. Atwater Kmart (74 jobs lost), Los Banos Kmart (67 jobs lost).
Colorado: The Craig Kmart shutdown, about 30 jobs lost a couple weeks before Xmas. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Thornton is shutting down. 40 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears/Great Indoors, Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost), Denver Kmart (number of jobs lost have not been made public at this time, but could be at least 40), Colorado Springs Kmart at Powers and Palmer Park boulevards (57 jobs lost), Fort Collins Sears (67 jobs lost), Denver-Cherry Creek North Sears store & Auto Center (66 jobs lost).
Connecticut: 113 jobs lost as the West Hartford GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Sears store and Auto Center shuts down by the end of January 2017! Local news media pointed out that every remaining Sears and Kmart store in the state is on the new Sears Holdings Real Estate “opportunities” list! Putnam Kmart. Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).
Delaware: Seven Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Dover Kmart (at least 72 jobs lost, some reports said 100), Seaford Sears (30 jobs lost), Claymont Kmart (87 jobs lost).
Florida: Fort Pierce Kmart on Federal Highway. Sarasota Kmart on North Beneva Road. Port Charlotte Kmart on Cochran. Jacksonville Kmart on Normandy Village Parkway (local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in the city). Kissimmee Kmart on Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. Naples Kmart on Golden Gate Highway. Palatka Kmart on Town & Country Drive. It’s been revealed that Santa Rosa County School District is spending $1.45-million tax dollars to buy a property now owned by Sears Holdings (via Kmart)! The sale of the property is delayed because only now has it been revealed that Kmart is the new owner of the former Food World property! The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Pembroke Pines Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. WARNs issued for the Saint Petersburg Sears store and Auto Center, 126 jobs gone by the end of January 2017! 173 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! In Orlando, the 50 years old Fashion Square Mall Sears & Auto Center shutting down, 101 jobs lost by mid-November! Inverness Sears Hometown suddenly shutdown due to disagreements with the landlord. Jacksonville Sears. Mandarin (Jacksonville) Kmart, Neptune Beach Kmart and Perry Kmart shutting down between July-September. The Lutz Kmart shutdown March 2016, 62 jobs lost. The 46 years old Daytona Beach Kmart, on International Speedway Boulevard, is shutdown mid-March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost). Dicks Sportings Goods subleasing space in an existing Sears store in Palm Beach Gardens.
Georgia: Yet another Augusta Kmart shutting down, this time the one on Deans Bridge Road. 63 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 23 years old Rome Kmart shutdown in August 2016, 1-hundred jobs lost! Administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say the Rome Kmart is the last Sears Holdings store in the area! The 37 years old Carrollton Kmart shutdown April 2016. Dublin Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 71 jobs lost. Milledgeville Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 60+ jobs lost. Mount Berry Square Mall (Rome) Sears and Auto Center shutting down in March 2016, 86 jobs lost. Macon Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Buford Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Douglasville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Atlanta Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Columbus Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jonesboro Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Cartersville Kmart (74 jobs lost), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.
Guam: Tamuning Kmart made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Sears Hometown Store.
Hawaii: 14 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Iconic 25 years old Nimitz HWY Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart shutdown in March 2016, 141 jobs lost! Honolulu Sears (owned by GGP, 372 jobs lost! GGP spending $573-million chopping it up into smaller store spaces), Kauai Sears (41 jobs lost), Iwilei-Honolulu Kmart for lease (no confirmation of store closing).
Idaho: Lewiston Kmart, Boise Town Square Mall Sears Store & Auto Center, Boise Kmart Auto Center, the Nampa Kmart Store & Auto Center, the Coeur d’Alene Kmart and Sears Store & Auto Center, the Twin Falls Sears Store & Auto Center and Kmart, the Ammon Kmart, the Idaho Falls Sears Store & Auto Center, the abandoned but still owned by Sears Holdings Chubbuck (the“opportunities” listing incorrectly says Pocatello) Sears Store (esentially all remaining Sears & Kmarts in Idaho) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Boise Kmart on Fairview shutdown mid-March 2016, 56 jobs lost. Pocatello Kmart shutdown April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Rexburg Kmart (63 jobs lost), Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall Sears shutdown by the end of October/beginning of November 2014 (the remaining 28 jobs lost).
Illinois: $1-million USD loss as Mount Vernon Sears Hometown Store mysteriously burns to the ground. The nine years old Sears Hometown Store in Beloit shutting down in January 2017. Du Quoin Sears Hometown Store shutting down in January 2017. Another update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; looks like Augustana College found a fool to buy the Kmart property that was dumped on the college (in the form of a tax avoiding donation) and then vacated in July 2016, it was sold to a company called Rock Island KM. The GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Oak Brook Sears store being reduced by half and the Auto Center being shutdown between 2017 & 2018. Sears Hardware in Edwardsville shutting down right before Thanksgiving, 21 jobs lost. A local TV station reported that Sears Hardware in Collinsville is shutting down, no comment from store management. Shutdown WARNs issued for Kmarts in Tinley Park and South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago, 275 jobs gone by Xmas! News reports out of Tinley say a total of six Kmarts will shutdown by Xmas! Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed that two ‘Sears’ properties, in Chicago and Springfield, are shutting down. 116 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! An update for the abandoned Rock Island Kmart; the recently vacated property was ‘donated’ to Augustana College, but now college adminitrators are looking to sell the property to anybody foolish enough to buy it. The real reason the college is trying to dump the vacant Kmart is that the property tax is about $92-thousand per year, indicating the ‘donation’ was actually a screw-job (lets not forget that local news media pointed out that city officials spent $15-million tax dollars attracting Walmart to town, but spent zilch on trying to keep Kmart from leaving!). The Kmart Super Center in Bradley shutdown, 125 jobs lost! Sears Holdings sold the building to Meijer, unconfirmed reports say the Bradley Kmart Super Center (which has a full grocery op) was actually making money. After 90 years Chicago Sears on Lawrence Avenue shutting down by August 2016, local news says its the oldest Sears store still operating. The last Decatur Kmart shutting down by August 2016, 61 jobs lost, administrators say employees can apply at other Sears Holdings stores, but local news reports say there are no more Sears Holdings stores in the immediate area! Chicago Kmart on South Pulaski. Danville Kmart, Galesburg Kmart, Lansing Kmart, Pekin Kmart, Eddie Lampert eliminated 401 Hoffman Estates HQ jobs due to crappy 2015 holiday sales! 151 of those jobs were already vacant. Morton ‘green’ Kmart shutting down by the end of April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Canton Kmart shutting down mid-April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. North Mayfair Kmart (99 jobs lost), Chicago Kmart at 5033 North Elston Avenue (99 jobs lost). By the way, Illinois elected officials gave Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates a $150 million USD tax break to keep their headquarters in the state. The tax break was not tied to any promise not to close stores.
Indiana: In Indianapolis, Sears Home Appliance Showroom on North Michigan Road and Sears Appliance & Hardware on Thompson Road shutting down in January 2017. Sears Appliance & Hardware in Fishers shutting down in January 2017. Local news media discovered that a Sears Appliance & Hardware store in Avon quietly shutdown in October 2016. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Elkhart and Merrillville are shutting down. A WARN revealed that 99 Kmart employees in Merrillville will lose their jobs right before Xmas. 67 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Bloomington Kmart, New Albany Kmart. Bloomington’s College Mall Sears & Auto Center shutdown mid-June 2016, at least 52 jobs lost. In Schererville, Sears Hardware shutdown in April 2016. Terre Haute Kmart April 2016, 62 jobs lost. Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Sears (49 jobs lost), South Anthony Kmart (70 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on South Anthony Boulevard (70 jobs lost), FairOaks Mall Kmart, Logansport Sears (43 jobs lost), Muncie Kmart (59 jobs lost), Fort Wayne Kmart on Coliseum Boulevard North (69 jobs lost), Decatur Kmart (49 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Madison Avenue (131 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart on Washington Street (139 jobs lost), Bedford Kmart (62 jobs lost), Indianapolis (Evansville) Sears & Auto Center at Washington Square Mall (91 jobs lost), Greenwood Kmart (78 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.
Iowa: 22 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Des Moines Southridge Mall Sears shutting down by August 2016, the store was in the process of dying anyway, only 37 employees left. Sears Holdings shutdown their West Des Moines call center in June 2016, 162 jobs lost! Ottumwa Kmart shutdown April 2016, 38 jobs lost. Cedar Rapids Kmart on 16th Ave (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost), Coralville Sears (94 jobs lost, this is a store sold to GGP earlier in the year), Cedar Rapids Kmart on Collins Road NE (56 jobs lost), Mason City Kmart (50 jobs lost), Clive Kmart (at least 49 jobs lost), Ames Kmart (44 jobs lost), Fort Dodge Sears (no job loss numbers made public, yet. The Auto Center was secretly shutdown in September), 56 years old Mason City Sears & Auto Center (more than 100 jobs lost). Davenport Kmart (59 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (67 jobs lost).
Kansas: 18 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. In El Dorado, a contracted Sears store suddenly shutdown due to Sears Holdings continually changing the contract: “We had a contract that we had to follow to a ‘T’ while they changed it at will. They changed our commission bonuses and percentages and that hurt us.”-Russ Christy, contracted Sears store operator
Hutchison Kmart. North Topeka Kmart shutting down in 2016, 49 jobs lost. Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Merriam Kmart-then Sears-then Kmart (jobs lost unknown), Wichita Sears store & Auto Center (103 jobs lost), Manhattan Sears & Auto Center (number of jobs lost were never revealed).
Kentucky: Corbin Kmart. London Kmart. Hopkinsville Kmart. Bowling Green Kmart. The Georgetown BigKmart shutting down by mid-April 2017. Paducah Sears store and Auto Center shutting down by mid-March 2017. In Owensboro, the Kmart on West Parrish Avenue shutting down by mid-March 2017. Pikeville Kmart shutting down right before Xmas. 31 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Two Kmarts in Louisville. Elizabethtown Kmart, Maysville Kmart, Paintsville Kmart. Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).
Louisiana: The New Iberia Kmart shutdown on 11 December 2016. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Houma shutting down. 36 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The Bossier Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Houma Sears, Pineville Kmart. Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown, Laplace Sears Hometown Store.
Maine: Bangor Kmart shutting down by mid-April 2017. 13 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Kmart shutting down by August 2016, more than 50 jobs lost. Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost), Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Sears (63 jobs lost), Aroostook Centre Mall Sears Auto Center leased out to VIP Tires & Service.
Maryland: Eastpoint Mall Kmart, in Dundalk, shutting down mid-April 2017. GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Columbia Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. 54 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost), Parkville Kmart (102 jobs lost), California Kmart (71 jobs lost), Sears Hometown Store in Perryville.
Massachusetts: The Enfield Square Mall Sears store shutting down mid-April 2017 (supposedly the Auto Center will remain open). The Sears Auto Center in Swansea shutting down by mid-April 2017. In Fairhaven, the Shaw’s Plaza BigKmart shutting down by mid-April 2017. GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Natick Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. 64 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Tewksbury Kmart. Fairhaven Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown mid-April 2016. Local news reports said the ignorant employees actually thought the shutdown notice was a joke! I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News. 79 jobs lost as the Fall River Kmart shutdown in May 2016. North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost). Braintree Kmart on Grossman Drive shutdown. Also, the Braintree South Shore Plaza Sears store is renting out an entire floor to Ireland based Primark. Even with the lease to Primark there is still 4-thousand square feet of vacant space in the Sears store. The Sears at the Auburn Mall shutdown on Black Friday due to electrical fire. The store was experiencing electrical problems, an investigation is underway.
Michigan: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ properties in Alpena, Manistee and Sault Saint Marie are shutting down. WARNs filed with the state revealed that on top of the Seritage Growth shutdowns the Kmarts in Jackson, Grand Rapids, Byron Center and Fenton will also shutdown. A total of 390 Kmart jobs will be killed right before Xmas! 113 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The Holland Sears Appliance & Hardware shutdown, the manager of the francise store refused to say why. Plymouth Township Super Kmart shutting down by November 2017 (that’s when the lease expires). According to Plymouth’s Planning Commission, Sears Holdings is selling the property to a developer. A Kmart on Groesbeck Highway, Clinton Township, shutting down, 82 jobs lost by October 2016. The Farmington Hills Kmart shutting down by mid-July 2016, 61 jobs lost. Midland Sears, Houghton Lake Kmart, Taylor Kmart. The Bradley Kmart has a new owner who is shutting it down in 2016. Retailer Meijer bought the Kmart property for $5-million USD. The Kmart shutdown in May, but the new Meijer store won’t be ready until 2018. The Sears and Auto Center in Fort Gratiot shutdown by mid-March, 48 jobs lost. Ironwood Kmart by mid-April, 47 jobs lost. Sears/Great Indoors, Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials, Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart, Saginaw Kmart on Bay Road, Flint Kmart on Dort Highway (46 jobs lost), Gaylord Kmart (48 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (58 jobs lost), Bloomfield Township Kmart and Sears, Bad Axe Kmart (61 jobs lost), Ypsilanti Township Kmart (83 jobs lost), Petoskey Kmart (45 jobs lost), Saint John’s Kmart (48 jobs lost), White Lake Township “Store of the Future” Kmart (42 jobs lost), Grand Blanc Kmart (49 jobs lost), Lapeer Kmart (56 jobs lost), Southgate Kmart (155 jobs lost), Detroit’s Telegraph Road Kmart (115 jobs lost), Waterford Township Sears (no word on how many jobs lost), Rochester Hills Kmart (77 jobs lost), ‘perfect Kmart town’ of Port Huron Kmart (188 jobs lost), Flint Kmart on Miller Road (81 jobs lost), Burton Kmart (85 jobs lost), Madison Heights Kmart (179 jobs lost), it’s now official the last remaining Saginaw Kmart (on Gratiot Road) will remain shutdown after its roof collapsed during a snowstorm back in January 2014 (Sears Holdings claims only 18 people worked there at the time of the collapse!), Ann Arbor Kmart (59 jobs lost), Iron Mountain Kmart (54 jobs lost), Bangor Township Sears aka Bay City Mall Sears, the Auto Center was already secretly shutdown some time ago (at least 47 jobs lost), Big Rapids Kmart (about 50 jobs lost). Vacant Wyandotte Sears Auto Center is being renovated at a cost to taxpayers of $1-million & 20-thousand, plus 15 years worth of tax breaks valued at $2-million! Shakopee Kmart distribution center shutdown and sold-off for $17-million in 2013, now it’s finally getting a new tenant; snowmobile and electric cart maker Polaris Industries will rent out a fraction of the building to use as their new parts warehouse. The Kmart Plaza in Sandusky sold to “A group of investors”, no word on what will happen to the Kmart store.
Minnesota: After 14 years the Montevideo Sears Hometown Store shutting down by the end of January 2017. The local owners of the franchise store says the decision by Sears Holdings to shutdown the store is also forcing them to sell their property. GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Minnetonka Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. The Dundas Planning Commission met with CJB II Real Estate to discuss the future of the abandoned Kmart. ‘Elected’ leaders expressed a willingness to throw $100-thousand tax dollars at the redevelopment project. The Dundas Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 32 jobs lost. West Saint Paul Kmart shutting down by Xmas. 32 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 40 years old Eden Prairie Center Sears store shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Eddie Lampert sold the store to the mall owner for $16-million! The owner of the mall wants to carve up the Sears into smaller stores. Thunderbird Mall Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 48 jobs lost. Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.
Mississippi: 14 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Corinth Kmart. The 44 years old Greenville Kmart shutdown in April, no word on job losses. Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).
Missouri: 48 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Bridgeton Kmart, Springfield Kmart. Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line, High Ridge Kmart (59 jobs lost), Ellisville Kmart (55 jobs lost), Springfield Kmart on South Campbell Avenue (60 jobs lost), South Belt Kmart (64 jobs lost), Florissant Kmart (100 jobs lost), O’Fallon Kmart (76 jobs lost).
Montana: The Hamilton Kmart, Havre Kmart, Helena Kmart, Glendive Kmart, Billings Sears Store & Auto Center, Butte Kmart, Great Falls Kmart Store & Auto Center, Kalispell Kmart Store & Auto Center (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Billings Kmart. Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost), Great Falls Kmart (closed “until further notice” due to fire, 63 jobs on hold), Great Falls Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost) due to great sales (ironically) the shutdown date has been moved from 07 December 2014 to 23 November, Bozeman Kmart (37 jobs lost), Missoula Sears store and Auto Center (57 jobs lost).
Nebraska: Seritage Growth Properties says its Kmart property in Kearney is shutting down by Xmas. Six Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. 40 years old Hastings Kmart. Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).
Nevada: 22 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Sparks Kmart distribution center (100 jobs lost).
New Hampshire: 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials, Portsmouth Kmart (30 jobs lost), Claremont Kmart (59 jobs lost).
New Jersey: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Paramus Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. 53 Kmart and Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Nearly one acre of the Rockaway Townsquare Mall Sears (which is still in operation) is now rented out to a furniture dealer. Lodi Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 75 jobs lost. Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost), Closter Kmart (102 jobs lost), Vineland Kmart (74 jobs lost). After 18 years Sears Holdings shutdown their Roselle Sears Hardware store due to “landlord issues”.
New Mexico: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Albuquerque Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Deming is shutting down. 21 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Back in May local news reports said the Artesia Kmart was shutting down, in July Sears Holdings finally confirmed it. Albuquerque’s Coronado Center Sears suddenly shutdown their Auto Center, and will reduce the size of the main store by 50% within two months. Sears goon Howard Riefs stated “We will rightsize the labor…”, but gave no numbers. The ‘rightsizing’ of the Coronado Center store is in partnership with one of my evil former employers, mall owner GGP. SearsLas Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).
New York: The massive Rego Park Center Sears shutting down, 2-hundred jobs lost starting the first week of April 2017! In Wallkill, the Galleria at Crystal Run Sears store and Auto Center shutting down, 96 jobs lost starting the first week of April 2017. New Hartford Kmart. In Cheektowaga, the Walden Galleria Sears store and Auto Center shutting down, 76 jobs lost starting the first week of April 2017. In Amherst, the Sears store and Auto Center shutting down, 105 jobs lost by April 2017! In Syracuse, after four years the Sears Outlet store in the Destiny USA mall is shutting down. The Queensbury Super Kmart is being reduced to just a Kmart, ending 24 hour grocery sales by January 2017. Shutdown WARN issued for the Binghamton Kmart, 69 jobs gone by Xmas. Shutdown WARN issued for the Cheektowaga Kmart, 101 jobs gone by Xmas! The second level of the GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Staten Island Sears shutting down right before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, 44 jobs killed, it’s been leased to Ireland’s clothier Primark. 104 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! The 50 years old Sears Auto Center in the Colonie Center Mall shutdown by Sears Holdings subsidiary Seritage Growth Properties, so the space could be rented out to Avis-Budget Car Rental Group. In Brooklyn, the Kings Plaza Sears shutting down, 210 jobs gone by mid-September 2016! Eddie Lampert is renting the space to a couple of European clothing retailers. Sears Holdings issued a shutdown WARN for its Plattsburgh Sears store and Auto Center, 56 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. New York Post says Sears is shutting down their NYC clothing design office, 40 jobs moved to California, another 154 jobs gone by July! Rotterdam Mall Sears and Auto Center shutting down by August 2016 (67 jobs lost). Sears Holdings issued yet another WARN, this time 75 Rochester Kmart employees losing their jobs by mid-July 2016. Irondequoit Sears, Plattsburgh Sears, Poughkeepsie Kmart, Rochester Kmart. Staten Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown in February, 20 jobs lost. Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford (Sangertown Mall) Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost), Lancaster Kmart sold for $1.7-million to Dave’s Christmas Wonderland. Herkimer Sears Hometown, Saranac Lake Sears Hometown the ‘independent’ co-owners said Sears Holdings forced them to shutdown. Melville Appliance Repair Division (31 jobs lost).
North Carolina: High Point Sears Hometown Store shutting down after four years. Last month I told you the High Point Sears Call Center was shutting down (with Sears refusing to tell local news media how many jobs will be lost), now a new WARN to the state revealed 325 jobs will be lost by February 2017! Mount Airy Kmart (in the Mayberry Mall) shutting down right before Xmas. Burlington Kmart shutting down right before Xmas, local news reports said nobody was surprised. 71 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! 40 years old Thomasville Kmart shutting down in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brevard Kmart, Gastonia Kmart, Lumberton Kmart, Pineville Kmart, Rocky Mount Kmart. Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost), Greenville Kmart (75 jobs lost), Kinston Sears Hometown Store shutdown with little notice, Lexington Sears Hometown Store.
North Dakota: 18 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Jamestown Kmart (45 jobs lost), Dickinson Kmart (41 jobs lost, despite a “Now Hiring” sign on the front of the store).
Ohio: The Fairborn and Springfield Kmart stores shutting down, 134 jobs gone right before Xmas! Reports that a Knox County Kmart is shutting down its pharmacy operations. Employees confirmed to local news media that the 21 years old Austintown Sears Appliance and Hardware will shutdown by Xmas. Mentor Kmart shutting down by Xmas, local news reports say in the 1990s the store employed 2-hundred people! 124 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! 18 years old Defiance Sears shutting down by August 2016. Marion Sears store (the Auto Center was shutdown in 2014), Ashtabula Kmart, Eaton Kmart, Fremont Kmart, Lima Kmart, Lorain Kmart, Springboro Kmart. Englewood Kmart, 57 jobs lost by the end of July 2016. Fort Stueben Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 53 jobs lost in June 2016. Sandusky Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 44 jobs lost in June 2016. 78 jobs lost as the Lancaster Kmart is shutdown in May 2016. 18 jobs lost as the Dixie Highway Sears Hardware shuts down this Friday. The 28 years old Sears and its Auto Center in New Philadelphia shutdown by mid-April 2016, 46 jobs lost. Without warning the Medina Sears Appliance & Hardware Store shutdown. Warren Kmart on Parkman Road NW shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. Zanesville Kmart shutdown mid-April 2016, 47 jobs lost. Steubenville Kmart shutdown by April 2016, 65 jobs lost. Boardman Kmart by April 2016, 81 jobs lost. Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Columbus Sears/Great Indoors, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost), Austintown Sears auto parts and service on Interstate Boulevard, London Kmart (no word on number of jobs lost), Trotwood Sears (67 jobs lost), Westlake Kmart/Sears (at least 57 jobs lost), Xenia Kmart (at least 57 jobs lost), Norwalk Kmart (52 jobs lost), Blue Ash Kmart (77 jobs lost), Northwood Sears at Woodville Mall (36 jobs lost), Conneaut Kmart (43 jobs lost), Anderson Township Kmart (71 jobs lost), Brooklyn Kmart (200 jobs lost), Columbus Lockbourne Industrial Parkway Sears distribution center (200 jobs lost), also in Columbus, Sears Product Rebuild-Call Center (112 jobs lost), Marion Sears Auto Center (at least nine jobs lost), Springfield Kmart #3767 (68 jobs lost), Fairborn Kmart (66 jobs lost), Solon Sears & Auto Center (at least 53 jobs lost), Tiffin Sears Hometown Store. Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.
Oklahoma: In Tulsa the Sears store on 21st Street and Yale shutting down mid-April 2017, supposedly (according to news reports) the Auto Center will remain open. GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Norman Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).
Oregon: Local news reports revealed the Lloyd Center Sears store was sold and will shutdown sometime in the future, the space will be re-purposed into smaller storefronts. 23 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! A Blind Bat News reader warning that the Beaverton Kmart has replaced its permanent signage with temporary ones, and the store is looking empty. There’s been no public reports of the store shutting down. Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center), Milwaukie Kmart (61 jobs lost), Coos Bay Kmart (25 jobs lost), Bend Sears (48 jobs lost), Klamath Falls Kmart (64 jobs lost), Albany Kmart (64 jobs lost), Portland Sears Homes Services (no notice), Albany Sears (57 jobs lost), in October a BBN reader warned that Oregon City Kmart was being quietly shutdown, confirmed on 06 November 2014 by Sears Holdings (70 jobs lost). Ontario Kmart (55 jobs lost).
Pennsylvania: Shenango Valley Mall Sears store shutting down by mid-April, less than 1-hundred jobs affected. 168 Sears and Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! In July, Sears Holdings shutdown the Uniontown Kmart, killing at least 73 jobs. But the shutdown is also affecting a locally owned restaurant (Mark C’s Diner) still on the property, whose owners say their sales have crashed-n-burned since the shutdown. Now Sears Holdings say they are about to sell the Uniontown property in an effort to “realize shareholder value from the property”. Butler Sears, New Castle Sears, Beaver Falls Kmart, Philadelphia Kmart on Frankford Avenue. Two Pittsburgh Kmarts. Reading Kmart. Sears store in the Beaver Valley Mall, 62 jobs lost. Viewmont Mall Sears store and Auto Center, 86 jobs lost in July 2016. Reports that the Exton Kmart will shutdown, no word on job losses. Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost), Fairless Hills Sears Hardware. Granite Run Mall shutdown, meaning the Sears and Sears Auto Center now apparently on a month to month (possibly day to day) lease are soon to follow. Brookhaven Kmart (89 jobs lost).
Puerto Rico: 31 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).
Rhode Island: Rhode Island Mall Sears Auto Center shutdown right before Thanksgiving. Five Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.
South Carolina: The new owner of a Kmart on the boundaries of Anderson, Seritage KMT Finance, announced it will cut the Kmart store to half its size and is requesting the city of Anderson annex the land (probably in exchange for some taxpayer funded incentives for Seritage). 37 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The 44 years old Orangeburg Kmart shutting down in August 2016. Camden Kmart. 61 jobs lost as the North Augusta Kmart is shutdown by May 2016. Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).
South Dakota: 11 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Huron Kmart, Yankton Kmart. The Pierre Kmart shutdown March 2016, 45 jobs lost. The Michell Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 52 jobs lost. Spearfish Kmart (51 jobs lost), Sturgis Kmart (57 jobs lost).
Tennessee: After 30 years the Sears Hometown Store in Dyersburg shutdown. Local news reports say the shutdown was no surprise to the store’s manager. 58 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Local news reports say Sears Holdings has posted “Going out of business!” signs on the North Knoxville Kmart, however they could not get any confirmation of shutdown from corporate administrators. Bristol Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Athens Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart, Maryville Kmart. The Murfreesboro Kmart shutdown April, 43 jobs lost. A Memphis Sears and Auto Center (on Poplar Avenue) shutdown in April, 109 jobs lost! Clarksville Kmart shutdown in April, 68 jobs lost. Cleveland Kmart shutdown by mid-March 2016, 67 jobs lost. Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears, Nashville Bellevue Center Sears & Auto Center (at least 44 jobs lost).
Texas: GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Frisco Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says the ‘Sears’ property in Harlingen is shutting down. Local news reports confirmed the Lubbock Kmart is shutting down right before Xmas. 134 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!! Fort Stockton Sears Hometown Store was ‘re-branded’ the America’s Appliance Experts outlet. Sears Holdings revealed the Brownsville Kmart is shutting down by August. El Paso Kmart, Mission Kmart, Sweetwater Kmart. Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost), Simon Property Group owned McAllen Sears store & Auto Center (so far no word on how many jobs will be lost), recently revealed Palestine Sears Hometown (franchise owner quit to work as assistant manager at a local Dollar General). Wichita Falls Sikes Senter Mall Sears (56 jobs lost).
Utah: 16 Sears & Kmart properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. Draper Kmart, Price Kmart, West Jordan Kmart. 35 years old Richfield Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 63 jobs lost. North Logan Kmart shutdown April 2016, 58 jobs lost. Murray Sears (local news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost), Provo Kmart demolished in anticipation of yet another AtHome furniture store.
Vermont: Five Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list. The Bennington Sears Hometown Store shutdown. Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), South Burlington Kmart (66 jobs lost).
Virgin Islands: Three Kmarts made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list.
Virginia: 63 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Christiansburg Kmart and the Hampton Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Chester Kmart, 76 jobs gone by mid-July 2016. The Cedar Bluff (50 jobs lost), Covington (36 jobs lost) and Virginia Beach on General Booth Boulevard (no job numbers reported) Kmarts shutdown between March and April 2016! The Sears Hometown Store in Culpeper. Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Winchester Kmart (91 jobs lost), Dale City Kmart (69 jobs lost), Chesapeake Sears and Auto Center (82 jobs lost), Front Royal Kmart (88 jobs lost), Pembroke Mall Sears renting out part of their store to DSW & Nordstrom Rack, Sears Holdings say they’re still looking for a “third tenant” for their occupied space. The current nearby Sears Auto Center will be rented out to REI. Colonial Heights Kmart (113 jobs lost), Virginia Beach Hilltop Square Shopping Center Kmart (82 jobs lost).
Washington: Tacoma Kmart on 6th Avenue. GGP-Seritage Growth Partners owned Lynwood Sears store reduced in size and the Auto Center shutting down “in the near future”. Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties says a ‘Sears’ property in Yakima is shutting down. 46 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! After officially denying that their Marysville Kmart was shutting down, calling it a “a bad rumor” and swearing to local news media that “the store will remain open”, guess what? Local news media reporting that the Marysville Kmart is now plastered with “store closing” signs, 47 jobs lost by by mid-July. Arrogantly Sears Holdings said the employees can apply at other Sears/Kmart stores, however, local news reports say it’s the last Kmart in all of Snohomish County. Eatonville Sears Hometown store. Walla Walla Sears Full line (in August 2012, it was reported that an independent owner of Sears Hometown stores will open a store in Walla Walla), Lacey Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Kelso Sears (47 jobs lost), Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).
West Virginia: The Charleston Town Center Mall Sears store and Auto Center shutting down mid-April 2017. The Bridgeport Meadowbrook Mall Sears store shutting down “within the next 90 days”, supposedly the Auto center will remain open. The Elkins Kmart shutting down during the 1st quarter of 2017. In Parkersburg, the Kmart on Division Street shutting down by mid-April 2017. The Weirton BigKmart shutting down mid-April 2017.
34 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! The Bluefield Kmart shutting down by August 2016. Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).
Wisconsin: Oshkosh Sears Hometown Store on Witzel Avenue shutting down. The city of Wausau just put the local taxpayers into debt by at least $650-thousand USD, buying the former Sears location at the Wausau Center. The Wausau Sears shutdown on June 2016. Sears Holdings administrators would only say “we are accelerating the closings of unprofitable stores.” The Land’s End outlet in the Madison West Towne Mall Sears store suddenly shutdown. It was also revealed that Sears connected Land’s End has shutdown at least five stores since 2015, due to crashing sales. 36 Kmart & Sears properties made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list! Seritage Growth Properties is ‘downsizing’ the Sears store in the West Towne Mall, according to plans filed with the city of Madison. Those plans show a new restaurant taking up more than half of the space of the Sears store. Administrators refused to answer questions from the local news media. Hartford Kmart. Superior Kmart shutdown in April 2016, 42 jobs lost. West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).
Wyoming: Sears offspring Seritage Growth Properties confirmed a ‘Sears’ property in Riverton is shutting down. Sheridan Kmart, Rock Springs Kmart, Riverton Kmart, Cody Kmart & Auto Center, Laramie Kmart, Jackson Kmart, Gillette Kmart, and in Casper and Cheyenne the Sears Stores & Auto Centers and Kmarts (essentially all remaining stores) made the new Sears Holdings Real Estate for sale or lease list!
More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in November 2016:
Alabama: Operator of high tech golf driving ranges Topgolf revealed city administrators of Birmingham are giving Topgolf $1.5-million USD in tax incentives! Topgolf uses golf balls with RFID chips.
Arizona: Tempe based FirstSolar announced it will kill-off 1-thousand 6-hundred jobs in 2017! It’s not blamed on the economy, but on having to re-tool their factories to make a new type of solar panel.
California: Internet marketing company QuinStreet laying off 57 people in Foster City by January 2017. Pennsylvania based “Reverse logistics software and returns processing” company GENCO shutting down its Redlands ops, 26 jobs lost by the end of January 2017. SunEdison suddenly laid off 25 people in Belmont. SunPower issued multiple layoff WARNs, 116 jobs gone by February 2017! Despite reporting a surprise profit of $2-million USD, San Francisco based yelp suddenly laid off 175 international sales people due to declining international sales! It was revealed that San Francisco based Electronic Health Records (EHR) contractor McKesson eliminated 1-thousand 6-hundred jobs across the country, this past Spring 2016! In San Francisco, Twitter issued a layoff WARN, 67 people jobless two days after Xmas. AT&T eliminating 102 jobs in San Ramon, just two days after Xmas! Marvel Semiconductor issued multiple layoff WARNs for multiple locations, 171 jobs gone by January 2017! In Sunnyvale, NetApp eliminating 160 jobs by January 2017! Hewlett Packard (HP) finally notified the state that they laid off 609 people between July and August! Local news reports also revealed that HP laid off an additional 18 people in Roseville this month. In Santa Clara, Violin Memory eliminating 106 jobs by mid-January 2017! Also in Santa Clara, Intel eliminating 84 jobs right after Xmas, supposedly due to its poor performing ‘wearables’. Broadcom-Avago finally notified the state that it eliminated 1-thousand 318 jobs, between March and September! In Glendale, DreamWorks issued a layoff WARN, 170 jobs gone by the end of January! In Redwood City, Pebble Tech issued a shutdown WARN, 82 jobs gone by December. In San Mateo, GoPro suddenly laid off 138 people, according to their own WARN! Some news media reports say GoPro actually eliminated about 2-hundred jobs! In Mountain View, Symantec continues killing jobs, this time 84 layoffs by February 2017. Blue Coat Systems eliminating 27 jobs by February 2017. Internet used-car marketplace Beepi issued a shutdown WARN, 102 jobs gone by December! However, news reports say that 180 Beepi jobs are being lost due to the tech start-up merging with new rival fair.com! San Jose based ebay suddenly shutdown its tech development ops in India, all but 15 people lost their jobs. But wait, there’s more, those 15 people will come to America to take some ‘Merican’s tech job! Ebay laid off 50 people last year at the same tech development center. Asian news reports say that in India ebay is losing out to Amazon and Flipkart. In San Jose, Micrel issued a layoff WARN, 41 people outta work the day after Xmas. Cisco Systems suddenly laid off 42 people. CAM-BAS issued a shutdown WARN, 44 jobs gone in January 2017. Los Angeles based Rubicon Project laid off 125 people blaming a “comprehensive realignment of the business”! Tustin based Ricoh Electronics announced it is leaving The Golden State for Georgia, at least 147 jobs lost by October 2017!
Connecticut: ‘Materials’ supplier for circuit boards Rogers Corporation laying off at least 50 people in 2017. Verizon issued mass layoff WARNs, 558 jobs gone by March 2017! Norwalk based Frontier Communications eliminating 1-thousand jobs due to Frontier taking over Verizon ‘territories’ in several states!
Florida: In Boca Raton, NTT America laying off 15 people in January 2017. After 13 years marketer Kre8 Media now chapter 7 bankrupt busted and dead.
Idaho: Bodybuilding.com suddenly laid off 90 people in Boise. The warning-less layoffs were revealed by unnamed employees who reported it to local news media. Company admin admitted they are conducting “organizational downsizing” as part of their plans to expand their internet ops (never mind that it directly contradicted the new CEO’s statements, earlier in the year, that they would hire more people).
Illinois: Crane’s Chicago Business eliminating jobs.
Indiana: Indianapolis based Angie’s List suddenly laid off 150 people after 3rd quarter losses that were double the losses of the same time last year!
Kentucky: Maker of electronic gas meters Itron shutting down its 37 years old Owen County factory, 411 jobs lost over the next two years! Local news reports say local officials said the shutdown announcement “caught us by surprise”.
Michigan: The Detroit News-Detroit Free Press warning of layoffs if their employees don’t except buyout offers.
Montana: Blue Cross and Blue Shield eliminating 12 InfoTech jobs by March 2017.
New York: The Wall Street Journal eliminating more jobs as it switches to a new format newspaper. The new version will have fewer sections. NYC based, and now Verizon owned, AOL suddenly laid off 5-hundred people! NYC based, and Clinton supporter, Univision laying off as many as 250 people due partly to a $30-million USD loss in its 3rd quarter! NYC based Thomson Reuters announced it will kill-off 2-thousand jobs globally in 2017, calling it “transforming”! In NYC, Charter Communications issued a shutdown WARN, 43 jobs gone before the end of the year due to merger with Time-Warner. In Port Washington, Entertainment One shutting down by June 2017, 65 jobs lost. Insurance company New York Life plans on eliminating InfoTech jobs between February 2017 and March 2018, via outsourcing/off-shoring. That Which Cannot be Named powerless to stop Yeshiva University from shutting down their Israel Henry Beren Campus Technology Services Division a week before Xmas.
North Carolina: California based McKesson laid off 60 EHR employees in Charlotte, in addition to the 16-hundred job losses during Spring of this year. Charlotte based FairPoint Communications warned 110 employees in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire of possible layoffs! Union reps say the actual number of employees targeted for layoffs is 153!
Ohio:TV station WNWO eliminating its in-house news department and contracting with a station in Indiana.
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review printed its last hard-copy edition, 106 jobs lost to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s new internet publishing only!
Texas: Marketing software maker Yodle eliminating 1-hundred jobs due to being taken over by rival web.com.
Washington: Intel shutting down their DuPont location, 77 layoffs begin after Xmas, some news reports say it’s because of low sales of its ‘wearables’. Tech news reports say Cyanogen is shutting down its Seattle ops after Xmas. Some employees can transfer to California. Blucora moving its HQ to Texas, 35 Bellevue jobs lost by June 2017.
Tech/Communications shutdown October 2016: NO MORE VERIZON AS IT KILLS 162K JOBS, SO FAR!
LITHIUM BATTERIES SET FIRE TO BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY!
DOG ROBOTS CAN TELL IF YOU HAVE CANCER
SELF DRIVE CAR FAIL: HUMAN DRIVERS UNABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL FROM ROBOT DRIVER?
HIGH TECH FAIL: JAPAN JOINS THE DUMBING DOWN CROWD!
ObamaCare November 2016: “IF I HAVE TO PISS AND SHIT ON MYSELF, I WOULD RATHER BE DEAD!”
Banking/Retail/Service sector November 2016: “NOBODY EVEN KNOWS WE’RE HERE!” 1 STATE, 4-THOUSAND JOBS GONE AFTER XMAS!
Federal, State & Local govt. shenanigans November 2016: “THOSE HALCYON DAYS ARE OVER” ARE ‘LAWMAKERS’ HIGH ON LEGALIZED MARY-JANE?
Food crisis November 2016: “…LEAN TIMES FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD.”
Dumbing Down, November 2016: “FINANCIAL EXIGENCY” MO PROOF MO EDUCATION DOES NOT EQUAL MO MONEY!
14 December 2016 / 20:50 UTC-07 Tango 06 (25 Azar 1395/15 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1438/17 Geng Zi 4714)
Uber in trouble again, this time they’ve violated California’s self drive car law.
Uber began testing ‘autonomous’ car service in San Francisco without getting the required state permit. Uber believes they can avoid the permit because their self drive cars still have a human behind the wheel, just in case, which is an apparent loophole in California’s autonomous vehicle law. State regulators don’t buy the excuse and are prepping to take legal action.
Uber’s Anthony Levandowski also admitted that their self driving Volvos aren’t truly self driving because “We’re just not capable of doing that yet.”
SELF DRIVE CAR FAIL! HUMAN DRIVERS UNABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL FROM ROBOT DRIVER?
13 December 2016 (11:33 UTC-07 Tango 06) 23 Azar 1395/13 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1438/15 Geng Zi 4714
Saint Luke’s Health System (supposedly now the largest employer in The Gem State) has banned the spontaneously combustable Samsung Galaxy 7 ‘smart’ phone at all its locations.
The ban applies to employees as well as patients and comes after a charging lithium battery is suspected of setting fire to an office building on Boise State University campus, on 03 December 2016. Smartphones use lithium batteries, and it’s not just Samsung phones that are spontaneously lighting up.
Recently news media in China reported that at least eight Apple iPhone 6s exploded. Of course Apple denies there’s a problem (even though there are increasing reports from around the world of iPhones exploding), just like Samsung first ignored reports about their phones exploding.
Then there’s reports of ‘smart’ phone chargers themselves causing explosions in Australia. Fire investigators in New South Wales concluded the fire was caused when the charger overheated the battery causing it to explode. By the way, it was an Apple iPhone 6.
But it’s not just those dumb smartphones, even GPS systems have exploded. In one case it was claimed that by leaving a GPS on your vehicle’s dashboard, exposed to the Sun, can cause the litium-ion batteries to explode.
You can’t use that excuse on all those exploding phones that were tucked away in people’s pants pockets.
A Tesla in Germany that spontaneously combusted
Let’s not forget that lithuim using Tesla cars have been exploding in Germany, United States and Mexico. And as Recently as August Tesla cars began exploding in France!
It must be noted that I started documenting these ObamaCare/healthcare related shutdowns at the beginning of 2014. In that year I posted the reports biannually (every six months). In 2015 ObamaCare cutbacks ramped up and I posted quarterly (every three months). For the past 11 months of 2016 there have been so many ObamaCare cutbacks that I’ve posted a report every month!
Incomplete list of healthcare related layoffs and shutdowns, November 2016:
California: In San Diego, Ardea Biosciences finally notified the state that they eliminated 139 jobs back in July! Israel based Teva Pharmaceuticals issued a layoff WARN for their Corona ops, 29 jobs gone in January 2017. In San Francisco, AthenaHealth notified the state that it would kill 103 jobs right after Xmas! It was revealed that San Francisco based Electronic Health Records (EHR) contractor McKesson eliminated 1-thousand 6-hundred jobs across the country, this past Spring 2016!
Georgia: “…300,000 of our neighbors and fellow Georgians still remain in the health insurance coverage gap and are unable to see a doctor….That number includes at least 32,000 veterans….”–Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
Idaho: Finally after decades of draconian convict policies, and in an attempt to reduce incarceration recidivism, the state Department of Health and Welfare is asking for $11-million tax dollars to provide mental health services for probationers and parolees. Currently The Gem State Department of Corrections has a 35% recidivism rate. The proposed mental health program for probationers and parolees is not connected to ObamaCare.
In Nampa, Holly Lane Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center (owned by ‘christian’ for-profit Tennessee based Orianna Health Systems-Covenant Dove) continues to violate Medicare and Medicaid rules for patient safety. State inspectors accuse Holly Lane of repeatedly putting patients in “immediate jeopardy”. The Nampa nursing home has until January to get its act together or lose all federal funding. Local news media interviewed former patients who say the mistreatment started years ago due to lack of employees. One patient told a state inspector “If I have to piss and shit on myself, I would rather be dead!”
Illinois: In Buffalo Grove, PrimeSource Health Care Systems issued a shutdown WARN, 159 jobs lost starting after Xmas!
Indiana: Becon Health Systems directly blamed ObamaCare reimbursement rate reductions for forcing them to layoff 70 people, 50 of them were homecare workers. Select Medical shutting down its Fort Wayne Select Specialty Hospital, 103 jobs lost by Jaunary 2017!
Iowa: After 40 years Central Iowa Family Planning Services shutting down all its remaining clinics, blaming reduced insurance reimbursements and radically changing healthcare environment.
Kentucky: Generic drugs tester/maker PGXL Laboratories chapter 11 bankrupt busted over claims it was massively overpaid by Medicare.
Massachusetts: Hallmark Health laid off 57 employees because ObamaCare is forcing them to make $16-million in cuts. Brockton Hospital eliminating 64 jobs and shutting down its transitional care unit by February 2017. Insurance company MassMutual laid off at least 150 people as a result of their take-over of rival MetLife! This is despite the fact that local news media report that MassMutal is advertising 3-hundred open positions!
Michigan: It was revealed that publicly announced hirings at Detroit Medical Center hid the fact that the hospital could lose all federal taxpayer funding for failing to meet sterilization rules, resulting in massive layoffs if they fail to comply. Even so, reports also say Detroit Medical Center is eliminating about 240 jobs to reduce costs by $17-million USD! Makes you wonder why they boasted about hiring people.
Minnesota: Hennepin County Medical Center confirmed it will eliminate 275 jobs in 2017 in order to deal with “…increasing cost of salaries, wages, and benefits and the rising cost of supplies, equipment, and pharmaceuticals, together with public program reimbursements [ObamaCare] that are less than the cost of providing care…”!
Montana: Blue Cross and Blue Shield eliminating 12 InfoTech jobs by March 2017.
New Hampshire: It was revealed that Wentworth-Douglass Hospital eliminated at least 24 jobs last month, due to “advances in technology”.
New Jersey: In Whippany, Aphena Pharma Solutions eliminating 70 jobs by March 2017. Interim Healthcare eliminating more than 2-hundred jobs in Hamilton and Voorhees by the end of January 2017!
New York: Respirator maker Caire shutting down their Amherst factory, 142 jobs being consolidated to Georgia by November 2017! Morrison Community Living at Genesee County Nursing Home now for sale, all contracted employees notified of pending job losses due to sale. Drugs maker Pfizer reminded the state that it is still laying off employees as it winds down operations in Rouses Point. Montefiore Care Management laying off 74 people, directly blaming ObamaCare: “…Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates have remained virtually stagnant.”-Tracy Gurrisi, director of public relations
North Carolina: California based McKesson laid off 60 EHR employees in Charlotte, in addition to the 16-hundred job losses during Spring of this year.
Ohio: ValleyCare Health System has furloughed employees and reduced hours for others, a detailed explanation was not made public.
Oregon: God powerless to stop ‘his’ non-profit Saint Charles Health System from already shutting down their new Center for Women’s Health in Bend, blaming “staffing-related issues”! When asked for specifics John Weinsheim, president of the Saint Charles Medical Group, insisted “I really can’t.” Facebook posts indicate the year and a half old clinic is losing doctors early next year.
Pennsylvania: C3i Healthcare Connections eliminating 56 jobs in Pittston right after Xmas. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts eliminating 97 jobs in Harrisburg by mid-January 2017. LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh-Monroeville eliminating 131 jobs by December! For-profit Sharon Regional Health System began laying off employees and refused to talk to local news media. Some employees went public and said at least 70 people lost their jobs, others are being furloughed and work hours are being reduced. Wilkes-Barre General Hospital began eliminating jobs and reducing work hours due to ObamaCare reducing the number of people going to hospital for help. Easton Hospital instituting furloughs and work hour reductions in rsponse to declining patient volumes, caused by ObamaCare.
Rhode Island: God powerless to stop massive layoffs at ‘his’ Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. Union reps say at least 30 people are being let go, and 20 vacant positions are being eliminated. Woonsocket based CVS Health eliminating nearly 6-hundred jobs across the U.S., blaming “changing market dynamics”!
Tennessee: In Johnson City, the American Cancer Society office shutting down after Xmas, in an effort to be more “efficient” with donations. Brookdale, the country’s largest old folks home service, eliminated 1-hundred jobs in a further attempt to drive down costs, despite already reducing operating costs by 36%!
Texas: In Austin, Seton Healthcare Family issued a WARN saying 129 employees will become unemployed in January 2017!
U.S. Virgin Islands: The tourist trap territorial Hospital and Health Facilities Corporation Board warning of massive healthcare cuts because of ObamaCare. Specifically, it was revealed that Juan F. Luis Hospital is being shutdown for failing to meet federal Medicaid and Medicare standards regarding its HVAC system.
Wisconsin: Cumberland Healthcare eliminating 76 jobs after Xmas, as a result of contracting out the operations of their nursing home.
THE GREAT RENEGER: TRUMP NOW LOVES OBAMACARE!
ObamaCare destruction October 2016: “CONCERNING & CERTAINLY SOMEWHAT PROBLEMATIC.”
12 December 2016 / 20:17 UTC-07 Tango 06 (23 Azar 1395/13 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1438/15 Geng Zi 4714)
“If someone is designing a method for automated vehicle handover, there will need to be detailed research on that specific method. This study is tip of an iceberg.”-Lene Harbott, Revs Program at Stanford
A new study published by the new Science Robotics journal says self driving cars don’t like being turned off!
The article titled Motor learning affects car-to-driver handover in automated vehicles, presented the results of the Dynamic Design Lab study at California’s Stanford University. The study showed that differences between human’s explicit and implicit thinking actually made it difficult to take control of a car that has been under total computer control: “…there is this physical change and we need to acknowledge that people’s performance might not be at its peak if they haven’t actively been participating in the driving.”-Holly Russell, Dynamic Design Lab
DON’T HAVE A HEART ATTACK, SOON ARMY ROBOTS WILL SAVE YOUR ASS!
3RD SELF-DRIVE CRASH FOR TESLA!
GOOGLE SELF DRIVING CAR HITS METRO BUS!
CNN Money: Google patent would glue pedestrians to self-driving cars
DRIVERLESS CARS: SHOULD THEY BE PROGRAMMED TO KILL?
TWICE IN ONE WEEK SECURITY BOT INJURES CHILD! CHRISTIANITY BEHIND RISE OF THE MACHINES?
Incomplete list of U.S. retail/banking/service sector job loss announcements and shutdowns for November 2016:
Switzerland based owner of several ‘luxury’ brands sold in the U.S., Compagnie Financière Richemont, eliminating an additional 250 jobs due to crashing sales! That’s on top of 250 jobs killed since May.
Alabama: Bon Ton Hatters Shoe Repair shutdown after 110 years, the owner simply said “Hats are dead.” On US280, Rogers Trading Company shutting down after 70 years, so the owner can finally “enjoy life”. In Selma, after 171 years Butler Truax Jewelers shutdown.
Arkansas: The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) reports that Allied Bank is dead.
California: Industrial waste mitigator Veolia ES Industrial Services issued a shutdown WARN for their Benicia location, 57 jobs lost before Xmas. Florist Native Bouquet issued a shutdown WARN for their Oceanside location, 97 jobs gone right after Xmas. In Foster City, Too Big to Jail VISA issued a mass layoff WARN, 213 jobs gone right after Xmas! Opinion surveyer Competitive Edge Research & Communication issued a shutdown WARN for their San Diego ops, 85 jobs gone by mid-January 2017. God powerless to stop ‘his’ Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) from shutting down a location in Los Angeles, by January 2017. American Apparel issued massive shutdown WARNs for The Golden State, 3-thousand 457 jobs lost right after Xmas! And despite scandalous advertising that some people would call child porno (many ads are much worse than what I’ve posted here), Los Angeles based American Apparel also went bankrupt busted for the second time in 13 months (wouldn’t it be nice if individuals could file bankruptcy that often?)! Pico Rivera city administrators officially announced that the Home Depot was shutting down within two years, local news media say Home Depot admin refuses to comment. Texas based GolfSmith shutting down their Pleasant Hill golf store, one of 59 being shutdown across the country. In Santa Barbara, Churchill Jewelers shutting down after 98 years. In Indio, after ten years the Super Target shutting down by the end of January 2017, 130 jobs lost! Local news reports say city administrators are now bending over backwards offering Target taxpayer funded incentives to keep the store open. Barnes & Noble shutting down their Metro Pointe store in Costa Mesa after Xmas, saying it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease. In San Jose, after 70 years Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods shutting down after Xmas, due to the property being sold to a greedy developer. In Hanford, after 64 years clothier Van Andel’s shutting down when the inventory is gone.
Connecticut: Marriott hotel and Royal bank of Scotland (RBS) continue to eliminate jobs according to WARN issues. After less than two years Ace Hardware shutting donw their new store in Bloomfield, due to lack of sales! Ethan Allen Interiors shutdown their store in Norwalk. Ethan Allen Interiors reports a slight increase in nation-wide sales, but a huge drop in profits. After 65 years A.P. Savage Hardware shutdown in Greeneville: “It’s just been a battle. It just came to a point where the returns are diminishing.”-Michael Howard, store general manager
Florida: Vehicle auctioneer ADESA issued a shutdown WARN for their Sanford ops, 133 jobs gone four days before Xmas! Aéropostale shutdown their Melbourne clothing store. Farmers Insurance eliminating 103 jobs in Broward County, according to a WARN filed with the state! Stride Rite shutting down their Pembroke Lakes Mall shoe store the day after Xmas. News reports say it’s the last stand-alone Stirde Rite store in the U.S. Boca Raton based Office Depot announced 65 store shutdowns by the end of its 4th quarter 2016, as part of its planned 3-hundred store shutdown.
Georgia: The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) reports that Woodbury Banking Company is dead.
Idaho: One year after relocating to Garden City, JoyfulTea suddenly shutdown due to “A series of events…”
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? Charter bus company Megabus issued a layoff WARN, 108 jobs gone by mid-January 2017! Car parts retailer Ventra Belvidere issued a shutdown WARN, 89 jobs lost two days before Xmas. In Lincoln Square, after 41 years Griffins & Gargoyles Antiques shutting down so the family owners can find out what else life has to offer, before thay get any older. In Carbondale, My Favorite Toys store shutting down when the inventory is gone. Lawrence Ventures, the independant operator of the gift shop at the U.S.Army’s second oldest museum (Rock Island Arsenal), says sales are so bad they’re shutting it down. In Galesburg, after 20 years Cherry Street Guitar Company shutdown, the owner took a managment job with a competitor.
Indiana: Furniture buying ‘club’ DirectBuy now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. DirectBuy has been for sale, but no takers. Now it’s being offered to creditors. In Lafayette, after four years M Power Yoga Studio shutting down sometime in 2017, the owner is planning on going to Africa to teach yoga.
Iowa: In Davenport, jeweler Diamonds on the Avenue shutdown.
Kentucky: After ten years W & M Jewelry shutting down in December. After 55 years Gross Diamond Company shutdown and the building is for sale.
Louisiana: In Lafayette, handmade local products retailer Red Arrow Workshop shutdown due to the death of the owner’s spouse (who was also a co-owner).
Maine: In Houlton, after 93 years Town and Country Clothing and Footwear shutting down on Xmas eve, the owner said he wants to get out while he’s still ahead.
Massachusetts: Too Big to Jail Putnam Investments eliminating 115 jobs due to investors taking their money and going somewhere else! In Great Barrington, underwear shop Bra & Girl shutting down because it “was not financially viable” (maybe it was the name, sounds like you can buy bras and girls?). Texas based GolfSmith shutting down their Watertown golf store, one of 59 being shutdown across the country. Washington DC based Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) laid off 55 people and is shutting down their Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable. This is the result of being $20-million USD in the hole, however don’t blame lack of donations. The evil executives of HSUS are accused of offshoring millions of dollars from donations, and according to The Washington Post “Generous pet lovers may think they are benefiting their local humane shelters when they give to large national organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). This wouldn’t be a problem if these groups gave most of their revenue to pet shelters. But they don’t. Only about 1 percent of the Humane Society of the United States’ revenue goes to local pet rescues and shelters.” These revelations comes as Japan based Sanrio helped HSUS meet its fund raising goals for November in California.
Michigan: After 67 years Jackson’s Toy House and Baby Too shutting down after Xmas. They blame radical changes in the toy industry and the un-recovered economy. Don’t blame the internet, that’s how they made their shutdown announcement.
Minnesota: In Duluth, Northland Party store shutting down after 21 years, the owners ignorantly blame internet competition (they haven’t been reading by tech industry layoff reports).
Mississippi: In Natchez, after 53 years Bernie Pyron’s Furniture shutdown. Local news meida say at one time there were four stores, but the owners say the “last eight or nine years” have been really bad for business.
Montana: In Great Falls, Rogers Jewelers shutting down after more than 40 years, the owner lamented he could have made more money picking huckleberries: “I should have stuck with that. They are $50 to $60 a bucket now, I could have retired years ago.”-Daryl Rogers
Nebraska: After 118 years Lukasiewicz Furniture, Flooring and Appliances saying farwell to their Farwell location. Local news media say at one time the store was so big it was nicknamed “the Farwell Mall”, but now the owners blame internet competition exacerbated by a disappearing local rural population for their shutdown. In Bellevue, Antiques on Franklin shutting down the day before Xmas, and Mama Kelly’s First Class Secondhand Store shutting down after Xmas. In Scottsbluff, Bentley’s Fine Jewelry & Repair shutting down, the owner said after 27 years he just wants a regular “eight to five, Monday through Friday job with weekends off”.
New Mexico: Defunct Radio Shack shutting down their 40 years old Ruidoso store, the local franchise owners are selling the property. For-profit utility company PNM eliminating at least 30 jobs in an attempt to reduce costs (and increase profits for shareholders).
New York: The iconic Waldorf Astoria ceases to exist, 1-thousand 441 jobs lost by March 2017 as the building is being remodeled (at some future date) into a smaller hotel operation! In Middletown, hazardous waste forcing Shared Textile Services to shutdown, 65 jobs lost. In Troy, Hill’s Stationery shutdown after 96 years. Suffolk County National Bank laying off 76 people in Riverhead, due to being taken over by a bank from Connecticut. NYC based clothier Kenneth Cole Productions shutting down 63 brick-n-mortar stores within six months! Kenneth Cole Productions is shifting to internet and international sales only! In Corning, after 26 years toy store Imagine That! shutting down after Xmas, the owner blames internet competition and radical changes in the toymaking industry and with wholesalers. Despite efforts to raise $2-million USD through fund raising operations, non-profit iconic Big Apple Circus is now dead. Local news reports say Big Apple Circus was only able to raise $900-thousand! In Watertown, after 27 years Waterbury Fine Jewelers shutting down so the owner can retire. In Ithica, in business since the 1950s McNeil Music calling it quits by the end of Jauary 2017, the owner said the economy has not recovered: “2011 was the first bad year, and it never recovered from there. We’ve lost sales every year since 2010.”-Eric Laine
North Carolina: Retailer Belk laid off 40 people at its Charlotte HQ.
Ohio: In Ashtabula, after 69 years Outdoor Army Navy Store shutdown, the internet ignorant owner blames the internet. In Athens, Premier Video shutdown, it was the last video store in town. In Solon, after 50 years Rinaldi Jewelry shutting down by February 2017. Leader Furniture, in Over-the-Rhine, shutting down after 131 years of retail sales. In Cincinnati, California based clothier GAP shutting down two locations by the end of January 2017, due to 3rd quarter profits falling by 12%. Also in Cincinnati, entertainment retailer FYE shutting down an undisclosed location, the owner of FYE (TransWorldEntertainment) lost $8-million in its 3rd quarter! In Heath, another FYE shutting down anytime between Xmas and February 2017, the manager of that FYE blames it on disappearing customers. Also in Heath, haircutter Master Cuts shutdown: “The closing is due to the lack of traffic, that would be the best way to put it. Not enough business. Nobody even knows we’re here! We have a lot of regulars, but people walk in and say: ‘I didn’t even know you were here.’ “-Jonni Jackson, manager
Oregon: Fire fighting helicopter contractor Erickson now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Erickson admin told the court they’re trying to save 7-hundred jobs country-wide. In Corvalis, after 31 years Gracewinds Music shutting down, two of the co-owners want to retire and the third wants more time with his family.
Pennsylvania: Environmental Reclamation Services eliminating 30 jobs in Erie two days after Xmas. In Fort Washington, Too Big to Jail Ocwen Financial eliminating 54 jobs between now and after Xmas. California based jeweler Shreve & Company shutting down their Portland store due to lack of sales. And Macy’s revealed it sold-off its iconic Portland store, which should shutdown after Xmas. Local news reports say Macy’s made a profit of $36-million off the sale. In Pottstown, after 103 years Kiss Cycles shutting down days before Xmas. The owner esentially said he’s tired of working: “I’m going to be 64 and I want to ride a motorcycle, and I never get to do it. I push them around in here all the time, but never seem to have the time to get out there myself.”-Randy Kiss
South Dakota: In Rapid City, after 45 years the Black Hills Total Sleep Center shutting down so the 70 years old owner can retire (at the insistance of his wife). In Britton, after 115 years Lee & Hanson Men’s Wear shutting down after Xmas.
Tennessee: After 37 years Jonesborough’s Art Glass Gallery shutdown its brick-n-mortar store, custom glass work can still be ordered.
Texas: Richardson based clothier Fossil blames its huge increase in internet sales for its decision to shutdown hundreds of its brick-n-mortar stores over the next few years! In Houston, iconic used boot seller Texas Junk Company being forced to vacate the property due to a lawsuit. Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples shutting down their Brownwood store in January 2017. Austin based ‘outdoors’ clothier Backwoods now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Company administrators blame “changing shopping trends and consumer behavior, competitive pressures from both online and big-box retailers”. It must be noted that Backwoods has a retail website. The CEO hinted that the real reason for their bankruptcy could be the skyrocketing costs of leasing and operating brick-n-mortar stores which in turn is putting Backwoods into deeper debt. In Beaumont, Mirror Shine and Shoe Repair shutting down due to lack of people who need shoe shines or repairs, the owner saying “I’m going to lay at home for a while”.
Virginia: In Richmond, 83 years old pawn shop Friedman’s Loan Office shutdown, the building is for sale. In Falls Church, after 28 years Economy Party Supplies & Costumes shutdown. Temp employment company Excel Management Service now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming a lawsuit by one of their biggest financiers. In Glen Alen, Stevens Jewelers shutting down after 23 years. After 141 years H.W. Rountree’s Luggage shutting down their Henrico store the day before Xmas: “Our sales have been dropping, plus we have competition with all the luggage manufacturers that have their own websites. They sell direct to consumers and ship free.”-William A. King, owner
Washington: In Bellingham, after 38 years Gary’s Men’s & Women’s Wear shutdown. Local news media say it was the eighth local clothing shop to shutdown.
Wisconsin: The oldest piano seller (and once a piano maker) in The Badger State, 131 years old Netzow’s Piano & Music Plus, shutting down when the inventory is gone. In Durand, 112 years old Wolf’s Ladies Fashions & Shoes shutting down before Xmas, the owner lamenting “The ‘little guy’ is a dying breed unfortunately.” In Onalaska, after 18 years Treehouse Gift and Home shutting down the day before Xmas, the owners are selling everything, including the building.
U.S. government shenanigans November 2016: “THOSE HALCYON DAYS ARE OVER”
Retail/Banking/Service sector October 2016: “THERE’S NO MORE RETAIL…” TRUMP & CLINTON KILL 3,074 JOBS!
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.
I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”