Tag Archives: sears

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Updated list of more Kmart and Sears closings! Former Sears, now a Kmart, to close in Illinois!

08 November 2012, just hours after I posted and updated closing list, yet another Kmart was revealed to be closing!

It’s a Kmart in Homer Glen, Illinois.  The store originally was a Sears, but was remodeled and turned into a Kmart just last year!

The 82 employees were told on 07 November that they were losing their jobs in late January 2013.

Here’s the updated list, with the Illinois addition.  Also, a Sears scheduled to close in Kentucky is now under independent ownership and is having a grand re-opening this month!

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

California:   El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”), two San Diego Sears (at least 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost).

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost).

Georgia: 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).

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost),  Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost),  Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway to be closed by 03 February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Idaho: Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost).

Indiana:  Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

Illinois:  Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), and the newly revealed Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost).

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost).

Kansas: Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost).

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart (back in May, Rankin Paynter bought out what was left of the inventory and gave it to charity), Hazard Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

Maine: Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost).

Maryland: Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost).

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost).

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost).

New Jersey:  Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost).

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost).   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.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center) .

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (approximately 50 jobs lost).

Tennessee: Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost).

Texas: Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost).

Virginia: Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost),  Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost).

Washington: 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).

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost).

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

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

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

Florida: West Oaks Mall

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

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

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

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Updated list of more Kmart and Sears closings! Sears Canada to focus on consumers’ “wants” and not “needs”. Kmart stores in North Carolina & Australia going down!

08 November 2012, the closing of Kmarts and Sears continues.  This time it includes a store in Australia!

The Kmart store in Katoomba, Australia, is being replaced with a Woolworths.  This comes after the Australian owned Kmart reported increased sales (Kmarts in Australia and New Zealand are not owned by the U.S. based Sears Holdings).

In Canada, Sears is spending money trying to rebuild its image through an advertising campaign.  Officials admitted that Sears doesn’t satisfy ‘needs’, and they will focus on ‘wants’ in their adds: “We sell more wants than needs. What ‘wants’ deliver is inspiration and emotion, happiness, and that was really the emotion we focused on for our brand and tag line.”-Calvin McDonald, Sears Canada CEO

The problem is that in bad economies your average working class consumer must ignore ‘wants’ and are forced to focus on ‘needs’.

U.S. based Sears Holdings announced they will release third quarter earnings on 15 November 2012.

Here’s the updated list, with the North Carolina addition.

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

California:   El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”), two San Diego Sears (at least 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost).

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost).

Georgia: 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).

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost),  Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost),  Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway to be closed by 03 February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost).

Idaho: Lewiston Sears (at least 60 jobs lost).

Indiana:  Anderson Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint John Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Indianapolis Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

Illinois:  Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost).

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Davenport Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Burlington Kmart (50 jobs lost).

Kansas: Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost).

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, and the newly revealed Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost).

New Jersey:  Lawnside Kmart.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost), Trotwood Kmart (71 jobs lost).   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.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears, Tualatin Kmart.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears, Orangeburg Sears (approximately 50 jobs lost).

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, Morristown Sears Full line.

Texas: Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost).

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart, Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost).

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart, Kelso Sears, Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost), Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

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

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

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

Florida: West Oaks Mall

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

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

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

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Don’t forget to add the Sears stores bought by GGP to the closing list. All part of REIT plan to change the way you shop, and they blame you the shopper!

“….those with high occupancies, solvent anchor tenants, good population density and access to affluent shoppers, as stable, low-risk, income-producing assets and will pay up for them today. Poor quality malls, on the other hand, are either not trading or selling at a steep discount, and perhaps are scheduled for demolition or conversion.”-Ryan McCullough, Property and Portfolio Research

21 October 2012

Back in February 2012, it was announced that General Growth Properties (the largest mall owner in the U.S., and also struggling) bought eleven Sears owned and leased anchor stores at various GGP malls throughout the United States.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, the overwhelming majority of the $270 million USD paid for those 11 Sears stores, is going towards just one store at the GGP mall in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Even though the Hawaii Sears store was the jewel of the deal, GGP wants to shut it down: “General Growth intends to eventually raze the store and build in its place several smaller shops, which deliver more rent in aggregate than department stores.”-Wall Street Journal, 23 February 2012

Other reports say all 11 Sears stores bought by GGP will be closed by the end of 2013: “The stores will continue to operate as Sears locations into 2013 with final closing dates to be determined and announced later this year.”-RetailTraffic, 23 February 2012

So the purchase of Sears owned and leased anchor stores, by GGP, was not an effort to save those stores, but part of bigger plan to shut down big department stores (except for WalMart of course).

According to a 03 October 2012 article by CoStar Group (a commercial real estate information company), what’s happening with Sears and Kmart is part of a much bigger plan to drastically change up shopping malls and plazas in the United States: “I don’t think we’re overbuilt, I think we’re under-demolished……there are projects that are not going to lease. Retail has a finite lifespan and once you reach that lifespan, you can put up all the signs you want, and charge as low rent as you want, but that doesn’t make tenants want to take the space.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp (formerly Developers Diversified Realty Corporation)

Big corporate retail property owners are also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), for tax reasons.  GGP, as are other mall/plaza owners, is a REIT.

According to the CoStar article, REITs claim that traditional malls/plazas/stores only do well in areas with high population and a relatively high level of income for the people who live there.  Does that leaves most of Idaho out?

Foothills Plaza, Pocatello, Idaho. What'll happen when the WinCo moves from here to their new location in the Alameda Plaza?

GGP owns malls in Idaho Falls, Chubbuck, Boise and Coeur D Alene, plus Alameda Plaza (aka Old Fred Meyer store) in Pocatello (some hope there is that it’s now the site of the new bigger WinCo store).  Boise might be the only area of Idaho that meets REIT description of a successful commercial area; Boise is a “lifestyle & power center”.

pine ridge mall

Fading Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho. Some hope, this anchor store is the new home to upscale Herbergers (never heard of them).

According to CoStar Group data, regional malls, power centers and community center properties averaged a vacancy rate of 50.6%!  But the bigger malls did not enjoy less vacancy; super-regional malls averaged 54.5% vacancy!

The problem, according to most vulture REIT crony capitalists is location, location, location.  Most retail operations are now located in parts of the country where personal incomes are down, hence shopping is down (in a round-a-bout way the vulture capitalists are blaming you the shopper, never mind the fact that vulture crony capitalism is what’s causing most people to lose jobs or see their incomes go down).

“When you have tenants looking for space and nothing new being built, and we’re sitting at mid-90% occupancy levels, it’s hard to argue we’re overbuilt when they’re scrambling to find 10,000 square feet.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp

What Hurwitz is saying is that there’s plenty of empty stores for rent, but retail tenants don’t like what is available.  Those potential tenants are basing their preferences on what they perceive to be what shoppers want.

To make matters worse, the closing down of Sears, Kmart, The Gap and Office Max stores will add another 15 million square feet of available store space to the flooded commercial real estate market!

Moody’s Investors Service pointed out that malls located in lifestyle & power centers continue to make profits, while malls outside those areas are losing money and will continue to lose money. Also, it’s probably not worth trying to rebuild those malls located outside of lifestyle & power centers: “Renovating or reconfiguring an underperforming mall may cost many millions……What’s more, should the location lose its viability for retail altogether, the value to revert to land less demolition cost will produce an even greater loss.”-Tad Philipp, Moody’s

In other words, these vulture REIT crony capitalists don’t think things are going to improve for areas outside the lifestyle & power centers anytime soon.

As I quoted Ryan McCullough at the beginning of this article,  new retail businesses need to be located where there’s a lot of people, and those people have high levels of income.    So what we’re seeing, with the closing down of many iconic U.S. retail businesses, is part of the bigger plan of those Mitt Romney style vulture crony capitalists who are simply, in their minds, following the big revenue money from the big income consumer (rich people living in those lifestyle & power centers).

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? More Sears mall leases not being renewed, more Kmart leases allowed to expire!

“We made a decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

19 October 2012, as I warned, Sears/Kmart continues to close stores simply by not renewing their leases.

Residents of Kelso, Washington, learned on 17 October that the Sears in their local mall is going away in January.

Kelso’s Three Rivers Mall isn’t doing so well anyway, but dedicated mall walkers are upset by the Sears announcement: “We’re worried about foot traffic going down…..I just worry that we won’t be here in a few years.”-unnamed store manager

The owners of the mall said they knew about the Sears closing before the official announcement: “The Sears closure is something we anticipated some time ago and as a result are working with a number of exciting retailers…”-Rouse Properties statement

Pennsylvania is learning of another Sears closing.  On 17 October the local media revealed that the Sears at Penn Center East, in Wilkins, will not renew its lease, resulting in 135 people losing their jobs by January 2013.  Wilkins Township commissioners swear a new WalMart will take its place.

In Virginia, the new owners of the Liberty Fair Mall announced they will allow a “homegrown” store to fill the void left by the outgoing Sears.  I worked for mall owners J Price Realty before the Pine Ridge Mall (in Chubbuck, Idaho) was sold to General Growth Properties (and they contracted out almost all our jobs), and one policy was that the big ‘anchor’ stores had to be national chain stores.  So, for a mall owner to allow a “homegrown” local shop in as an anchor store is a sign of trouble.

I’ve seen it here at the Pine Ridge Mall, when General Growth Properties (who actually had a policy that all the stores in the mall had to be national chain stores) went back on their own policy, stopping their ‘eviction’ of local stores (they were evicting local mom & pop stores by jacking up rents to astronomical levels, I saw the official corporate order from Chicago which had been left in plain view on the mall office copy machine) and even allowed local stores to temporarily occupy the empty Macy’s anchor store.

To try and raise money, Sears has spunoff its Sears Hometown, and Outlet Stores as separately traded stocks.  The move made Sears Holdings (aka Hoffman Estates) $446.5 million USD, according to the Washington Post.   Yet store closings continue.

In another move to try and generate revenue, Sears and General Electric signed a deal to sell GE’s Brillion Connected Home Solutions products.  (yet another connection to the too Big to Fails, three former GE execs just got sent to prison for ripping off U.S. taxpayers)

On 18 October, residents of Freeport, Illinois, learned that Kmart will go away in January 2013: “We made a business decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

Notice the above statement from Brathwaite is the very same statement made concerning the Three Rivers Mall in Washington!  Like I keep saying; what economic recovery? “It’s just an indication that we haven’t gotten to that point in terms of economic recovery that there is consumer confidence and people are willing to go out and spend…”-David Young, Northwest Illinois Development Alliance

Brathwaite made the very same announcement concerning the Pontiac, Illinois, Kmart on 13 October:  “We made the announcement to Pontiac associates on Wednesday.  It was a business decision to not renew our lease.”    (it’s now obvious this Brathwaite is a robot, cause he says the same thing at every announced closing, just insert name of town and how many people will lose their jobs)

In California, the Kmart in the DVC Plaza in Pleasant Hill (near Oakland) will close after 40 years in business.  The lease will not be renewed, more than 50 employees will be laid off.

In Colorado, about 52 employees will be out of work after the lease expires for the Kmart at Pueblos’ South Side.  The store has been there since 1974.

74 Kmart employees just learned they will be unemployed by January 2013, because the lease for the Cartersville, Georgia, store was not renewed.

52 people will lose their jobs when the Woodhaven, Michigan, Kmart closes on 13 January 2012.

In New Jersey, about 80 people will be unemployed when the Lawnside Kmart closes in January.  The same announcement came from Sears Holdings, but actually from a different person: “The lease is not being renewed at that location.”-Kim Freely, Sears holdings

It seems the owners of Sears/Kmart (Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates/and don’t forget the Mitt Romney/Bain Capital/Carlyle group connection) are shifting Kmart’s focus to female Spanish speaking customers.  On 18 October it was published that Hoffman Estates will pick five Latinas for a 10 week paid internship at their Illinois headquarters. It’s called the Latina Smart program.

Here’s an updated list of Sears/Kmart closings:

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart, Mobile Sears Grand/Essentials, Auburn Kmart.

California:   El Monte Sears Grand/Essentials, two San Diego Sears Grand/Essentials, recently revealed Pleasant Hill Kmart.

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart, Glenwood Springs Kmart, Lone Tree Sears Great Indoors, Longmont Sears, recently revealed Pueblos’ South Side Kmart.

Georgia: Macon Sears, Buford Kmart, Douglasville Kmart, Atlanta Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Jonesboro Kmart, recently revealed Cartersville Kmart.

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart, Callaway Kmart, Orange City Kmart,  Deland Sears Grand/Essentials, Stuart Sears Grand/Essentials, West Palm Beach Sears Grand/Essentials, Port St. Lucie Sears Grand/Essentials, Crystal River Sears, New Smyrna Beach Kmart, St. Augustine Kmart, Pompano Beach Kmart, and recently revealed Jacksonville Kmart.

Idaho: Lewiston Sears.

sears chubbuck
Floundering Sears at the GGP owned Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck, Idaho.
Kmart Pocatello
Floundering Big Kmart in Pocatello, Idaho. Are they next to go in Idaho?

Indiana:  Anderson Sears Full Line, Saint John Kmart, Indianapolis Kmart.

Illinois: Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center, and recently revealed Freeport and Pontiac Kmarts.

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart, Davenport Kmart, Burlington Kmart.

Kansas: Lawrence Sears Full Line.

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, recently revealed Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears Full line, Moorehead Sears Full line, Rocky Mount Sears Full line, Statesville Sears Full line.

New Jersey: Recently revealed Lawnside Kmart.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears Full line.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, and recently revealed Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears Full line.

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, Morristown Sears Full line.

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart.

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart, and recently revealed Kelso Sears.

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

Don’t forget, this is the 2012 known list of closings, there were closings in 2011 and 2010 as well, and they’ll be more for 2013.

Side note: it seems Sara Palin likes shopping at Kmart.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? 8 Kmart stores closing down, 174 and counting! 13,920 people lose their jobs!

On 29 June 2012, Sears Holdings released their latest list of store closings, this time they’re all Kmart stores.

Two Kmarts in Florida, and two Kmarts in Georgia will be shut down. The other four Kmarts are located in Iowa, Virginia, Minnesota and Tennessee.

Sears Holdings pointed out that each store employs between 40 and 80 people, so this latest round of closings could result in as many as 640 people losing their jobs.

Since the beginning of 2010 Sears Holdings has closed and/or announced the closing of at least 174 stores (going by Sears Holdings estimations that could be as many as 13,920 people who lost their jobs), and more closings are planned.  The store names are Kmart, Sears, Sears Grand/Essentials, Product Repair and The Great Indoors.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Sears to sell off Canadian operations!

31 May 2012, Sears Holdings announced that it will sell off a portion of its Sears Canada operations.  Currently Sears Holdings controls 95% of Sears Canada.

Sears Holdings said it “…will retain approximately 51% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Sears Canada.”  So they are willing to let go of 49% control of Sears Canada in order to raise cash, however, Sears Holdings states they reserve “…the right not to complete the spin-off …”.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho’s Coldwater Creek loses a VP, Judge tells former employee to expect more prison time, makes store closings watch list

A 1st District Judge in Idaho, has refused to accept terms of a plea agreement.

The case involves a former executive assistant at Coldwater Creek.  She pled guilty in exchange for paying $251,943 in restitution, a suspended three to 10 year prison sentence, and 90 days in county jail.

She is accused of racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent personal expenses at Coldwater Creek, and taking money from a non-profit group involved in education.

The judge said he didn’t like the 90 day county jail time deal, because there are other cases of fraud, in Idaho, in which the defendants took much less money, and spent much more time in county jail, after making a plea deal.

Also, Overstock.com has hired away Coldwater Creek’s vice president of marketing.

Timothy Dilworth worked for Coldwater Creek since 2000.  But is Overstock.com getting a good executive?  After all, hasn’t Coldwater Creek been losing sales for the past several years?

According to Internet Retailer, out of the top 500 U.S. retail companies Coldwater Creek ranks 93rd (not to bad, if that’s 93rd from the top).

Towards the end of March, Coldwater Creek stocks led a small rally in the retail sector. This was due to a smaller net loss than expected.  However, their sales were less than expected as well.  Coldwater Creek stock is now trading for just over one dollar per share.

A Florida based group called Turnaround Management Association, listed Coldwater Creek as one of dozens of troubled U.S. retailers to watch for store closings, right along with Sears.

Turnaround Management Association specializes in distressed debt, liquidations and bankruptcy proceedings concerning retail companies.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Sears Kmart Store Closings update; Illinois hit hardest

On February 23, 2012, Sears Holdings released the latest list of Sears and Kmart store closings.

15 stores have been added to the 79 previously announced. The latest announcement has one Kmart closing in Maryland, one closing in New Jersey and one in South Carolina.

Also, a combination of Sears/Kmarts will be closed in the following states: Two in Ohio, two in Minnesota, three in Florida and five in Illinois.

Sears Holdings lost $3.1 billion in 2011.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Sears to sell off stores to GGP. GGP owns most of the malls in Idaho. Sears loses $3 billion in 2011

On February 23, 2012, Sears Holdings announced that they will sell off eleven stores to major mall owner General Growth Properties (GGP).

sears chubbuck

Sears at the struggling Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck, Idaho

GGP owns most of the malls in Idaho (Idaho Falls, Boise, Chubbuck and Coeur D’Alene), and they have Sears stores, but, none of the eleven to be sold off are in Idaho.  This means that it’s possible they might make the next round of closings.

The eleven stores to be sold to GGP (for a total of $270 million, to be finalized in April 2012) include one in Hawaii, two in Utah, two in Iowa, one in Washington, one in Texas, one in Illinois, one in Oklahoma, one in Florida and one in Michigan.

Also on February 23, Sears Holdings reported a net loss of $3.1 billion for the year 2011!

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery, Corporate Lies & Proof Class War being waged against Working Class: Sears laysoff 100 employees, after taking $150 million tax break, more layoffs to come

February 16, 2012, Sears announced layoffs of 100 of its employees at its Illinois headquarters.  Some Illinois politicians say the state was blackmailed into giving Sears a $150 million tax break, and that even more Sears layoffs are in the works.

Sears told Illinois lawmakers that if it didn’t get the tax break it would move its headquarters out of state.  The implication was that if Illinois didn’t want a lot more unemployed people they better do what Sears wants.  Well, Illinois is getting more unemployed anyway!

And here’s how even more people will be laid off.  The tax break requires Sears to maintain 4,250 employees at its headquarters (aka Hoffman Estates).  Yet, even with the 100 announced layoffs, Sears has more than 6,100 employees at the site.  That means close to 2,000 people could still lose their jobs as part of the $150 million tax break!