Tag Archives: wall street

U.S.

U.S. Police State: Federal court rules NSA data spying to be illegal, but gives Congress the final say!!!

07 May 2015 (10:26 UTC-07 Tango 01)/17 Ordibehesht 1394/18 Rajab 1436/19 Xin Si (3rd month) 4713

“This appeal concerns the legality of the bulk telephone metadata collection program (the “telephone metadata program”), under which the National Security Agency (“NSA”) collects in bulk “on an ongoing daily basis” the metadata associated with telephone calls made by and to Americans… ….we find that the program exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized…“-GERARD E. LYNCH, Circuit Judge

“…our decision is based on our reading of a federal statute, not the Constitution, Congress can in effect overrule it.”-ROBERT D. SACK, Circuit Judge

Utah’s Low Level Voice Intercept

Utah not only home to massive NSA data centers, but to massive military intelligence wargames aimed at you

Is Utah based and privately held Mormon home security company Vivint part of the NSA?

Federal judge says NSA data collection “Orewellian”

Fukushima NSA coverup? 

China & United Nations uses U.S. NSA spying ops

Germany says Obama & Bush fully aware of NSA ops!

Five Eyes: British empire controls U.S. NSA

NSA ADMITS IT IS CONTROLLED BY ISRAEL?

G20 Wants new global tax & NSA spying

Putin says Obama regime a bunch of morons when it comes to NSA

Think your smartphone data is secure?

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 26 – 27 March 2015: “all options exhausted…we are left with no alternative” 2-thousand+ jobs lost in The Empire State! Money making & bailed-out banks kill jobs!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama: US Steel announced it will kill off 1-thousand 8-hundred jobs in The Yellowhammer State!  Company administrators blamed a plethora of reasons, including low steel prices and low oil prices.

California: In Hawthorne, Schencker issued a WARN saying 29 people will be laid off in May.  In Los Gatos, video game maker Cryptic Studios revealed they laid off 27 people without warning.  In Pico Rivera, Greatwide Distribution Logistics issued a layoff WARN saying 156 people will become jobless by the end of May!   Dex Media finally admitted they shutdown their Los Alamitos ops and laid off 49 people, back in February!  In Redwood City, The Perfect World laid off 31 people.  In Pacoima, Brice Manufacturing issued a layoff WARN saying 19 people will be let go in May.

Florida:  In Weston, American Express issued a layoff WARN saying 21 people will be laid off in May.  In Tampa, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase issued a WARN saying 65 people will be laid off in May.

Illinois: US Steel has upped its Prairie State job killing to 2-thousand! In Lansing, after more than 90 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) De Jong Brothers Farm shutdown. The spinach farmers blamed ever increasing operating costs, especially those created artificially by new federal regulations (Food Safety Modernization Act), 30 jobs lost.

Iowa: In Des Moines, the owners of the 27 years old food store New City Market announced they will shutdown by the end of April: “A lot of it has to do with the business climate.”-Jim Raife

Maine: In Ellsworth, the Coffee Express shutdown, the owner refused to talk to local news media.

Massachusetts: Mitt Romney co-created, Framingham based Staples announced they will kill off 2-hundred jobs in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan!  Staples is shutting down their Regina call center by November.

Minnesota: What housing market recovery?  In Morris, the owners of Cullen’s Home Center announced they are shutting down in April: “It’s just a number of different factors and we feel terrible about it, obviously it was the last thing we wanted to do…”-John Cullen

Montana: Platinum miner Stillwater Mining announced they will shutdown their Billings office by summer.

New Jersey: The Paterson Board of Education has decided it will not jack up taxes on the impoverished taxpayers, but it means 363 school employees will become jobless next school year!

New York: In Lake Placid, after 90 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) another iconic Howard Johnson’s restaurant shutdown. It was one of only three left in the United States. The owner sold the property.   Corning Community College shutdown its 30 years old child care center.  What housing market recovery?  In Rochester, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their mortgage ops in June, 390 jobs lost!   Pioneer Transportation issued a mass layoff WARN saying 991 transportation jobs will be lost, throughout three cities, by June!  In Bronx, Hoyt Transportation issued a shutdown WARN saying 349 people will become jobless in June!  In Long Island, Arrow Electronics announced they are taking part in the exodus from The Empire State, and will move 150 jobs to Colorado!  Arrow Electronics was once the largest employer in Long Island.

North Carolina: After 60 years Mohican Mills shutdown, 157 textile jobs lost!  In 2012 the company was voted Industry of the Year and employed more than 3-hundred people. The textile factory is now for sale: “We are truly sad that this action has to be taken but with all options exhausted to continue in business we are left with no alternative but to close.”-Steven Myers

Ohio: Republic Steel announced it will layoff 2-hundred people at their Lorain operations, blaming “declining conditions in the oil and gas markets as well as the reduced demand”.   The layoffs are rumored to begin at the end of the month.

Oklahoma: IPSCO Tubulars laid off 226 people, blaming “the low commodity price environment”!  Samson Resource laying off 270 people, blaming low oil prices and huge debt!

Oregon: In Portland, after 15 years the Red & Black Cafe shutdown. The owners were known to refuse service to cops. Their reason for shutting down was unclear, as they said they were just being responsible business owners.

Pennsylvania: The Express-Times newspaper announced they laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

Texas: In Amarillo, Too Big to Jail American International Group (AIG) laid off 20 people, this after getting a $1-million USD Amarillo Economic Development grant to create 120 jobs!  Administrators for AIG claim they haven’t touched that free money.  AIG also reported $7.5-billion in revenue for 2014, and don’t forget the $182-billion bailout given to AIG in 2008!

Wisconsin:  After 46 years DeLind’s Gallery of Fine Art shutting down just as soon as their inventory is sold off.

24 – 25 March 2015: “we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 24 – 25 March 2015: “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control” Warren Buffet kills jobs in Texas! “we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan.”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Arkansas:  World Gym announced it is shutting down three gyms in The Natural State.  An official company statement mentioned two; “Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control we have been forced to close our Bentonville and Lowell World Gym locations.”  However, news reports say at least one other gym is being shutdown, and that the franchise owners claim they cannot afford to renew the leases.  Gym members are reporting they are not being allowed to cancel their memberships without paying penalties!

California: Technicolor issued a mass layoff WARN saying 162 people will become jobless in May!  Apparently Technicolor is also laying off people in London, England.  In Los Angeles, The Patina Group issued a temporary shutdown WARN, saying 75 people will become unemployed in June.

Connecticut: In Stafford Springs, 207 years old (surviving numerous depressions and recessions) Bakers Country Furniture shutdown.

Florida: In Orlando, apparently Aircraft Service International lost their Disney Magical Express contract, 204 jobs lost by May!

Iowa: In Davenport, a decades old Godfather’s Pizza shutdown: “The lease is up and for the amount of revenue it brings, it is not feasible to stay.”-Andy Fuhrman, co-owner

Massachusetts: Facing less funding, due to Disappearing Student Syndrome, Marshfield will eliminate seven elementary school jobs for the next school year.  In Charlton, Masonic Health System-Overlook Life Care Community laid off nine employees and cut the hours for eight others.

New Jersey: The Trenton School District says it must eliminate 226 jobs, and will shutdown schools due to a $19-million shortfall! But wait there’s more, previous announcements said a total of 350 jobs could be lost, once the state government puts out its final funding numbers for the 2015-16 school year! (and those layoffs are for just one of many school districts!)   State imposed emergency financial managers warned of massive layoffs for the crashing and burning Atlantic City.  It’s blamed on last year’s implosion of the city’s mega casino industry.   And what housing market recovery?  Atlantic City reports that property values have crashed 35% since last year!  Japan based legal drugs maker Daiichi Sankyo announced they will eliminate 16% of its U.S. workforce in Parsippany.

New York:  In NYC, Homes for the Homeless issued a shutdown WARN saying 34 people will become jobless in June.  In Garden City, Visiting Nurses Association of Long Island issued a shutdown WARN saying 93 people will be jobless by June.  In Brooklyn, Jofaz Transportation issued a shutdown WARN, due to loss of contract, saying 341 people will become jobless in June!  3rd Avenue Transit issued a shutdown WARN, due to loss of contract, saying 60 people will become jobless by June.  In Syracuse, Carrier Corporation issued a shutdown WARN for its warehouse, due to “relocation”, saying at least 58 people will become jobless by March 2016.  In Rochelle, after 65 years the Merry Go Round Toy Discount Center shutdown.  The owner said he tried to sell the business “but nothing panned out.”

North Carolina: British empire legal drugs pusher GlaxoSmithKline continues to kill jobs, this time 180 people in The Tar Heel State will become jobless!  Just the week prior GlaxoSmithKline said they would eliminate 150 jobs in Pennsylvania!

Ohio: Columbus based steel maker Worthington Industries says they will layoff 555 people across the U.S.!  They are shutting down at least one factory, blaming crashing orders from the oil industry.  American Electric Power is shutting down a coal fired electric plant, and laying off 62 people by May.  Administrators say it’s not worth it to update the electricity factory to comply with new EPA standards.

Pennsylvania: In Reading, British empire Canada based Surgical Specialties announced it will shutdown its ops in The Keystone State by December, at least 254 jobs will be moved to Mexico (possibly to avoid the new Obama Care taxes on medical devices)!  The Old Navy store at Carlisle Crossing shutdown, almost overnight!  Local news reports say the store manager posted a closing sign only two days prior to the shutdown.

South Carolina: Aircraft maintainer AvCraft now bankrupt after losing its ass financially and unable to find a buyer: “Unfortunately, we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan. We weren’t able to make that happen, so we were forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.”-Mike Hill

South Dakota: Motorcycle Trike maker Champion Investments-Champion Trikes announced they are shutting down their Lehman Trikes factory in Spearfish.  Company administrators admitted the economy is so bad in the U.S. that they’re moving manufacturing to California, and will focus sales ops in Asian countries!

Tennessee: Texas based computer maker Dell announced it will shutdown its international call center in Nashville, 96 jobs lost.

Texas:  Fort Worth based tax-sucking Bell Helicopter announced it will layoff 315 people across the U.S., due to crashing V-22 Osprey orders!  Bell laid off 320 people back in October!  Warren Buffet owned Justin Brands announced they will shutdown their Western Clothing distribution center in Fort Worth, and layoff 68 people by May.

Wisconsin: What housing market recovery?  Too Big to Jail Wells Fargo will layoff 1-thousand people when they shutdown their Milwaukee home loan service center this summer!   And Wells Fargo reported a $23.1-billion USD profit last year!  Rollcast-Advance Die Cast Company issued a WARN saying 75 people will ‘soon’ become jobless.  Sand supplier Chippewa Sand Transport says they must layoff 55 people, by May, due to decreased demand for sand.

21 – 23 March 2015: “LIKE PART OF YOU IS DYING.”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics, Idaho

More Economic Decline: One final look at the Idaho Postal Processing Center most east Idahoans didn’t even know about!

The following pics were taken on 16-17 April 2015, the official last days of the Gateway Processing Center in southeastern Idaho, but do not show all the operations that took place.  (click pics to make bigger)

The United States Postal Service does not make money off taxpayers, they are solely funded by the postage they charge.  The U.S. Congress controls what the USPS can charge, and, according to testimonies by the U.S. postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, and Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the U.S. Congress has forced the USPS to over pay into several federal funds.

EAST IDAHO MAIL HANDLERS ‘INVOLUNTARILY’ ESCAPE

Salt Lake Letter Processing Center unable to handle all of east Idaho’s letter mail

MORE ECONOMIC DECLINE: CONFUSION REIGNS OVER EAST IDAHO POSTAL PROCESSING CENTER SHUTDOWN!

MORE ECONOMIC DECLINE: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT CONFIRMING SHUTDOWN OF EAST IDAHO’S ONLY POSTAL PROCESSING CENTER?

MORE ECONOMIC DECLINE: EAST IDAHOANS OBLIVIOUS TO SHUTDOWN OF THEIR ONLY POSTAL PROCESSING CENTER!

First announced in 2011: SURPRISE POSTAL SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT, WILL CLOSE DISTRIBUTION CENTERS NOT MENTIONED ON PUBLIC POST OFFICE CLOSING LIST. POCTELLO, IDAHO, TARGETED

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 21 – 23 March 2015: “After 30 years…we can’t do it any longer.” “Like part of you is dying.”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama:  In Birmingham, the Bottletree Cafe shutdown, reports say the property was sold, the owners said only “We have ten days left.”

Arkansas: Shale oil company M&M Environmental Group (notice the Orwellian Double Speak name of the oil company) lost a contract and instantly laid off 2-hundred employees!

California: Albertsons-Safeway issued a layoff WARN, saying another 72 people will be laid off in Pleasanton.  The new Los Angeles based owners of former British empire grocery store Fresh & Easy announced they will shutdown 50 Fresh & Easy stores across The Golden State, Arizona and Nevada!

Connecticut: In West Haven, decades old American Steakhouse shutdown. The owners say they have to “downsize” and claim they’re helping their employees find new jobs.

Hawaii:  After 22 years Imperial Jewelers shutdown, apparently to make room for a restaurant.

Massachusetts: Boston Weak ‘streetwear’ clothing company Karmaloop now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.

Minnesota: Minneapolis Public Schools announced they will eliminate 120 tax-sucking administrative jobs!  Administrators implied the money saved will now be focused on actual education.  Bloomington based tech company Nerdey laid off 23 employees.  In a complex way administrators blamed the bad economy: “Technology moves fast, forcing market demand to fluctuate. This fluctuation coupled with the pace of change in our industry has driven a shift on our resource utilization.”  

New Jersey: After 34 years the massive and expensive Izod Center is officially dead, 1-thousand 7-hundred jobs lost! “Like part of you is dying.”-Veronica Jackson, employee

New York: In Bronx, HHH Home Care apparently lost its Home health Care Services contract and issued a WARN, saying 72 people will become unemployed at the end of June.  In Syracuse, General Super Plating laid off about 1-hundred people, without notice!   Basically all but one of the company’s laborers were let go, yet company administrators say they’re still open for business.  God refuses to stop his 156 years old Saint Patrick School in Tiago County from shutting down. Administrators say enrollment has crashed & burned, they were able to get only 58 students for the year.

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, the owners of 518 West Italian Cafe said Easter Sunday is their last day of business. It sounds like they’re going to sell the property.

Ohio:  USA Synthetic Fuel now bankrupt busted, halting the Lima Energy Project.  The company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pennsylvania: In Collegeville, aerospace company Transicoil announced it will layoff at least 99 people by summer, as they shift motion control production to Kansas.  In Petersburg, legal drugs maker UniTao Pharmaceuticals shutdown without notice. Administrators actually said they won’t re-open until “business conditions improve”!  In 2014, govn’a Terry McAuliffe claimed the drugs maker was going to employ 370 people and even gave UniTao  $1-million in free taxpayer funded money!  UniTao now says it won’t accept the money.

South Dakota: In Tea, Oggie’s Grille & Bar shutdown.

Texas: In Hutchins, the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center warned it no longer has enough money to save wild birds: “After 30 years of absorption we can’t do it any longer.”-Kathy Rogers

19 – 20 March 2015: “the downturn ….will be severe”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

SEARS & KMART CLOSING UPDATE, 01 May 2015: Right to Work you over Governor fails to pay his Sears debt? Lampert creates another REIT, to self finance Sears! Bootlegged shoes at Kmart? Long time customer leaves her own ‘Blue Light Special’! More shutdowns!

Police report that a female Kmart shopper decided to leave her own ‘blue light special’ by doin’ a dump right in a Racine Kmart’s box of security tags.  The Wisconsin woman has been accused of crapping and pissing in a box next to a cash register.   The woman was returning merchandise, so maybe she was upset by the lack of customer service?  She denied she did it, but police have security camera video of her doing her duty.

Maybe she was upset by her Right to Work you over governor, Scott Walker, for failing to pay his Sears credit card debt?  The Daily Beast says Walker owes Sears MasterCard $50-thousand USD.  The report says that at the end of 2014, Walker still owed as much as $100-thousand to credit cards.  This by a governor that claims he gives back $370-thousand of his ill-gotten money to the impoverished people of Wisconsin!  Walker’s Our American Revival Political Action Committee says Walker’s personal fiances are “pretty ordinary stuff.”

In Illinois, the Tinley Park Super Kmart is being switched to the smaller format K-Fresh plan, which means fewer product, fewer hours of operations and fewer employees.   Sears Holdings is almost finished converting all the remaining Super Kmarts to the smaller K-Fresh format.

In Kentucky, an abandoned Newport Kmart is reportedly being replaced with a ALDI grocery store.  Nothing has been confirmed.

Complex Media reporting that Kmart is selling ‘bootlegs’ of luxury brand shoes.

Sears Holdings announced they will “reward” you for buying your drugs at the local Kmart: “We listened to our members and transformed the Kmart pharmacy rewards program to better fit their needs…”

In Oklahoma, a Big Kmart will shutdown in July.

In Connecticut, a Sears Appliance & Hardware will shutdown in May.  Local news reports said employees were shocked.  Apparently the lease was not renewed.

Eddie Lampert just can’t stop playing the finance shell game.  He’s created yet another real estate ‘holding’ company to self finance his failing Sears Holdings.  The new REIT is a 50-50 deal with mall owner Macerich.  Nine Sears stores are being sold (some reports say “contributing”)  to the new REIT and will then rent the stores back!  Lampert has reportedly already made $150-million in this latest self financing shell game.

THE SHUTDOWN OF ANOTHER KMART CALLED A “GOOD SIGN”!

Here’s the updated list of U.S. Sears/Kmart store closings that I’ve been compiling since the end of 2011:

Arizona: Scottsdale Sears/Great Indoors, Chandler Sears/Great Indoors.

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart (50 jobs lost), Mobile Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Auburn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Anniston Kmart (no word yet on how many jobs lost), Birmingham Eastwood Kmart (70 jobs lost), Decatur Mall Sears (91 jobs lost), Fort Payne Kmart, Northport Kmart (68 jobs lost), Dothan Sears (68 jobs lost), Huntsville Kmart (73 jobs lost).

California: El Monte Sears (at least 40 jobs lost. Damien Arrula, El Monte’s economic development director, said the store manager had lied about what was going on: “The general manager of the store had just indicated to me that they were remodeling.”), two San Diego Sears (more than 80 jobs lost), Pleasant Hill Kmart (more than 50 jobs lost), Torrance Kmart, Fairfield Kmart (63 jobs lost), Lampert owned OSH taken over by Lowe’s home improvement in bankruptcy court, at least 17 of 99 stores to be closed down (935 jobs lost!), Rancho Cordova Kmart (97 jobs lost), San Clemente Kmart/Sears/Kmart on Camino de Estrella (58 jobs lost), placed on an official hit list in 2011 the Oceanside Kmart on College Boulevard finally being shut down, Banning Kmart (91 jobs lost) recently revealed that Sears Holdings is still paying rent on the abandoned property, Laguna Hills Mall Sears, San Diego Mid-City Kmart (73 jobs lost), Hemet Kmart (77 jobs lost), Oakland Sears repair center (75 jobs lost), San Mateo Kmart (82 jobs lost to an apartment building connected to public transportation), Hesperia Kmart building sold at a loss to a vulture capitalist REIT, no word on if the Kmart will be shutdown. Customers complain that the Kmart employees have a bad attitude, gee I wonder why? Yuba City Kmart (63 jobs lost), Rocklin Kmart (at least 63 jobs lost, the store had just posted “Now Hiring” signs), San Leandro Kmart (102 jobs lost), San Jose Mercury News says the El Centro Kmart to shutdown in January, the website Foursquare says the Covina Kmart is now shutdown (other sources say it will shutdown in December), Cupertino Sears and Auto Center (number of employees affected not made public, no WARN filed), 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.

Colorado: Broomfield Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Glenwood Springs Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lone Tree Sears/Great Indoors, Longmont Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Pueblos’ South Side Kmart (52 jobs lost), Denver Kmart (number of jobs lost have not been made public at this time, but could be at least 40), Colorado Springs Kmart at Powers and Palmer Park boulevards (57 jobs lost), Fort Collins Sears (67 jobs lost), Denver-Cherry Creek North Sears store & Auto Center (66 jobs lost).

Connecticut: Waterbury Big Kmart, Torrington Kmart (73 jobs lost), Enfield Sears Optical (no word on jobs lost), Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (employees say the shutdown was a surprise, I guess they don’t read Blind Bat News), recently revealed Wallingford Sears Appliance & Hardware (at least 13 jobs lost).

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

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Callaway Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Orange City Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Deland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Stuart Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), West Palm Beach Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Port St. Lucie Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Crystal River Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), New Smyrna Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Saint Augustine Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Pompano Beach Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard (71 jobs lost), second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011, Pensacola Kmart on Mobile Highway closed in February 2013 (69 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart on East 9 Mile Road will close in May (73 jobs lost), Hialeah Kmart (67 jobs lost), Bonita Springs Kmart (67 jobs lost), Mount Dora Kmart (100 jobs lost), Lake Mary Kmart, Panama City Beach Kmart (54 jobs lost), Winter Park Kmart (100 jobs lost), Niceville Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winter Haven Kmart (92 jobs lost), Palm Bay Kmart, Oakland Park Kmart (112 jobs lost), Clearwater Sears Auto Center (21 jobs lost), Zephyrhills Kmart (70 jobs lost), Winter Springs Kmart (69 jobs lost), Naples Kmart (72 jobs lost), New Port Richey Kmart (58 jobs lost), ‘redevelopment’ of Aventura Sears & Auto Center into an “open-air village” (unknown how many jobs affected), Kmart on Northeast 108 Street being annexed by Miami Shores, Sears Holdings threatens to shutdown Kmart as a result of higher local taxes. The property that’s home to an operating Kmart, on South Green Bay Road in Racine, was foreclosed by the local Sheriff and sold-off for $2.5-million, no word on what the new property owner will do with it. Fort Myers Kmart (67 jobs lost).

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), Hiram Kmart (53 jobs lost), Marietta-East Cobb Kmart, Warner Robins Kmart (77 jobs lost), Coweta County Kmart distribution center (164 jobs lost), one of the last two North Augusta Kmart to be torn down by new property owner from Canada, Sears Holdings denies the Kmart will shutdown.

Guam: Sears Hometown Store.

Hawaii: 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 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). Across the street, in Pocatello, the property where the Kmart is located has a “pad site available” sign, posted ever since the Kmart bankruptcy. The Kmart building takes up most of the ‘pad’. Latest news from inside sources say Sears Holdings will not comment on any plans to expand the small amount of Craftsman products already being sold at the Kmart, or shift the Kenmore products line, from the closing Chubbuck Sears to the Pocatello Kmart. In fact all plans for the Pokey Kmart are in a ‘holding pattern’.

Illinois: Alton Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center (50 jobs lost), Zion Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Lawn Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), McHenry Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Peru Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lombard Sears/Great Indoors (at least 40 jobs lost), Fairview Heights Kmart (81 jobs lost), Freeport Kmart (45 jobs lost), Pontiac Kmart (more than 47 jobs lost), Homer Glen Kmart (82 jobs lost), Streator Kmart (45 jobs lost), Lombard Kmart (70 jobs lost), Naperville Kmart (98 jobs lost), Calumet Sears (164 jobs lost), two Sears stores in Grand Crossing area of Chicago (247 jobs lost!), Mount Vernon Sears (68 jobs lost), Moline Sears (at least 60 jobs lost), Homewood Kmart (185 jobs lost), Belvidere Kmart (91 jobs lost?) revealed is now a perpetual closing sale Kmart At A Discount store, Champaign’s Market Place Mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Sterling Kmart (60 jobs lost), Montgomery Kmart (81 jobs lost), Mattoon Sears (more than 40 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North State Street (160 jobs lost), Chicago Sears Craftsman Experience store, Galesburg Sears (46 jobs lost), White Lake Township Kmart (42 jobs lost), Orland Park Sears Appliance, Collinsville Kmart (84 jobs lost), Crystal Lake Kmart (at least 77 jobs lost), Danville Sears store & Auto Center (63 jobs lost), Forsyth Sears store & Auto Center (45 jobs lost), Peoria Kmart (73 jobs lost), Forest Park Kmart (107 jobs lost), Chicago Sears on North and Harlem avenues, supposedly it’s being replaced (most likely at taxpayer expense) with a new building and it will become a Sears-Mariano’s store, Bloomington Kmart (79 jobs lost), Hoffman Estates Headquarters 100 jobs eliminated, another 15 corporate jobs eliminated elsewhere, Chicago-Wicker Park Kmart (106 jobs lost), abandoned Market Place Mall Sears location to be occupied by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. 58 Chicago area stores up for lease or sale. 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: 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 (“approximately” 68 jobs lost), Bloomington Sears to be replaced by Whole Foods grocery store.

Iowa: 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).

Kansas: Lawrence Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Merriam Kmart-then Sears-then Kmart (jobs lost unknown), Wichita Sears store & Auto Center (103 jobs lost), Manhattan Sears & Auto Center (number of jobs lost were never revealed).

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears (in September 2012 the Sears store re-opened under independent ownership, official grand re-opening scheduled for November), Winchester Kmart (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), Lexington Fayette Mall Sears (114 jobs lost!), Newport Kmart (81 jobs lost), Cannonsburg Sears and Sears Auto Center (no employee info given), Louisville Dixie Highway Kmart/Sears/Kmart shutdown and now being taken over by Kroger basically to sell the same crap the old Kmart did! Madisonville Kmart (39 jobs lost), Owensboro Sears store & Auto Center (52 jobs lost).

Louisiana: Slidell Sears (77 job lost), Gretna Kmart (94 jobs lost), Metairie Kmart secretly sold off, no word if it will be shutdown.

Maine: Lewiston Sears (60 to 70 jobs lost), Presque Isle Aroostook Centre Mall Sears (63 jobs lost), Aroostook Centre Mall Sears Auto Center leased out to VIP Tires & Service.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Gaithersburg Sears/Great Indoors, Landover Sears rebuild & call center (115 jobs lost), Baltimore Kmart on Wabash Avenue (107 jobs lost).

Massachusetts: North Reading Sears Hardware store closed, lease not renewed, Milford Kmart (80 jobs lost), Kingston Kmart (73 jobs lost).

Michigan: Novi 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!

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart, Bemidji Kmart, Monticello Kmart, GGP owned Sears Auto Center in the Apache Mall closed (10 jobs lost), the entire Sears store in the Apache Mall being sold off, Fergus Falls Kmart (40 jobs lost), Fergus Falls Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Alexandria Kmart (46 jobs lost), Grand Rapids Kmart (61 jobs lost), Seritage is selling off three Sears Auto Centers in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Center and Saint Paul, Marshall Kmart (57 jobs lost), Oakdale Kmart (77 hourly wage employees losing their jobs, unknown how many salaried employees will become unemployed), Winona Kmart (67 jobs lost), Minneapolis city officials trying to shutdown profit making Nicollet Avenue Kmart, to make way for a new road. Anoka Kmart (47 jobs lost), Blaine Kmart (60 jobs lost), Burnsville Kmart (62 jobs lost), Waite Park Kmart (57 jobs lost), Northeast Minneapolis Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale, Coon Rapids Sears Hometown & Outlet store now for sale.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line, Gautier Sears (71 jobs lost), Waveland Gulfport Kmart (32 jobs lost), Pass Road Gulfport Kmart (52 jobs lost), Pascagoula Sears at the Singing River Mall, Olive Branch distribution center (unknown how many jobs lost).

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line, High Ridge Kmart (59 jobs lost), Ellisville Kmart (55 jobs lost), Springfield Kmart on South Campbell Avenue (60 jobs lost), South Belt Kmart (64 jobs lost), Florissant Kmart (100 jobs lost), O’Fallon Kmart (76 jobs lost).

Montana: Missoula Kmart (50 jobs lost), Great Falls Kmart (closed “until further notice” due to fire, 63 jobs on hold), Great Falls Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost) due to great sales (ironically) the shutdown date has been moved from 07 December 2014 to 23 November, Bozeman Kmart (37 jobs lost), Missoula Sears store and Auto Center (57 jobs lost).

Nebraska: Grand Island Kmart (55 jobs lost), Omaha Kmart near West Maple Road (50 jobs lost).

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

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

New Jersey: Lawnside Kmart (about 80 jobs lost), Howell Kmart (57 jobs lost), Berlin Kmart, Dover Kmart (92 jobs lost), Randolf Kmart (91 jobs lost), Paramus Kmart (74 jobs lost).

New Mexico: Las Cruces Kmart (58 jobs lost), Albuquerque Kmart on Central SW (80 jobs lost), Rio Rancho Kmart (59 jobs lost).

New York: Lindenhurst Sears Hardware, North Babylon Sears Hardware, Hauppauge Sears Hardware, Depew (Lancaster?) Kmart (68 jobs lost), Colonie Kmart (72 jobs lost), Fulton Kmart (51 jobs lost), Clifton Park Kmart (74 jobs lost) now revealed to be turned into a Town Center with more than 200 apartments at an estimated cost of $50-million, Latham Kmart (61 jobs lost), East Greenbush-Rensselaer Kmart (70 jobs lost), Tonawanda Sears Appliance and Hardware, Bronx Sears (91 jobs lost), BBN reader reported that the Ithaca Sears and Auto Center shutdown and one month later it’s been officially confirmed (at least 37 jobs lost), DeWitt Kmart (92 jobs lost), Auburn Sears (51 jobs lost), Massena Sears and Auto Center (51 jobs lost), Staten Island Mall Sears leased out to Ireland’s Primark, Bay Shore Sears and Sears Auto Center (144 jobs lost), New Hartford Sears & Auto Center (109 jobs lost).

North Carolina: Cary Kmart (71 jobs lost), High Point Sears, Moorehead Sears, Rocky Mount Sears, Statesville Sears, Durham Kmart (79 jobs lost), Asheville Kmart (53 jobs lost), West Smithfield Kmart (59 jobs lost), Winston-Salem Kmart (69 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (58 jobs lost), South Ashville Kmart on Hendersonville Road, Raleigh Kmart (88 jobs lost), Garner Kmart, Cleveland County mall Sears (56 jobs lost), Charlotte Kmart (89 jobs lost), Conover Kmart (74 jobs lost), Raleigh Kmart on Capital Boulevard (53 jobs lost), High Point Kmart (71 jobs lost), Boone Kmart (41 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart (96 jobs lost), Gastonia Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost), Kinston Kmart (64 jobs lost), Cary Sears (66 jobs lost), Greensboro Kmart distribution center (130 jobs lost).

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

Ohio: 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). Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location. Fairlawn Sears Appliance & Hardware, Macedonia Sears Appliance & Hardware, Lorain Sears Appliance & Hardware, Elyria Sears Appliance & Hardware, North Olmsted Sears Appliance & Hardware, Sheffield Village Sears Appliance & Hardware, Akron Sears Appliance & Hardware.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City Sears (98 jobs lost, GGP owned, GGP wants a $2 million sales tax rebate, claiming it’s needed to offset capital investments needed to bring the space up to the standards for potential new tenants), Shawnee Sears (31 jobs lost), Sand Springs Kmart (52 jobs lost), Muskogee Sears (60 jobs lost), Enid Sears and Auto Center (at least 38 jobs lost), recently revealed Tulsa BigKmart (51 jobs lost).

Oregon: Roseburg Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Tualatin Kmart Center (new property owner from California is tearing everything down for new shopping center, so far no indication the Kmart will be part of the new shopping center), Milwaukie Kmart (61 jobs lost), Coos Bay Kmart (25 jobs lost), Bend Sears (48 jobs lost), Klamath Falls Kmart (64 jobs lost), Albany Kmart (64 jobs lost), Portland Sears Homes Services (no notice), Albany Sears (57 jobs lost), in October a BBN reader warned that Oregon City Kmart was being quietly shutdown, confirmed on 06 November 2014 by Sears Holdings (70 jobs lost). Ontario Kmart (55 jobs lost).

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears, Warminster Kmart (85 jobs lost), Shippensburg Kmart (46 jobs lost), Moon Kmart (143 jobs lost), Bethlehem Township Kmart (62 jobs lost), Philadelphia Gallery Mall Kmart (120 jobs lost), Philadelphia Kmart on Orthodox Street and Castor Avenue (169 jobs lost), Levittown/Middle Township Kmart (87 jobs lost), Waynesboro Kmart (43 jobs lost), Sanatoga-Lower Pottsgrove Kmart (65 jobs lost, the store was also advertising for new hires!), West Mifflin Sears store & Auto Center (88 jobs lost), Rochester Kmart (78 jobs lost), Frazer (Pittsburg Mills Mall) Sears and Auto Center (97 jobs lost), Bloomsburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Frackville Sears and Auto Center (84 jobs lost), North Cornwall Township Sears (51 jobs lost), King of Prussia Sears and Auto Center (no word on number of jobs lost), Lebanon Sears (51 jobs lost), Scotland Chambersburg Mall Sears and Auto Center (62 jobs lost), the upper level of the Willow Grove Mall Sears store to be leased by Primark, King of Prussia Sears store leased out to clothing retailer Primark, East Towne Mall Kmart (51 jobs lost), Frackville Kmart in the Skuylkill Mall (80 jobs lost), Mount Pocono Kmart (66 jobs lost).

Puerto Rico: Vega Baja Kmart (206 jobs lost).

South Carolina: Sumter Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Orangeburg Sears (57 jobs lost), Columbia Kmart on Fort Jackson Boulevard in 2012, Columbia Kmart on Bush River Road in 2009, Columbia Kmart on St Andrews Road (66 jobs lost), Irmo Kmart (no info on how many jobs lost), both Greenville Kmarts (140 jobs lost between the two), Mount Pleasant Kmart (43 jobs lost), Harbison Sears & Sears Auto Center in the Columbiana Centre mall (97 jobs lost), Aiken Sears & Sears Auto Center (at least 54 jobs lost), Inlet Square Mall Kmart (50 jobs lost), West Ashely Kmart (69 jobs lost), Myrtle Beach Kmart (59 jobs lost), Easley Kmart (62 jobs lost).

Tennessee: Antioch Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Cleveland Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Oak Ridge Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Hendersonville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Morristown Sears (about 70 jobs lost), Clinton South Kmart, Franklin Cool Springs Galleria Sears (92 jobs lost), Memphis Hickory Ridge mall Sears (job loss data not revealed), 48 years old Nashville Kmart on Nolensville Pike to close by January 2014 (57 jobs lost), Franklin Kmart (33 jobs lost), Dickson Kmart (65 jobs lost), talks in progress to end lease for Bellevue (Nashville) Center Mall Sears.

Texas: Two Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands (117 jobs lost), rebuild center in Garland (58 jobs lost), Farmers Branch Sears/Great Indoors, Houston Sears Great/Indoors, Dallas Sears home appliance parts distribution center (77 jobs lost).

Utah: Murray Sears (for some reason Mormon controlled news media in Utah never reported the closure, but they reported that the building was demolished), Orem Kmart (no details reported), Woods Cross Kmart (54 jobs lost).

Vermont: Rutland Sears store & Auto Center (65 jobs lost).

Virginia: Norfolk Sears (at least 40 jobs lost), Midlothian Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Richmond Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost), Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost), Fairfax Kmart (no word on how many jobs lost), Christiansburg Sears (59 jobs lost), Norfolk Kmart on East Little Creek Road (77 jobs lost), Manassas Kmart (71 jobs lost), Stafford Sears Hometown, Newport News-Denbigh Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Wise Kmart (58 jobs lost), Harrisonburg Kmart (79 jobs lost), Wincester 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).

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), Seattle Kmart (85 jobs lost), East Wenatchee Sears (59 jobs lost), Puyallup Kmart (51 jobs lost), Oak Harbor Kmart (68 jobs lost), Sodo Sears and Sears Auto Center (79 jobs lost), Everett Kmart (65 jobs lost), Marysville Kmart (at least 40 jobs lost).

West Virginia: Oak Hill Kmart (59 jobs lost), Morgantown Kmart (100 jobs lost), Bluefield Sears store & Auto Center (64 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears (at least 40 jobs lost, local village officials say the store generated 3% of local tax collections), Rice Lake Kmart (about 71 jobs lost), Brookfield Kmart (56 jobs lost), Racine’s Regency Mall Sears (52 jobs lost), Fort Atkinson Kmart (51 jobs lost), Greenfield Kmart (107 jobs lost), Portage Kmart (78 jobs lost) and Hales Corner (129 jobs lost), Chippewa Falls Kmart (79 jobs lost), Menomonie Kmart (at least 50 jobs lost), Ashwaubenon Kmart recently revealed now owned by Green Bay Packers, will be torn down (80 jobs lost), Shawano Kmart (55 jobs lost), Fond du Lac Sears (42 jobs lost), Glendale Sears store & Auto Center (86 jobs lost), Janesville Kmart (70 jobs lost), Glendale Sears Rebuild center (67 jobs lost), Sheboygan Sears & Auto Center (at least 31 jobs lost), Eau Claire Kmart (93 jobs lost), Plymouth Kmart (59 jobs lost before Xmas), Sheboygan Sears Rebuild Center (30 jobs lost), Wauwatosa Kmart (103 jobs lost).

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

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

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

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

Florida: West Oaks Mall

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

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

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center (closed, see above)

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

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

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

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 19 – 20 March 2015: “preparing for the future” ObamaCare causes more layoffs in The Golden State! “the downturn…will be severe”

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

California: Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo announced it will shutdown its last office in China, as many as 3-hundred jobs lost!  Gold River based eHealthInsurance Services continues to blame Obama Care as it  plans to eliminate 160 more jobs!  eHealth administrators blame The Golden State’s Obama Care exchange program for stealing thousands of eHealth customers!  Keck Medicine of USC issued several WARNS saying 94 people will become unemployed in may.  Redwood City based video game maker Perfect World Entertainment laid off 18 employees, affecting their Star Trek Online ops.   Boeing issued several more WARNs saying 196 Californians will become jobless in May!

Florida: Miami based Norwegian Cruise Line laid off an undisclosed number of employees, some reports said it was more than 2-hundred!   The company failed to issue a mandatory WARN!  It might be connected to the take over of Prestige Cruise lines last year.

Illinois: Yellow Cab of Chicago now chapter 11 bankrupt!  News reports indicate the evil taxi company did so to stop the court award of $26-million USD to a victim of a high speed taxi crash!  Chicago Transit Authority warns that state leaders plan to cut funding by 45% will result in layoffs and fee hikes.  Warsaw Community School District laid off 11 employees and eliminated vacant jobs, and administrators are now pushing to jack up local property taxes.  In Geneva, after 28 years Irish Sisters Imports shutdown, their lease expired and they couldn’t renew.

Louisiana: Texas based Parker Drilling laid off 35 employees in New Iberia, but issued a WARN saying as many as 297 people could become unemployed, because “We anticipate the downturn in our U.S. markets will be severe…”

Massachusetts: Boston weak law firm Goodwin Procter laid off 38 employees, blaming a crash in lawsuits.

Minnesota: Minneapolis based Target laid off an undisclosed number of HQ employees, without notice.

New York: In NYC, cable TV empire Viacom issued a WARN saying 264 employees in The Big Apple will become unemployed by July!  It’s blamed on crashing advertising revenues caused by crashing ratings.  In Suffern, Switzerland based legal drugs maker Novartis began a 4th round of layoffs, letting go 89 employees.  By the time the drugs factory is shutdown in 2017, 525 jobs will be lost!  Toys R Us announced they will shutdown their NYC Times Square store.  The lease ends in January 2016, and administrators say it’s not worth it to renew.  The store is known for its 20 feet tall animated T-Rex.

North Carolina:  In Asheville, the owner of the brand new Katuah Market says the economy is so bad he’s already giving up: “We’ve been struggling ever since we opened and, for whatever reason, sales dropped off a cliff at the first of the year! At this point we can’t continue, we’d need to be 50% higher in sales.”-John Swann

Ohio: Homecare product maker Proctor & Gamble is shutting down the Sharon Woods Innovation Center by 2018, as many as 13-hundred jobs affected!

Oklahoma: What construction industry recovery?  In Sand Springs, after 59 years Morrow-Gill Lumber Company shutdown.  The family owners say they’ve had the business up for sale, but nobody wanted to buy it.

Pennsylvania: British empire United Kingdom based legal drugs maker GlaxoSmithKline laid off 150 people in the Philadelphia region!

Texas: Gainesville Foundry laid off 30 people.  Administrators blame the oil, mining, earth moving, industrial machinery, power, construction and many other industries!

Vermont: Lyndon State College laid off five employees, blaming a huge decline in enrollment.

Virginia: Kroger announced another shutdown of a grocery store, this time in Portsmouth in April. The store was originally owned by Hannaford, but Kroger took that company over in 2000.

Washington DC: The U.S. ABC News (not to be confused with Australia’s ABC news) laid off 12 District of Columbia employees, saying they are “preparing for the future” .

Wisconsin: Veggie canning company Del Monte shutting down operations; their Sager Creek processing facility in Pulaski, and their warehousing and labeling facilities in Oconto Falls. Nearly 250 jobs will be lost by June! Company administrators would say only that it’s a move they had to take in order to keep Del Monte “strong”.

15 – 18 March 2015: “SUDDEN AND UNANTICIPATED EVENTS…”

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics

U.S. Food Crisis 29 April 2015: Albertsons Safeway to kill 800+ California jobs! Safeway anti- 2nd Amendment unAmerican! Massive data breach!

“Safeway and Albertsons don’t have much going for them other than their size. The main thing that saved both companies was to combine and grow together. As an investment, I’m not sure what the upside is.”-David Livingston, grocery store analyst

The San Jose Mercury News reporting that the merged Albertsons-Safeway filed layoff notices with state employment administrators, saying at least 8-hundred Californians are about to be laid off!

Also the new company will be called New Albertsons, and owners New York based Cerberus, and Idaho based AB Acquisitions, will issue new stocks (IPO, Initial Public Offering) by the end of the year.

A side note, at the end of last year AB Acquisitions revealed that “…its third party IT services provider SUPERVALU of a separate, more recent, attempted criminal intrusion seeking to obtain payment card information used in some of its stores………..may have captured account numbers, expiration date, other numerical information and/or the cardholder’s name.”  This was separate from an earlier data breach, and involved “….Albertsons stores in Southern California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Southern Utah were impacted. In addition, ACME Markets in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey; Jewel-Osco stores in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana; and Shaw’s and Star Markets stores in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were affected by this new incident.”

Albertsons just made $33-million USD by selling off three stores,  one in Palmdale, California, and two others in Oregon.  The buyer is Spirit Realty Capital, the sale was mandated by the Federal Trade Commission as part of the merger of Albertsons and Safeway.  No word on what Spirit Realty Capital will do with the three properties, which currently are home to active grocery stores.

Recently unAmerican and pro-British empire Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America took credit for Albertsons-Safeway’s gun ban.  However, Beitbart showed that the grocery stores already had a gun ban in place by 2014, and implied that competitor Kroger’s pro-gun stance actually increased Kroger’s profits: “Safeway did not ban guns in response to a Moms Demand campaign. Rather, Safeway’s store policy has long prohibited guns….. …Safeway’s gun ban was in place during the third quarter of 2014, the very quarter in which Kroger’s profits jumped ’21 percent’ after they refused to ban guns.”

update, 24 April 2015: Haagen stores jack up prices! Safeway bottles city water in drought stricken California! 

Business/Economics

U.S. Job Losses & Store Closings, 15 – 18 March 2015: “sudden and unanticipated events…” No more Red Cross? ObamaCare kills hundreds of jobs overnight!

Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:

Alabama:  After 43 years women’s clothing store The Wagon Wheel shutdown.  The owner says she must focus on other things.

California: In Carson, Tatung of America issued a shutdown WARN, saying 98 people will become jobless in May.  In San Diego, Japan based Sony laid off 75 employees.  In Santa Ana, ITT Cannon issued a layoff WARN saying 56 people will be unemployed by the end of May. The Red Cross shutting down its San Diego call center, 38 jobs lost.

Colorado: In Colorado Springs, 144 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Sinton Dairy Foods announced they will end fresh milk production and layoff 120 employees by May! It’s part of their plan to make a new extended shelf life milk.

Florida: In Orlando, DeVry University issued a layoff WARN saying 50 employees will be unemployed in May.  In Jacksonville, Bank of America WARNed that three more employees will be laid off in May.

Illinois:  Elgin School District U-46 announced they will eliminate 463 jobs!  It’s blamed on what I call DSS (Disappearing Student Syndrome).  The state court system is short $14-million USD, and is about to layoff court reporters.  The layoffs and reductions in hours will take place in April.

Iowa: In Ames, the Department of Natural Resources warned they might have to shutdown their 80 years old nursery.  Administrators say revenues are so low they can no longer support themselves.

Kentucky: In Bowling Green, after 29 years the owner of Steve’s Sports Cards announced he’s calling it quits in April, blaming the internet: “It’s been impossible for a single store to compete with the selection and the price you can find on the Internet.”

Maine: After 33 years the Grasshopper Shop in Ellsworth shutdown. No reason was given.

Maryland: Mass producer of frozen food Gourmet Express Acquisition now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Company administrators blame crashing sales (an almost $20-million drop in sales).

Massachusetts:  The Red Cross announced it is shutting down its Springfield call center in May, 14 jobs lost.

Michigan: The city administrators of Saginaw say they’re being pro-active and will layoff 13 firefighters.  The city never had enough money to pay them anyway, their current salaries being paid for with federal taxes, which are scheduled to end in June.  The FutureMark paper mill in Manistique shutdown, 147 jobs lost!  Company administrators blamed “sudden and unanticipated events including loss of liquidity”.

Nebraska: In Omaha, Great Western Bank shutdown three offices.

New Hampshire: In Hampton, after 39 years O’Donnell’s Imports shutdown their brick-n-mortar store.  They will continue their Irish import business on the internet.

New Mexico: In Sante Fe, after almost 40 years Leishman’s Fine Furniture shutdown.  The owner said she must care for her parents.

New York: In Bronx, warehouse operator Morris Okun issued a shutdown WARN, saying 115 people will be jobless by June!  The property was sold-off.  In Rochester, metal shop Dayton Rogers issued a layoff WARN saying 35 people will be laid off in June, due to the bad economy.  Crashing & burning Viacom laid off “a number of executives and assistants” at Nickelodeon.

North Carolina: In Denton, Councill Furniture surprised its employees by announcing the shutdown of both its furniture factories!  The factories are actually owned by another company, which sold off the factories to a competitor.   Obama Care killed off a home care company overnight! Employees of Royal Home Care arrived to work to find a note stating “With the Medicaid reimbursement rate being inconsistence, another reimbursement rate cut at the beginning of this year, trying to meet everyone’s demand for a higher pay rate/salary, paying all employees in advance who came over from St. Mary’s and now being placed on a prepayment review by DMA due to the spike in volume of clients, Royal will no longer be able to take on anymore debts. Attempts to have the prepayment review status rescinded was unsuccessful. 

We regret to inform you, due to all the above we were forced to close the agency effective immediately.”  At least 24 employees never got their final paycheck, according to state labor administrators.

Cary based convenience store The Pantry is now owned by British empire Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard. As a result, at least 250 people in North Carolina are now being laid off!

South Dakota: In Sioux Falls, Great Western Bank shutdown two offices.

Texas: Fort Worth natural gas producer Quicksilver Resources now chapter chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Administrators say they’ve lost so much money they can’t pay debts that aren’t due until 2019!  Failed Radio Shack laid off “several dozens” of people at its Forth Worth HQ.

Virginia: Horizon Behavioral Health laid off 20 employees, blaming new state laws.

Wisconsin: In Marshfield, after 15 years The Back Porch shutdown, the owners said they had to care for their ill mother.

13 – 14 March 2015: Great Depression surviving variety store crashing & burning! 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Food Crisis 29 April 2015: There’s human in that can of tuna? “I think our lives are in the hands of the Lord of Death.”

“When that door was shut, and he saw that, what was all the thoughts that went trough his mind?  It’s just devastating.”-Sarah Melena, daughter of man cooked alive, KCAL/KCBS interview

Two managers of Bumble Bee Tuna have been criminally charged with killing a man inside a tuna cooker, cooking him alive with 12-hundred pounds of fish!

It happened in Santa Fe Springs, California, in 2012.   The victim was inside a giant tuna oven cleaning it when it was loaded with fish and turned on.  The victim was cooked slowly to death over a two hours period!  The charges come after a two and half years investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

This is not the first time Bumble Bee tuna has gotten in trouble, their San Diego operations were charged with violating state safety laws because, apparently, employees there were almost cooked in the tuna ovens as well!

The Santa Fe Springs managers could get three years in prison and pay up to $250-thousand USD in fines, if convicted. Bumble Bee Tuna could be fined up to $1.5-million.

Just last month The Associated Press published the results of their undercover investigation into old-school slavery in the fishing industry, and made a connection to Bumble Bee Tuna: “Tainted fish can wind up in the supply chains of some of America’s major grocery stores, such as Kroger, Albertsons and Safeway; the nation’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart; and the biggest food distributor, Sysco…..

…. his parent company, known simply as Thai Union, owns Chicken of the Sea and is buying Bumble Bee…..In September, it became the country’s first business to be certified by Dow Jones for sustainable practices, after meeting environmental and social reviews.”-Are Slaves Catching the Fish You Buy?

“It’s torture. When we get beaten, we can’t do anything back. I think our lives are in the hands of the Lord of Death.”-slave on southeast Asian fishing boat

“If Americans and Europeans are eating this fish, they should remember us. There must be a mountain of bones under the sea.  The bones of the people could be an island, it’s that many.”– Hlaing Min, escaped southeast Asian slavery

U.S. Food Crisis, April 2015:  Ice cream can kill you!