Sears/Kmart is closing 150 stores.

(Yahoo.com)-Sears announced a second wave of store closures on Wednesday, bringing the total number of closures scheduled for early 2017 to 150.

The company will shut down 108 Kmart stores and 42 Sears stores by April, according to an internal document obtained by Business Insider.

www.yahoo.com...

Here's a list of Kmart stores that are closing:
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Jasper Mall, Jasper, Alabama
2003 US-280, Phenix City, Alabama
3600 Wilson Road, Bakersfield, California
3001 Iowa Ave., Riverside, California
25 West Polk St., Coalinga, California
333 Sierra St., Kingsburg, California
363 S. Broadway, Denver, Colorado
2809 North Ave., Grand Junction, Colorado
45 Shunpike Road, Cromwell, Connecticut

This latest round of closures will bring the total number of stores that Sears has closed this fiscal year to more than 200.

I've seen it written somewhere that Sears missed the boat big time.

They were the kings back when catalogs were big, and they should have started shifting that model toward an online one. But they instead stubbornly persisted in their brick and mortar catalog model. They got outclassed when the internet and online sales revolution took off.

They failed to adapt and evolve and they are paying for it now.

a reply to: Black_Fox


Not a surprise really.
K marts closed around here a few years ago.

Our local Sears (Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina) is closing. But that's because the owner didn't pay their rent so the landlord changed the locks on him. I guess that doesn't count, huh?

K-mart doesn't really surprise me. I know very few people who say they're actually going to K-mart. Walmart, sure. Never K-mart.

Sears on the other hand... I dunno. I've hardly ever been there to be honest even though I like Craftsman tools and stuff. Our local one didn't have clothing and crap like that, just tools, appliances, and mowers... so when I went into one in a large mall I was confused, to say the least. Either way, between the hundreds of other stores that sell clothes and the many different hardware and furniture stores that sell appliances, and tools, and mowers... I guess I can see how Sears may not be doing so hot. I have a replica 1900 catalog and it seems like it was the Amazon of it's day. You could order anything from them, from furniture and appliances to guns and tools, and they'd ship it to you. You could even pay with postage stamps. Crazy stuff.

I'm sure the internet has a part in this. I have not walked into a Kmart/Sears for decades. Not only that I have never even visited their web pages. I think it's more than this. For example. The dollar stores are popping up everywhere. These are staple items people would need regularly. These stores are expanding at a phenomenal rate. They can build one in a small town of 1000 people in no time. These stores have almost everything a big box store puts on the shelf. So putting these all around the country in small towns keeps these populations from driving 50-100 miles to go to a big box store. Just my two cents(sense).

Macy's is also closing 68 stores and laying off over 10,000 employees. Apparently 2016 sales didn't hit the mark.

I guess the 'recovery' wasn't as good as the government was stating.

Unfortunate that there will be that many more unemployed. MAGA can't happen soon enough.

a reply to: Aldakoopa

Craftsman power tools are junk today, they started to go down hill 15 to 20 years ago.
I'm sure that hasn't helped their sales.

The one I worry about is Barnes & Noble, but they seem to be attempting to adapt by working hard at hosting community style events to bring people in and make their stores more than just a bookseller. It may be part of what is helping to save them in the face of Amazon.

They're also testing four stores with actual alcohol and more restaurant/bistro style kitchens instead of the standard Starbucks cafes. We'll see how that goes.

a reply to: Aldakoopa

sears used to even sell houses in their catalog.

www.searsarchives.com...

a reply to: Tardacus

I remember as a kid, looking forward to the Xmas catalog.
Looking through it and circling what I wanted from "Santa", good times.

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: Aldakoopa

sears used to even sell houses in their catalog.

www.searsarchives.com...

Most everything you could get in a catalog can be ordered online. Sears could have made that shift and they chose not to. It killed them.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Aldakoopa

Craftsman power tools are junk today, they started to go down hill 15 to 20 years ago.
I'm sure that hasn't helped their sales.

I don't use their power tools. I prefer Ryobi and Makita personally. I use their hand tools though. Wrenches, ratchets, sockets, etc. Their mowers tend to fall apart around the bulletproof Briggs and Stratton I've noticed, but you can still get good use out of them.

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: Aldakoopa

sears used to even sell houses in their catalog.

www.searsarchives.com...

Yup. That's how my boss got his house back in the 70's. It's one of those stories I've only heard about a million times.

They're selling Craftsman to Black & Decker. IMO Craftsman is an excellent brand. I hope they are still available in the future. Fact is K-Mart has always been a junk store. It's too bad Sears has declined. They once sold good-quality goods.

a reply to: Black_Fox

What killed Sears? Was their damn extended warranty pushing from their sales associates. I used to work for them in electronics and got reprimanded because I didn't sell enough PPP's. (purchase protection plans) It pissed customers off to no end when buying a product having the person selling it to them shoving this down their throat. It wasn't the employees fault! Blame Corporate and Management. They didn't give a damn how much you sold, it was all about those extended warranties!


Feel bad for those who will lose their jobs, but Sears made it a lot longer than I thought they would.

About time. I've wondered for a long time why Sears and KMart still existed.

Then we had a dishwasher part break. Only Sears carried the part (dishwasher was here before we bought).
We couldn't go online, we had to call Sears and actually do everything the old fashioned way, including paying $45 and waiting for almost three weeks for it to arrive.

a reply to: seeker1963

"What killed Sears?"

*IMO, Technology and the continuing drying up of the middle class.

This is a global problem. I live in OZ and was part of a retail chain where 60 sites shrunk to 16. A larger hardware chain also closed completely.

Online has been a major disruption to classic brick and mortar stores and many retail chains just don't know how to adapt fast enough.

I have to think when the average age of the board and upper management was probably close to 100 they didn't see the internet coming and just didn't think about it till maybe 10 years ago. The blue hairs that used to shop there are dying on a daily basis.

Myself I think if they would have kept the catalogue they might have been able to use it to their CLASSIC connection advantage. Charged for it maybe but it would have eventually phased itself out. Poos old management. I leased a Sears own building that was their old auto service center about 10 years ago 25000 square feet with all utilities included for $3500 a month. Crazy cheap.

Canada has also seen all the small town outlets closed, and they have been doing online shopping here, but by closing those smaller stores, it's been impossible to return any of their multiple mistakes .😕
Their service has gotten really bad.

I have some craftsman tools, I wonder what's going to happen to that brand.
**answered up there👍🏻