(Bluelight News Flash) The Closings Continue

Rather than release a major list of store closings like Sears did back in January for their 150 store closings, the company has once again decided to go the way announcing one-offs. In other words, areas affected by store closures will usually see a local news source with the announcement. Enough one-offs have piled up to make this list of store closures for both Sears and Kmart:

Kmart:
Pell City, AL
Anaheim, CA
San Ysidro, CA
Hialeah, FL
Kahului, HI (Maui)
Carroll, IA
Livonia, MI
Independence, MO (S Noland Rd)
Staten Island, NY
Webster, NY
Dayton, OH (Beavercreek)
Bensalem, PA
Devon, PA
Dickson City, PA
Feasterville, PA
East Stroudsburg, PA
Meadville, PA
Mill Hall, PA
Charlottesville, VA
Herndon, VA
Spanaway, WA

Sears:
Carson, CA
San Diego, CA (University Town Center)
Miami, FL (Biscayne Blvd)
Dedham, MA
Kansas City, MO (Antioch Crossing)
Monroe, NC
Santa Fe, NM (Santa Fe Place Mall) 
North Charleston, SC
Dallas, TX (Valley View Center)

Also announced this week, Rue 21 has decided close 400 stores. Here's a compiled list of them:

ALABAMA

Alabaster
Athens
Bessemer
Birmingham (Tutwiler Farms)
Cullman
Fultondale
Huntsville
Irondale
Madison
Montgomery (Eastchase Plaza)
Montgomery (Eastdale Mall)
Prattville
Saraland
Scottsboro

ARIZONA

Anthem
Casa Grande
Chandler
Flagstaff
Lake Havasu
Mesa (Mesa Riverview)
Nogales
Payson
Peoria
Queen Creek
San Luis
Sierra Vista
Tucson (Tucson Spectrum)
Tucson (Tucson Mall)
Tucson (Foothills Mall)

ARKANSAS

Bryant
El Dorado
Harrison
Mountain Home
Rogers
Springdale

CALIFORNIA
Alpine
Auburn
Capitola
Carlsbad
Citrus Heights
Clovis
El Centro
Folsom
Hanford
Lakewood
Manteca
Modesto
Montclair
Pismo Beach
Pittsburg
San Bernardino
Tracy
Ukiah
Vacaville
West Covina
Westminister
Yuba City

COLORADO

Durango
Littleton
Parker

CONNECTICUT

Manchester
Meriden
Trumball
Waterbury
Westbrook

FLORIDA

Altamonte Springs
Doral
Ellenton
Fort Myers (Gulf Coast Town Center)
Jacksonville (Oakleaf Town Center)
Kissimmee (Kissimmee West)
Mary Esther
Naples
Orange City
Pace
Panama City Beach
Pensacola
Pinellas Park
Port Orange
Sanford
Sarasota
St. Augustine

GEORGIA

Acworth
Alpharetta
Cartersville
Columbus
Cordele
Dublin
Evans
Flowery Branch
Milledgeville
Peachtree City (The Overlook)
Rincon
Savannah (Savannah Mall)
Savannah (Victory Square)

IDAHO

Moscow
Rexburg

ILLINOIS

Aurora (Aurora Commons)
Bloomingdale
Boilingbrook
Centralia
Champaign
Effingham
Forsyth
Jacksonville
Lombard
Mount Vernon
Oswego
Pekin
Springfield
Tuscola
Vernon Hills

INDIANA

Bloomington
Brownsburg
Columbus
Corydon
Fort Wanye (Orchard Crossing)
Marion
South Bend
Valparaiso

IOWA

Ankeny
Cedar Falls
Mason City
Williamsburg
KANSAS
Emporia
Salina
Wichita (Towne West Square)

KENTUCKY

Alexandria
Campbellsville
Danville
Frankfort
Georgetown
Glasgow
Louisville (Middletown Commons)
Louisville (Mall St. Matthews)
Paintsville

LOUISIANA

Abbeville
Bastrop
Baton Rouge (Siegen Lane Marketplace)
Bogalusa
Covington
Harvey
Kenner
Laplace
Luling
Marrero
Morgan City
Natchitoches
Pineville
Shreveport (Mall At St. Vincent)
Shreveport (Regal Court Shopping Center)
Thibodaux

MAINE

Bangor
Kittery

MARYLAND:

Baltimore (Mondawmin Mall)
Baltimore (Security Square Mall)
Bowie
Frederick
Gaithersburg
Hagerstown (Hagerstown Premium Outlets)
Silver Spring
Waldorf
Wheaton

MASSACHUSETTS

Danvers
Hanover
Pittsfield
Saugus
Worcester
Wrentham

MICHIGAN

Benton Harbor
Brighton
Cadillac
Canton
Chesterfield
Grand Rapids (Tanger Outlet Grand Rapids)
Grand Rapids (Centerpointe Mall)
Holland
Kalamazoo
Lansing
Midland
Monroe
Okemos
Rochester Hills
West Branch
Westland

MINNESOTA

Alexandria
Coon Rapids
Eden Prairie
Elk River
Mankato
Medford

MISSISSIPPI

Batesville
Brookhaven
Columbia
Corinth
Flowood
Greenville
Greenwood
Hattiesburg
McComb
Meridian
Oxford
Philadelphia
Robinsonville
Vicksburg

MISSOURI

Bolivar
Creve Coeur
Fenton
Hanibal
Kansas City (Shops At Boardwalk)
Maplewood
Osage Beach
Washington

MONTANA

Bozeman
Butte
Havre

NEBRASKA

Gretna
Lincoln (Wilderness Hills)
North Platte

NEVADA

Las Vagas (Mall at Grand Canyon)
Las Vagas (Las Vegas Premium Outlets South)
Las Vagas (Centennial Center)

NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Epping
Seabrook

NEW JERSEY

Livingston
Mays Landing
Tinton Falls
Toms River

NEW MEXICO

Las Vegas
Rio Rancho
Silver City

NEW YORK

Clay
Cortland
Hamburg
Hicksville
Horseheads
Massena
Niagara Falls
Olean
Orchard Park
Plattsburgh
Sarasota Springs
White Plains

NORTH CAROLINA

Albemarle
Asheville
Burlington
Cary
Charlotte (Rivergate Shopping Center)
Elizabeth City
Havelock
Hendersonville
Holly Springs
Morehead City
New Bern
Reidsville
Wilkesboro
Wilson
Zebulon

NORTH DAKOTA

Bismarck (Hay Creek Shops)
Bismarck (Kirkwood Mall)
Grand Forks
West Fargo

OHIO

Athens
Bellefontaine
Bowling Green
Cambridge
Cincinnati (U-Square at the Loop)
Cincinnati (Waterstone Center)
Circleville
Greenville
Hamilton
Holland
Jackson
Jeffersonville
Lewis Center
Macedonia
Marion
Massilion
Mentor
Rossford

OKLAHOMA

Altus
Bartlesville
Catoosa
Chickasha
Duncan
Enid
Miami
Moore
Norman
Oklahoma City (Crossroads Mall)
Oklahoma City (Rockwell Plaza)
Weatherford
Yukon

OREGON

Albany
Beaverton
Bend
Corvallis
Island City
North Bend
Portland

PENNSYLVANIA

Cranberry Township
Exton
Hanover
Hermitage
Indiania
Langhorne
Pottstown
Pottsville
Quakertown
State College
Tarentum
Washington

RHODE ISLAND

Newport

SOUTH CAROLINA

Bluffton
Charleston

SOUTH DAKOTA

Aberdeen
Mitchell
Pierre
Sioux Falls (Retail At Dawley Farm)
Watertown

TENNESSEE

Alcoa
Cleveland
Crossville
Dyersburg
Elizabethton
Fayetteville
Greeneville
Kingsport
Knoxville (North Fork Station Shopping Center)
Lawrenceburg
Memphis (Memphis Commons)
Milan
Mt. Juilet

TEXAS

Alice
Bay City
Beaumont
Beeville
Big Spring
Brownsville
Brownwood
Cleburne
Corpus Cristi (Five Points)
Cypress
Dallas (Medallion Center)
Del Rio
Denton
El Paso (Sunland Park Mall)
Floresville
Frisco
Granbury
Harker Heights
Harlingen
Hillsboro
Kingsville
League City
Liberty
Marshall
Mercedes
Palestine
Palmhurst
Pearland (The Center Pearland Parkway)
Plainview
Plano
Pleasanton
Rockwall
Rosenberg
San Angelo
San Antonio (Rigsby Road Shopping Center)
Selma
Tyler
Uvalde
Weatherford
Wylie

UTAH

American Fork
Centerville
Clinton
Midvale
Price
Richfield
South Jordan

VIRGINIA

Christiansburg
Galax
King George
Mechanicsville
Norton
South Boston
Springfield
Suffolk
Virginia Beach
Waynesboro
Woodbridge

WASHINGTON

Bellingham
Everett
Renton
Richland
Vancouver (Hazel Dell Marketplace)
Vancouver (Vancouver Mall)

WEST VIRGINIA

Martinsburg
Summersville
Triadelphia
Whitehall

WISCONSIN

Germantown
Lake Geneva
Marinette
Milwaukee (Midtown Center)
Pleasan Prairie
Plover
Waukesha
West Bend

WYOMING

Sheridan

Sears' Shrinking to Make a Profit

Does making something smaller make it better, or in this case, more profitable? Apparently Sears thinks so. Rather than making the changes needed to attract customers, let's turn them away by not having the item they came looking for! 

We've first seen this method used for Kmart's electronics department. It's honestly a mixed bag at times because  not all stores shrunk their electronics. From my observations, it seems that mainly stores that don't have any other competition nearby kept the full assortment. Even then though, I was recently at a store with no competition from Walmart and it had shrunk it electronics. Sometimes you can't even make sense of the business decisions made by Sears Holdings!

Then comes the fact that many stores have either closed or they plan to shrink by up to 50% if they can attract another tenant thanks to Sears' REIT plan introduced last year.

I bring this topic up because I saw Sears' plans to make smaller stores based solely on appliances. Seems like a bright idea, right? I would agree if it weren't for the fact that small Sears stores already exist by means of Sears Hometown stores! The funny thing about Sears Holdings spun off the Hometown stores to get some extra cash. So the hometown stores are actually a different company now. So Sears' plan is to shrink and focus on appliances, they just made competition with their own name!

Don't get me wrong though, I applaud the idea of having smaller Sears stores. Sears is known primarily for outdoor equipment, tools, appliances and to lesser extent, electronics. I don't think of Sears when I want to buy new clothes! 

I've said for awhile know that it would be in their best interest to focus on making Sears stores smaller. Perhaps focus on Kmart, as Kmart has been the better performer of the two and maybe just simply add a mini-Sears within Kmart. In a way,  they kind of already have toyed with the idea right after they merged. Other than by adding appliances to a shrunken electronics department, It just seems that they kind of abandoned it nowadays though. Of course if they were to reintroduce this plan, don't just simply plop boxes on the floor and call it a day. Actually make the area presentable to customers.

Yeah, just had to get my two cents in about a dying retailer that I care about....

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Kmart Locations

Taking a break from the Warren Mall, (Part two will be up later during the week.) I give you a rather interesting mystery. Kmart has 'erased' over 100 stores this week from their website. Stores missing are all over the country, so this post could affect you as well. Before I continue, I just want to set one thing straight, just because the stores are no longer listed, it doesn't mean they are closing for sure. These 'vanishing' stores could be glitch on the website's part or it could mean business. With Sears Holdings, you can never tell for sure. Earlier this year, a store in Maryland was taken off the website and within a month or two it announced it was closing, so keep your eyes out for any news. The thing that concerns me is that over 100 stores disappeared and that could easily mean another round of mass closings around the country. Doing some research, I've uncovered the following stores to be 'missing' from the Twin Tiers blog coverage area.

Du Bois, PA
Dickson City (Scranton), PA
Shomakin Dam, PA
Cheektowaga, NY
Jamestown/Lakewood, NY
Victor, NY
Watertown, NY

'K's in orange are the locations missing, while the red 'K's locations are shown on the website store locator as of this blog post.

Some of these I've visited in the past, some I have (or at least had if these stores don't close) plans to visit. There are more in closings in PA, but they are outside my coverage area. I didn't come across any other missing NY locations, but I was really only looking through my blog coverage area. 

For all three PA locations, it probably comes down to the fact that they don't seem to much business (at least when I visited these three they weren't very busy and Dickson City isn't really visible from the main road because it sits on a hill. Both Du Bois and Shomakin Dam were the pretty average Kmart. Not very busy, older store and no special departments other than a pharmacy.

The NY stores would likely close for real estate reasons, especially Victor. Victor sits right across the road from a major upscale mall near Rochester. I can't exactly pinpoint reasons for Watertown or Cheektowaga because I have not been to these two stores. I would guess real estate as they are both near major regional malls as well, though the Watertown mall isn't as major as the other two malls. I would assume Jamestown would be a combination of both a lack of business and real estate, as it sits on the major retail strip for the city, but it doesn't seem nearly as busy as other locations I've stepped foot in.

If all these 'missing' locations do end up closing, we are inching ever so closer to the point where you may no longer see Kmart and Sears.... which isn't much of a surprise.