Thursday, January 5, 2017

Bluelight News Flash: A New Year Brings Massive New Closings

In a rather unfortunate turn of events, admittedly though not surprising, a massive new list of closures for both Sears and Kmart has surfaced this morning. I've deleted the last post I did on this topic to incorporate all the new closings and previous announced ones together. I honestly was not imagining a 30 store wave turning into a 150 wave. This will leave Sears Holdings with under 1,273 stores total.

It also worth noting that Sears has sold one their best assets, Craftsman, to Stanley Black and Decker. 2017 may be Sears' last year if things continue like this and we aren't even a week into the year.

Kmart:
Jasper, AL
Phenix City, AL
Bakersfield, CA
Coalinga, CA
Kingsburg, CA
Riverside, CA (Iowa Ave)
Denver, CO (S Broadway)
Grand Junction, CO
Cromwell, CT
Columbus, GA
Cornelia, GA
Kingsland, GA
Savannah, GA
Crystal River, FL
Fort Myers, FL
Fort Pierce, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Kissimmee, FL
Naples, FL
Palatka, FL
Port Charlotte, FL
Sarasota, FL
Honolulu, HI (Salt Lake Blvd)
Dubuque, IA
Sioux City, IA
Waterloo, IA
Alton, IL
Granite City, IL
Chesterton, IN
La Porte, IN
Leavenworth, KS
Wichita, KS
Bowling Green, KY
Corbin, KY
Georgetown, KY
Hopkinsville, KY
London, KY
Louisville, KY
Owensboro, KY
Gonzales, LA
New Orleans, LA (S Clearview Pkwy)
Fairhaven, MA
South Attleboro, MA
Dundalk, MD
Bangor, ME
Garden City, MI
Jackson, MI
Adrian, MI
Muskegon, MI
Plymouth, MI
Roseville, MI
Waterford, MI
Westland, MI
Acme Township, MI
Detroit Lakes, MN
Branson, MO
Jefferson City, MO
Rolla, MO
Springfield, MO
St Louis, MO (Manchester Ave)
Concord, NC
Fayetteville, NC
Goldsboro, NC
Madison, NC
Wilmington, NC (College Rd)
Clementon, NJ
East Brunswick, NJ
Pleasantville, NJ
Rio Grande, NJ
New Hartford, NY
Henderson, NV
Mount Vernon, OH
Gallipolis, OH
Kenton, OH
New Boston, OH
Reynoldsburg, OH
St. Clairsville, OH
Zanesville, OH
Muskogee, OK
Dubois, PA
Erie, PA (Grandview Blvd)
Lancaster, PA
Mechanicsburg, PA
Monroeville, PA
Mt. Pleasant, PA
Anderson, SC
Greenwood, SC
North Charleston, SC
Sioux Falls, SD
Morristown, TN
El Paso, TX (Mc Rae Blvd)
El Paso, TX (Dyer St)
Killeen, TX
Lufkin, TX
Vernal, UT
Layton, UT
Roanoke, VA (Hershberger Rd)
Fredericksburg, VA
Norfolk, VA 
Salem, VA
Platteville, WI
Racine, WI
Tacoma, WA
Elkins, WV
South Parkersburg, WV
Weirton, WV
Cheyenne, WY

Sears:
Florence, AL
Jonesboro, AR
Enfield, CT
Lakes Wales, FL
Albany, GA
Columbus, GA
Kokomo, IN
Salina, KS
Paducah, KY
Baton Rouge, LA
Grand Rapids, MI
Jefferson City, MO
Saint Joseph, MO
Fargo, ND
Roswell, NM
Akron, OH
Chillicothe, OH
Lancaster, OH
Richmond Heights, OH
Lawton, OK
Tulsa, OK
Swansea, MA
Augusta, ME
Amherst, NY
Cheektowaga, NY
Hicksville, NY
Middletown, NY
Rego Park, NY
Camp Hill, PA
Hermitage, PA
Selinsgrove, PA
Uniontown, PA
Woonsocket. RI
Florence, SC
Kingsport, TN
Odessa, TX
Bristol, VA
Lynnwood, WA
Bridgeport, WV
Charleston, WV

Not only that, but Macy's has also revealed it too plans to close stores. For the most part the closures don't overlap, but Hermitage, PA's Shenango Valley Mall (which falls into the Twin Tiers territory) is an unfortunate victim as both anchors are closing. I do not have any pictures of the mall at this time, so it is likely that you will not see any Sears or Macy's photos from this mall from me. The same applies for the two Sears stores closing around Buffalo. 

The timing of the events is bad as it is the middle of winter, and a lot of these closures would involve me having to travel through lake effect areas to get to the destination. Therefore, I cannot guarantee I'll be able to grab pictures of any closing store on this list in my area. 

8 comments:

  1. I'd like to hit up a couple of the Ohio stores, but they are quite far out of my reach. I might have a fighting shot at the Columbus one, but I won't hold my breath.

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    1. Like I said above, I don't like venturing out too far away during winter, and since the closings are to my west or involving me having to travel closer to Lake Erie, I'm not comfortable with that idea during winter months. There is a chance I could at least stop to either Erie or Dubois at the end, but I doubt both.

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  2. Under 1,000 stores. Wow.

    I saw the news about Craftsman a moment ago and came here - figured you'd have a post on it. A shame, but not unexpected. Definitely a major blow to what draws customers into their stores, though. I also have seen the expanded closing list, and to be honest I'm surprised no Mid-South stores are on the list besides the previously announced Jonesboro Sears. Sounds like more Sears stores will be closing in the inevitable future closing rounds.

    Not that I want this to happen, but in my opinion SHC's best bet for surviving is to either sell off or shut down Kmart entirely and focus strictly on Sears. Specifically, the whole REIT thing where they reduce their stores to one level inside malls and lease/sell (?) out the other level(s) is probably a good thing to keep working on.

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    1. Honestly I feel it would be the other way around, especially now that Sears has sold off Craftsman entirely. I'm not particularly drawn to shop at Sears anyways. At least at Kmart you can pick up some basic groceries and other necessities. Not to mention the fact that Kmart also carries toys which is a big seller for them. The best option though would be to create a Sears within Kmart kind of like they have, but on a larger scale where they can. Perhaps some Sears locations could become a Kmart. When I think of Sears I think 'appliances, tools and auto.' I think they can easily manage that within Kmart.

      Though it would be a completely different story if Kmart were for sale....

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    2. Yeah, good point - I suppose it could go either way. I was saying ditch Kmart and save Sears because Sears is the more high-profile one in my opinion, given how it anchors lots of malls whereas Kmarts are standalone stores. But they both seem to equally repel customers these days, lol!

      That's a good idea, but unfortunately I doubt it would become reality. They have had some good plans in the past, but they just all seem to die. I don't know how they can save their company when they keep ditching all of their new concepts!

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    3. Another reason why I fear this may be their last year.

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  3. Actually it will leave them with approx. 1,273 combined Sears full-line and Kmart stores after the closures.

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