Sears and Kmart to close more than 120 stores by January

[OnlinePoker]

Sears plans to close at least 121 stores by January.

Business Insider reported last month that Sears was planning to close at least 60 stores by the end of the year, in addition to a round of 26 closings that the company had previously announced.

We have since confirmed additional closures based on company filings and statements to local media outlets. Employees at several affected stores confirmed the closings when reached by phone.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-and-kmart-to-close-more-than-120-stores-by-january/ar-AAILQm2

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The slow death continues.

[regnaD kciN]

1. Wow...Northridge Fashion Center in L.A. and Everett Mall up here...

And, while it’s one thing to say it sucks to be Sears, losing an “anchor store” is often enough to send an entire mall into an irreversible decline…and the surrounding area as well.

I’m thinking the Everett Mall could be in really bad shape. It was designed as a three-armed structure with an anchor at each end. Sears was one of them; Frederick & Nelson was another original tenant and closed many years ago; its successor in that space, Mervyn’s California, likewise folded. Now, there’s a Burlington Coat Factory in that space, which is generally an omen for a mall in deep trouble. The third “arm” used to be anchored by a Bon Marche, which was eventually acquired by Allied Stores and rebranded as Macy’s. But Macy’s itself has been closing stores in the Seattle area…

It’s not a surprise that malls have been in dire straits in recent years, but the notion that Everett (which is a distinct city at the north end of the Seattle metroplex) might lose its retail center is absolutely stunning to me. But most malls in the Seattle area had Sears as one of their anchor tenants (and several were anchored by both Sears and JCPenney’s, another chain rumored to be in deep trouble). If Sears winds up folding entirely (and, worse, if Penney’s follows), we could be seeing the retailpocalypse up here.

[Freddie]

2. The closest Sears to me was spared

This time. One of the anchors at Montgomery Mall in suburban Philly. Lived 10 minutes from there in the 90s when my kids were little and bought all their clothes there; nice quality, good prices. Hope it lives a little longer.