Sears/Kmart Death Watch 2018

[pseudo3d]

And the closing announcements have started....

http://searsholdings.com/docs/010418-st ... g-list.pdf

A few I am familiar with:

Lloyd Center in Portland: This has been expected.

Federal Way, WA: This store was very tired looking. The mall seems to be rebounding though as they have recently added a new Kohl's as well as Dick's Sporting Goods. This space could be redeveloped fairly soon.

Chehalis, WA (Double Whammy) The Sears doesn't surprise me as it is pretty much the ONLY anchor in the Lewis County Mall, which isn't really much of a mall. The Kmart I am surprised by though, as they remodeled and reopened after the store was flooded about 10 years ago, and it's the only store near me to have the current signage. I was surprised by the fact they remodeled with a big Walmart nearby, but this was right next to I-5 and had excellent visibility, and was one of the nicer Kmarts left around here.

Mandeville, LA is a decent area and is right across from where the Albertsons closed (for the second time) for a Whole Foods. The real estate is ripe for Albertsons' return to the area.

Austin, TX is a Sears Grand. Interestingly, there's a much older Sears near I-35 closer to the city core (next to H-E-B at Hancock Center). It should be noted that this is also a declining area retail-wise, and Sears outlasted the SuperTarget(!) in the same area by two years.

Houston, TX is West Oaks Mall, which is a declining part of town and has been deteriorating since Memorial City Mall did a major remodel. The store (100,000 square feet) was built as a Saks Fifth Avenue and I believe that the Sears store began as a prototype in 1990 that only sold apparel.

[wnetmacman]

A few I know about:
Mandeville, LA is in a pretty affluent area, and until recently was pretty busy. Not real sure what happened there, unless it's just an end of lease situation.

Marion, IL/West Frankfort, IL/Mount Vernon, IL: Sears and 2 Kmarts. Leaves ALL of Southern IL without a Sears-owned store. Massive loss of coverage, including the fact that the Group 9 Kmart is the only game in West Frankfort.

Tucumcari, NM: similar situation; Group 9 Kmart that's the only game in town. Big loss.

[reymann]

kmart in arroyo grande is latest fatality, that could be prime real estate for target or possibly sprouts to get into the five cities area. the bankruptcy clock begins for sears at this point.

[storewanderer]

This is definitely a pretty significant set of closures, yet again.

I am a little shocked to see some stores not on the list. I'll keep from calling out stores that I think should be closed... we will see what other news the coming months bring. Something tells me a remodeling program and infusion of inventory for the remaining stores is not what the coming months will bring. Unless it is additional merchandise brought in by liquidators.

[jamcool]

The Tolleson AZ store is the last store in Metro Phoenix. With the store in Show Low closing also I believe K Mart is done in Arizona

[Super S]

When Chehalis locations close, there will be a stretch of I-5 from Lacey to Vancouver with no full-line Sears store. And an even bigger stretch from Portland north with no Kmart presence.

Sears, and more so Kmart, are getting to the point that, if they do survive, are going to do so as regional chains.

And, if anybody from Sears/Kmart is reading this: PLEASE STOP WITH REFERRING TO CUSTOMERS AS MEMBERS. The whole "membership" gag is clearly not working. Too late now though....

[jamcool]

I imagine the Kmart in Tolleson will become a site for a Latino supermarket

[babs]

I'm not sure if all you guys are realizing that the reason there is no rhyme or reason to which Kmarts are closing is that it's being based on when leases expire and not on any business or geographic considerations. This chain is being shut down store by store so that he doesn't lose out in BK court by lease obligations. It's never been done like this before but Eddie knows what he's doing to maximize what he can suck out of this company.

As for Sears it's not as obvious. I think he thinks he can take it down to a 300 or fewer store chain to supplement their online business. Just by keeping their top stores. It will not work but he can dream.

[storewanderer]

I know of a marginally performing Group 9 Kmart (yes Kmart, this one never even got the Big Kmart reset) in rural northern California that signed a lease extension in 2016 for another I believe 5 years... they aren't breaking all of the leases...

[Knight]

EVERY store nearing the end of a lease is a candidate for closure...this excuse has been used many times already. And there are some still open 50+ year old Kmarts out there that somehow keep escaping the closing lists.

There will not be many Kmart stores to close in the future. Stores that have escape rounds of closings could be on a list soon.