Business & Tech
Sears, Kmart To Close Dozens of Stores
Four stores on the Peninsula await word about their future.
Memories of the blue-light special will dim to dark at dozens of Kmart stores across the country, as the long-time retailer joins Sears in announcing the imminent closure of over 100 outlets due to lagging sales.
Sears has stores at the Hillsdale and Tanforan malls in San Mateo and San Bruno.
Kmart has stores on 1700 South Delaware Street in San Mateo and 1155 Veterans Boulevard in Redwood City.
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Sears, which owns Kmart stores, announced on its corporate Website it would "Close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears Full-line stores. We expect these store closures to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold and we expect to generate additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related real estate. Final determination of the stores to be closed has not yet been made. The list of stores closing will be posted when final determination is made."
Citing dismal holiday season sales at its Sears and Kmart stores, Sears Holding Corp. CEO and President Lou D'Ambrosio said in an internal memo that the underperforming stores hadn't "generated the results we were seeking during the holiday."
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Shares of the parent company of Sears and Kmart fell Tuesday more than 25% once the news was announced.
Quarterly sales measured to December 25 were down 4.4% for Kmart, 6% for Sears.
Sears claims to be the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 11 million service calls made annually. Its proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard.
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