Hawaii Island Sears and Kmart stores don’t appear to be on the chopping block, and a company representative said that all stores that are part of the latest round of closures nationwide have already been notified.
A report compiled by Seeking Alpha reveals the struggling retail giant will close more than 100 stores over the next few months, including 30 department stores, 31 Sears Auto Centers and 55 Kmart stores. The company closed 75 Kmart stores and 21 Sears outlets earlier this year.
More than 6,000 layoffs are expected from the closures, according to Seeking Alpha, a crowd-sourced content service that covers financial markets.
The company has sought to cut costs to counter falling sales and has shed several hundred stores over the past few years in a bid to become a member-driven retailer. Indiana and Pennsylvania have been particularly hard hit, with eight store closing in each of those states, according to Seeking Alpha, which did not list any Hawaii outlets but continued to add other stores to its list as it updated Thursday.
Kailua-Kona has a Sears Hometown store and a Kmart; a Sears store and service center is located in Hilo. There are nine Sears and seven Kmart stores statewide.
Sears disputes the list of closures, saying the count isn’t accurate. But the company hasn’t released a clarifying list. Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings, has told reporters there is no list of closures available, and that store counts will be revealed in a third quarter report in November.
“As we have previously communicated, adjusting our physical footprint to focus on our best performing locations is a core component of our transformation,” Riefs said in an email responding to a West Hawaii Today inquiry.
“While this has resulted in store closures where appropriate — decisions that we do not take lightly — we continue to have a substantial nationwide footprint with a presence in many of the top malls in the country,” Riefs said.
Daniel Jacobs, owner of Sears Hometown &Outlet in Kailua-Kona, said he would be concerned by any Sears closure that would leave service contracts up in the air and island residents with few options. Jacobs noted his store is not owned by Sears Holdings but has a sister company arrangement.
Sears and the discount chain Kmart merged in 2005. Riefs pointed out that company still has a huge presence, with nearly 2,500 stores and 200,000 employees.