Honesdale Kmart to close

FRITZ MAYER
Posted 1/10/18

HONESDALE, PA — The Kmart store located at 650 Old Willow Ave. is scheduled to close in early April. The announcement comes in the wake of a holiday season that saw online sales of merchandise …

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Honesdale Kmart to close

Posted

HONESDALE, PA — The Kmart store located at 650 Old Willow Ave. is scheduled to close in early April. The announcement comes in the wake of a holiday season that saw online sales of merchandise play an increasing important role in the retail sector, which Sears Holding, the parent company of Kmart, has not been able to tap into very successfully.

The company released a statement that said, “Sears Holdings continues its strategic assessment of the productivity of our Kmart and Sears store base and will continue to right-size our store footprint in number and size. In the process, as previously announced, we will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members. The company on January 4 informed associates at 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores that we will be closing these stores between early March and early April 2018.

“Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.”

At one time, Sears Holdings was the largest retailer in the country. In 2012 the company operated 2,019 stores, but through closing unprofitable stores, that number had drifted down to 1,104 at the end of 2017.

Other large retail chains that have been able to increase their online operations had a more successful year, with Kohl’s Corporation being the most visible example. The corporation struck a deal with Amazon and made other advances in online sales, and their holiday sales for 2017 were up 6.9% over the previous year.

honesdale, kmart

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