The K-Mart store on East High Street in Sanatoga
SANATOGA PA – The fate of the K-Mart department store that occupies the largest building in the Sanatoga Village shopping center on East High Street isn’t yet known, following an announcement Tuesday (Dec. 27, 2011) by its owner, Sears Holdings Corp., of plans to close up to 120 under-performing Sears and K-Mart locations.
But the local K-Mart has weathered similar storms before – it survived Sears’ last round of closings earlier this year, and others in previous years – and surely its fans hope it will do so again.
“Terrible holiday sales, during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers,” prompted Sears’ decision, according to an Associated Press story.
It noted that “Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources.” It expects to “concentrate on cash-generating stores” rather than prop up marginally performing ones. Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.
A list of the stores to be closed is expected to be made available separately.
The company, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Land’s End, has seen rival department stores like Macy’s Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. steal customers away, according to The AP. The economy, it added, put a sustained financial squeeze on Sears’ most loyal customers, those in the middle-income bracket.
Sears regularly extended its namesake’s branded products into the K-Mart retail mix. At the Sanatoga store during this year’s Christmas holiday sales, for example, Kenmore-brand appliances were on display in the electronics department, and Craftsman-branded tools were being offered in the hardware department.
Sears, based in Hoffman Estates IL, said the closings would generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.
Other coverage:
- Sources say Coventry Mall Sears among those to be closed (The Mercury)
- Sears plans to close up to 120 stores (WFMZ-TV)
I shop K mart regularly and find it more satisfying than Walmart and Target. I think that people need to think about what could be gone … a retailer that caters to the community and its needs.
We can but hope it will still be there. If it goes, the likelihood of another retailer picking up the space is very low. Which means another blighted shopping area…