The East State Street Kmart in Rockford and four Sears stores elsewhere in Illinois have been targeted by Sears Holdings to close in early September.
The Kmart store on Sandy Hollow Road in Rockford closed in early April this year. A Kmart store formerly located at Riverside Boulevard and Forest Hills Road closed more than a decade ago and was replaced by a Sears Essentials store, which closed in 2011.
While reporting a net loss of $424 million in its quarterly report this morning, Sears Holdings announced it had identified 100 unprofitable stores across the country, “72 of which will begin store closing sales in the near future.”
A list of 15 Kmart stores and 48 Sears stores was posted on the corporate website early this afternoon. The announcement included this statement:
“We continue to evaluate our network of stores, which are a critical component in our transformation, and will make further adjustments as needed and as warranted.”
It said a small group of stores was pulled from the closing list of 72 stores Thursday because they still are being evaluated.
The announcement stated that “eligible associates … will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.”
Sears Auto Centers at the affected stores in Aurora, Gurnee, Vernon Hills and Springfield will close in June and July, with the rest of the operations planned to shut down in September. Liquidation sales will begin as early as June 14 at the closing stores.