Goldsboro stores not on closure list
By From staff reports
Published in News on December 30, 2011 1:46 PM
No locations in Wayne County were on the initial list of 79 Sears and Kmart retail stores that Sears Holdings aims to close, according to a release by the company Thursday.
Sears Holdings announced its aim to close between 100 and 120 locations at the same time it shared numbers indicating sales at both of the company's national chains were down this year and quarter. The release also said the company will reduce its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million and its fixed costs by $100 million in an effort to save money given the difficult economic environment it finds itself in.
Stores in North Carolina set to close include Sears locations in Rocky Mount, Morehead City and High Point. The Statesville Kmart location on Broad Street will also close.
Florida will be hit the hardest by the closings, losing 11.
Ohio, Michigan and Georgia are not far behind with six store closures planned in their states. Tennessee and Minnesota are set to lose four stores each.
A spokeswoman for Sears Holding Corp. said each store employs between 40 and 80 people.
None of the closures announced so far are in Sears' home state of Illinois.
The 125-year-old retailer said on Tuesday it would close up to 120 stores to raise cash.
The projected closings represent only about 3 percent of Sears Holdings' U.S. stores. Sears and Kmart merged in 2005. The company now has about 3,560 stores in the U.S. That's up from 3,500 immediately after the merger.