Sears-Kmart Death Watch

[Molandfreak]

Well there you have it.

https://www.courant.com/2024/09/23/kmarts-blue-light-fades-to-black-with-the-shuttering-of-its-last-full-scale-us-store/

Wait a minute -- So is the Miami one opened or not?

Yes, the Kmart in Miami is still open*...

*It has been downsized and moved into the former Kmart's garden center (think of the size of Walgreens/CVS). The store is now taken up by At Home!

Just a question, why is that store still open?  Is it a part of the lease that to make money from the sublease they have to actually have an open K-Mart there?  That would fit Lambert's MO.

I read somewhere that they need to have an open location in order to keep the registered name. Why someone else would want to use that name is beyond me.

It could be a decent opportunity for someone to capitalize on the nostalgia some folks have from when the company had better management.

Why would they have to keep a store open to keep a trademarked name? Bed Bath & Beyond closed all of their physical stores, but they retain the name for online sales.

[Stephane Dumas]

I never heard of Korvettes until now.  I see, they were an eastern U.S. chain, while I've lived in the west.

About the Korevette chain, here what I saw on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Korvette#Korvette_name_in_Canada

In the absence of the U.S. Korvette chain in Canada, a discount store chain was launched in Quebec in 1958 using the name "Korvette Stores Limited" (now "Les Magasins Korvette Ltée") without any affiliation to the American company. The chain still exists today and operates 71 discount stores as of May 2015.

[gonealookin]

Somehow we still have a local Kmart, the South Lake Tahoe store at the north junction of US 50 and CA 89, but the (long overdue) date of impending death has finally been announced.

The store, located at 1056 Emerald Bay Road, is scheduled to begin the closing process with a sale on Thursday, June 17, and is anticipated to shutter for good on Sunday, Aug. 22, said an email to the Tribune.

The South Lake Tahoe Kmart space was dead from August 22, 2021 until April 26, 2025.  The new tenant which opened for business on that date is "Sierra", the mostly outdoor-activity oriented clothing chain that's a part of TJ Maxx and used to be known as "Sierra Trading Post".

[Great Lakes Roads]

This Kmart store on St. Croix, USVI will be closing for good on August 8th. Down to 4 Kmart stores left within the US!

2 on St. Thomas, USVI
1 in Miami, FL
1 in Guam

[RobbieL2415]

I'm honestly just surprised that TransformCo hasn't given up. They have four stores and albeit a larger handful of Sears stores, but what are they doing? Are they really profitable now?

This strategy of hanging on by a thread makes no sense. Close the remains stores, sell the assets and intellectual property to a private equity firm, and be done!

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm honestly just surprised that TransformCo hasn't given up. They have four stores and albeit a larger handful of Sears stores, but what are they doing? Are they really profitable now?

This strategy of hanging on by a thread makes no sense. Close the remains stores, sell the assets and intellectual property to a private equity firm, and be done!

I take it you are unacquainted with the massive ego of one Eddie Lampert?

[Ted$8roadFan]

There'll be plenty of nostalgia websites, Facebook pages, forums, etc. to keep the memory of Sears and Kmart alive when they finally do go under.

[brad2971]

I'm honestly just surprised that TransformCo hasn't given up. They have four stores and albeit a larger handful of Sears stores, but what are they doing? Are they really profitable now?

This strategy of hanging on by a thread makes no sense. Close the remains stores, sell the assets and intellectual property to a private equity firm, and be done!

Because the main job of Transformco at this point is to be a landlord. Followed by its second job: Selling properties in order to maintain a cash hoard. There's still quite a few properties in Transformco's hands, judging by this list: https://transformcoproperties.com/properties-list-view/

[Great Lakes Roads]

Another Kmart store on the USVI is closing for good on August 16th.

Only 3 Kmart stores left within the US!

1 on St. Thomas, USVI
1 in Miami, FL
1 in Guam

Also, the Sears store in Whitter, CA is closing for good on July 26th.

Only 7 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
PR- 1 (San Juan)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

[Dirt Roads]

Also, the Sears store in Whitter, CA is closing for good on July 26th.

Only 7 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
PR- 1 (San Juan)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

Yep, but the Burbank store was reopened in October 2023 after previously closing (plus the one in Union Gap, Washington that reopened a few weeks after Burbank reopened ended up closing again less than a year later).

[SectorZ]

Another Kmart store on the USVI is closing for good on August 16th.

Only 3 Kmart stores left within the US!

1 on St. Thomas, USVI
1 in Miami, FL
1 in Guam

Also, the Sears store in Whitter, CA is closing for good on July 26th.

Only 7 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
PR- 1 (San Juan)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

I'll have to make a pilgrimage to the Braintree location soon. I did during the winter (I think after Christmas) and it was mostly just open space with scattered areas of items that could be condensed into something 1/4 the area.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The Sears store at the Plaza Las Américas mall in San Juan, PR will be closing for good on August 31st.

Only 6 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

[gonealookin]

Only 6 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)

Most of my elementary school clothes came from that Sears in Concord, in the Sunvalley Mall which opened in the late 1960s, so I'm glad to have that little bit of a tie to American retail history.

I can still smell the caramel corn they sold at the stand in that store.  If I behaved while Mom did the shopping I got some to eat on the way home.

[Brandon]

The Sears store at the Plaza Las Américas mall in San Juan, PR will be closing for good on August 31st.

Only 6 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

The "World's Longest Going Out of Business Sale" is finally nearing its end.  A hell of a lot longer than I originally supposed.

[kphoger]

When there's a single store remaining, it should change its name to 'Sear'.

[Henry]

When there's a single store remaining, it should change its name to 'Sear'.

LOL, good one!

[kalvado]

The Sears store at the Plaza Las Américas mall in San Juan, PR will be closing for good on August 31st.

Only 6 Sears stores left within the US!

Number of Sears stores left in each state
CA- 2 (Burbank and Concord)
FL- 2 (Miami and Orlando)
MA- 1 (Braintree)
TX- 1 (El Paso)

The "World's Longest Going Out of Business Sale" is finally nearing its end.  A hell of a lot longer than I originally supposed.

But it can end any decade now!