More store closings

Sadly, apparently around 13 more Kmart and 8 Sears stores are going to be closed by May 2010. News has been popping up with Sears closings in North Carolina, New Hampshire (Sears Essentials), Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and New Jersey (2); and Kmart closings in states including Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Washington, Georgia, Texas, and California. No press releases from the company website, though. Either they will release it later or they're trying to keep the bad news more hidden, though there is a PDF with a list of stores closed last year. Still no brand new stores...

Also, the DieHard brand is going to be sold outside of Sears/Kmart stores, to generate more revenues from royalties, etc. Is this the first step in dismantling the Sears portfolio of brand assets? We all know they are not investing in actual store retailing...

Next week: A brief example look at cross-town rival Target!

Update from Chicago Tribune:
Kmart plans to close 13 stores by May 9, including two in Illinois, according to parent Sears Holdings Corp.

The closings were announced to employees earlier this month and include Kmart stores outside Chicago in Woodstock and Crestwood, according to Sears spokeswoman Kimberly Freely.

Among the other stores to close are five Ohio Kmarts in Dayton, Milford, Cleveland, Eastlake and Wadsworth. Also slated to be shuttered are stores in Bremerton, Wash., Longmont, Colo., Cornersville, Ind., Bainbridge, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and Austin, Minn.

The Hoffman Estates-based retailer has been gradually closing underperforming Kmart stores for the several years.

Kmart operated 1,343 stores nationwide as of Oct. 31, down, from 1,378 stores as of Nov. 1, 2008. There were 1,445 Kmart stores 2005, the year that Kmart acquired Sears.

Separately, Sears is cutting 60 jobs at its Dodgeville, Wis.-based Lands' End division, announced internally in January, Freely said.

Also, Sears will franchise new Sears Auto Centers, with the first one opening soon in New Jersey.