RELATED: This Grocery Chain Is Shutting Down. Two years after being purchased out of bankruptcy along with Sears, Kmart continues to shrink its once large footprint by closing down even more locations. The company is keeping up with a list of sweeping closures that were announced in late 2019, leaving only 16 locations of the superstore remaining after liquidation sales set to take place through November, USA Today reports. The shuttering of even more Kmart locations comes as parent company Transformco continues its plan to salvage the two retail giants. As part of the process, the company will also be closing all but 19 of the remaining Sears department stores after a similar round of liquidation. The shocking decline shows a significant change from the start of 2010 when Sears had more than 3,900 stores. Nearly a decade later, the number had shrunk to 489 by the beginning of 2019. Numbers dwindled even further by the end of Jan. 2021 when there were just 36 Sears department stores left in operation. During the same time period, Kmart had dropped from 360 in 2019 to 30 in 2021, according to Forbes.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb RELATED: This Beloved Store Is Closing 65 Locations. While the days of Kmart and Sears megastores dotting the landscape may be over, the brands themselves may not be going away entirely just yet. In a statement to USA Today, Transformco said that its “go-forward store strategy for Sears and Kmart is to operate a diversified portfolio consisting of a small number of larger, premier stores with a larger number of small-format stores.” The company says this includes the more than 300 Hometown Stores that are currently open, which are “primarily operated by independent dealers or franchisees of an affiliate of Transformco.” For more retail news sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. The latest round of closures may not spell the end for the one-time retail giants, but for devoted customers in some states, it does appear to be the final chapter. Notably, Sears will see its last department store in its home state shutter when its location at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, closes on Nov. 14. The announced upcoming closures will also affect Kmart shoppers in the New York City area. After recently losing its last Manhattan location, both Brooklyn and White Plains will shutter locations in the coming weeks, leaving the Empire state with only three stores standing. RELATED: Old Navy Just Got Rid of This Permanently.
