The Dover K Mart store will close in July as the discount chain continues to shrink.
Company officials have not commented on the closing, but employees have been telling customers they have been informed about the decision by the company.
The Delaware State News reported that the store employs about 100. It is one of a half-dozen K marts in Delaware.
James Waddington, who heads the Kent Economic Partnership, a nonprofit economic development agency, said the county’s Levy Court is eager to hold a job fair in conjunction with the Delaware Department of Labor for K Mart employees.
Sears Holdings operates both the Sears and K Mart chains and has been closing stores, due to disappointing sales and an inability to compete with Target, Wal Mart and other “big box” chains.
The company has attempted to bring Sears’ strongest brands, including Craftsman and Kenmore appliances into Kmart stores.
Analysts have long seen the viewed of the two chains as a real estate play, given the number of stores are in potentially valuable locations. One such location is near Rehoboth Beach and the Tanger outlet complex.
The Dover store on DuPont Highway is not as much of a prime location in an overbuilt retail area.
Control of Kmart was gained in the early 2000s by hedge fund operator Edward Lampert, who later worked to integrate the companies.
Some on Wall Street believe that Lampert, while seeking a turnaround of the aging retailers to buy time, sees the sale of real estate assets as an underlying goal.
Those plans may have been delayed by the recession of 2008 and 2009 and a large supply of retail space that persists, due to a weaker recovery and more people buying goods online. Sears, despite having a premier catalog operation, could not make the online transition and shuttered the once massive business many years ago.
The Dover area has two Wall Mart stores, as well as a Target. Sears has a store in Dover Mall.
Comments are closed.