After Years of Rumors Kmart Finally Axes Clarion Store

CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Sears Holding Corporation has finally pulled the plug on its Clarion Kmart store.

A total of 45 Kmart stores and 18 Sears stores across the country will close by late January 2018, according to a statement issued Thursday by Sears Holdings.

“Sears Holdings continues its strategic assessment of the productivity of our Kmart and Sears store base and will continue to right size our store footprint in number and size,” the statement read.

“We will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members.”

The company said eligible employees working at the stores will receive severance packages and be given the opportunity to apply for open positions at other Kmart or Sears stores.

Liquidation sales will begin at the affected stores on November 9.

The total number of stores operated by Sears Holding has been reduced dramatically from 3,800 stores in 2006 to 1,250 as of September 2017.

In Pennsylvania, more than a dozen Kmart stores have closed in the past three years, including stores in Butler, DuBois, and Erie.

Several Sears locations have also closed also part of an effort to eliminate unprofitable stores, including one recent closure in Cranberry, Venango County.

The Clarion Mall Kmart location opened in 1980; Kmart signed a new lease in 2016 to continue to operate there.

Despite the store’s lengthy history in Clarion, rumors of a possible closure persisted and seemed to draw closer with each round of store closings announced by Sears Holding.

The store employed a total of 58 people as of mid-2016.

It is expected to close permanently on or around January 28, 2018.

Calls to the store for comment were not returned as of early Friday morning.

Years