LIHUE — The Kmart at the Kukui Grove Center is not one of the stores Sears Holdings Corp. will be closing this summer. Citing declining sales, the company announced last week that 68 Kmart locations will be closed by the
LIHUE — The Kmart at the Kukui Grove Center is not one of the stores Sears Holdings Corp. will be closing this summer.
Citing declining sales, the company announced last week that 68 Kmart locations will be closed by the end of the summer, according to The Associated Press.
Lihue resident Francis Nishizawa said if the store had closed, he would start shopping at Wal-Mart.
“Wal-Mart has good deals too,” he said.
Nishizawa, who was shopping at Kmart on Thursday, said he shops at Kmart and Wal-Mart for everything.
“I only go to Walmart and Kmart,” he said.
But another Kmart shopper, Jennifer, said she wouldn’t be happy about going to Wal-Mart, if that was the only option.
“I hate Wal-Mart,” she said. “If this store closed, I’d be reduced to go, but I’d be going in the wee hours of the morning to avoid the crowds.”
During the fourth-quarter, Kmart revenue fell to 7.2 percent.
Sears Holdings has struggled for years with weakening sales, unable to keep up with companies like Home Depot and Wal-Mart, AP said.
“The decision to close stores is a difficult but necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our company, fund our transformation and restore Sears Holdings to profitability,” said Edward S. Lampert, chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings in a statement.
The company expects the closures to generate cash from the liquidation of store inventory and from the sale of related real estate.
