WEST ORANGE, NJ — It was announced Nov. 7 that the Kmart in West Orange Plaza will be closed sometime in the next few months, part of a larger announcement that 51 Sears stores and 45 Kmart stores will be closing. The West Orange Kmart is the only New Jersey location affected in this round of closures; this announcement comes just two months after the company announced that it was closing stores in Wayne, Trenton, Wall and Somers Point. In the past few years, hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores have closed.
“Since purchasing substantially all the assets of Sears Holdings Corporation in February 2019, Transformco has faced a difficult retail environment and other challenges,” read the Nov. 7 press release from Transformco, the company that owns all Sears and Kmart stores. “We have been working hard to position Transformco for success by focusing on our competitive strengths and pruning operations that have struggled due to increased competition and other factors. To support these initiatives, our owners — along with a third-party investor — have recently provided the company approximately $250 million in new capital.
“As part of this process, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to streamline our operations and close 96 Sears and Kmart stores. Going out of business sales at these stores are expected to begin on Dec. 2,” the release continued. “Following these closures, Transformco will operate 182 stores. We will continue to evaluate our Sears and Kmart footprint, consistent with our overall retail and service strategy.”
According to the release, these 96 stores will be closed by February 2020.
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