Dover Sears, Macy's, escape latest round of store closings

A Delaware store at Price's Corner is on the closure list.

The Sears and Macy’s stores at the Dover Mall again have been spared the ax.

Sears Holdings on Jan. 4 announced the shuttering of 39 Sears stores throughout the country as well as the closing of an additional 64 Kmart stores.

The same day, Macy’s announced it would shut down 11 stores this year, despite good sales over the holidays. In 2017 the company said it would be closing 100 stores overall, 68 that year with more to be announced.

Delaware did not entirely escape the closings fever, however, as Sears plans to shutter its Prices Corner store at 3240 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington.

That location will close down by the end of January, according to the company. Liquidation sales will begin as early as Jan. 12.

In its statement, company officials said all of the selected locations will go dark by early April.

“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,” read the statement.

“In the process, as previously announced 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.”

Eligible store workers will receive severance packages and can apply for jobs at other locations.

Sears, which once had a near monopoly in retail and catalog sales across the nation, has struggled in recent years. The company listed more than 3,500 locations in North America only 12 years ago; by the last quarter of 2017, that number was down to a little fewer than 950.

The announcement continues the trend of e-commerce taking business away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores and malls.

The Macy’s closures brings the company’s total listing of lost stores to 79. The remainder have yet to be announced.

Thursday

A Delaware store at Price's Corner is on the closure list.

Jeff Brown; jeff.brown@doverpost.com; @DoPoJeff

The Sears and Macy’s stores at the Dover Mall again have been spared the ax.

Sears Holdings on Jan. 4 announced the shuttering of 39 Sears stores throughout the country as well as the closing of an additional 64 Kmart stores.

The same day, Macy’s announced it would shut down 11 stores this year, despite good sales over the holidays. In 2017 the company said it would be closing 100 stores overall, 68 that year with more to be announced.

Delaware did not entirely escape the closings fever, however, as Sears plans to shutter its Prices Corner store at 3240 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington.

That location will close down by the end of January, according to the company. Liquidation sales will begin as early as Jan. 12.

In its statement, company officials said all of the selected locations will go dark by early April.

“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,” read the statement.

“In the process, as previously announced 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.”

Eligible store workers will receive severance packages and can apply for jobs at other locations.

Sears, which once had a near monopoly in retail and catalog sales across the nation, has struggled in recent years. The company listed more than 3,500 locations in North America only 12 years ago; by the last quarter of 2017, that number was down to a little fewer than 950.

The announcement continues the trend of e-commerce taking business away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores and malls.

The Macy’s closures brings the company’s total listing of lost stores to 79. The remainder have yet to be announced.