Honolulu will be losing another Kmart store this year.
The Kmart in Waikele Center is one of 64 stores that parent company Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close in mid-December, according to Business Insider. Liquidation sales will begin Thursday, the publication reported.
Information is not readily available on the number of employees affected, as the Illinois-based parent company has not yet notified the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Workforce Development Division of the impending closure.
The closure of the Waikele Center Kmart follows the March shutdown of the Kmart store in Iwilei, which affected more than 140 workers. That store had operated at its Nimitz Highway location since 1992. Now, the site is slated to undergo a $19.7 million redevelopment that would split the large space into a Longs Drugs, PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less.
This latest slew of closings by Sears Holdings comes in addition to a push earlier this year to eliminate 68 Kmarts and 10 Sears stores, according to Bloomberg News. The company had 941 Kmart locations as of January, so the two rounds would winnow the chain by about 14 percent, Bloomberg reported.
“We continue to face a challenging competitive environment, and while we continue to focus on our overall profitability, including managing expenses, we reported a net loss for the second quarter,” Edward Lampert, Sears Holdings’ chairman and chief executive officer, said in an Aug. 25 earnings release.
Lampert said at the time that the company was encouraged by year-over-year improvement in its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization. He said the company remained focused on “our best stores, our best members and our best categories to drive our business and enhance the member experience.”
Stephany Sofos, an Oahu-based retail analyst, said national big-box stores like Kmart and Sears have struggled as the rise of e-commerce has shifted traffic from malls and department stores. When Waikele Center first opened in the 1990s, Sofos said, it was the state’s first shopping center to boast plenty of big-box national stores.
“It was really successful for its first 10 years,” she said. “Now, the bigger stores are having an issue with all of the increased competition, especially online.”
The same trends resulted in the closure of Hawaii’s Sports Authority locations in August. The closure of the Waikele Center location left a more than 50,000-square-foot void, said Mike Hamasu, director of consulting and research for Colliers International.