Tri-Cities ‘Dodges’ First Round of Sears Bankruptcy Closings
Sears Holdings Inc. the parent company of Sears and K-Mart, announced Monday they would be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and some 142 stores will be closed, on top of 42 already announced in August.
Fortunately, the only Sears closing in our state is the one in Bellingham, but several K Marts on the west side are going away, as is the Sears in Boise, ID.
The list of closures released by the company, seen here courtesy of USA Today, does NOT include the Columbia Center Mall. Sears will still have some 687 stores, including K Marts.
Once the nation's mightiest retail outlet, Sears has fallen on hard times as online competition and pressure from Walmart, Amazon, Target and other retailers have eroded it's brand. Some say this Chapter 11 is an attempt to save some of the chain, but other experts say Sears has no 'brand name value' for any investor to step in and take over.
It is not known if more cuts will come, or if the Columbia Center store will survive. Below is a map of store closings, red is K Mart, blue is Sears.