Sears Holdings Corp. (ticker: SHLD) announced the closure of 150 stores Thursday — 108 Kmart locations and 42 Sears stores — but many on Twitter didn’t even know Kmart was still around at all.
Like others in the retail industry, the company is facing steep competition from the likes of juggernaut Amazon.com (AMZN), reports CNN Money. Additionally, Sears announced it would be selling its Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker (SWK).
It’s unclear how many people will lose their jobs because of the closings. The company shuttered 78 stores in 2016 after closing more than 200 the year before.
Kmart employees told Business Insider toward the end of 2016 the company announced it would shut down more than 30 Sears and Kmart stores “in early 2017.”
The pending Kmart closures in particular are something that CEO Eddie Lampert acknowledged could happen last October, saying that if unprofitable stores don’t improve the company would close them. But that doesn’t mean the store is going away. “I can tell you that there are no plans and there have never been any plans to close the Kmart format,” Lampert wrote in a blog post at the time.
“The decision to close stores is a difficult but necessary step as we take actions to strengthen the company’s operations and fund its transformation,” Lampert added in a statement Thursday.
However, despite Lampert’s statement, some were shocked to learn Kmart still existed at all.
#BreakingNews: There are still (at least) 150 Sears and Kmart stores open. pic.twitter.com/VNHiPgxklH
— lake (@Nashramento)
Why are #Sears and #Kmart still open at all? I expected them to not exist a long time ago. #weird
— Tim (@prjkthack)
There are 6 Kmart and/or Sears locations still open in Central Ohio? https://t.co/cBmbD13vrt
— 2017 Derek (@dzack1)
Kmart still exists? How? https://t.co/13qulGkGSm
— antisocialista (@antisocialista)
Kmart still open? https://t.co/8r8kFmClsq
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt)
Color me surprised. @Kmart still exists in this day and age. https://t.co/MRU7sxaBTp
— Tim Millard (@Raunchola)
I think its funny how people are surprised kmart is closing… like name a time you went there and you saw more than 5 people there? pic.twitter.com/h7w4L1Eik6
— Noah Sander (@NoahSander)
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Twitter Users Are Surprised That Kmart Is Still Open originally appeared on usnews.com
