Last area Kmart to close in January

Goodbye to the blue light special.

Sears Holding Corp. announced Thursday that in late January it will pull the plug on the last Toledo area Kmart store, located at 2830 Navarre Ave. in Oregon.

The Oregon store is part of a list of 45 Kmart and 18 Sears stores closures announced Thursday by the department store retailer, whose headquarters is in Hoffman Estates, Ill., southwest of Chicago.

The last remaining Kmart in metro Toledo on Navarre Avenue in Oregon will close in January, Sears Holding announced Thursday.

In September, Sears Holding closed its remaining full-service Sears department store in Toledo located on Central Avenue near Secor Road.

In July, Sears Holding announced it was closing the final Kmart store in Toledo, located on Alexis Road, and also the Kmart store in Monroe, Mich. After January, the only Kmart within 50 miles of Toledo will be in Fostoria. There is a Sears Outlet store on Airport Highway in Holland.

On its website Thursday, Sears Holding said the closings were part of its ongoing “strategic assessment” of its store base and that it was continuing to find the right size and number of stores to operate successfully.

Sears Holding, which recently brought back the holiday catalog at Sears, posted a second quarter loss of net loss of $251 million, or $2.34 a share, compared to a profit of $395 million or $3.70 a share, a year earlier. Its revenue for the quarter fell 22 percent to $4.37 billion, mainly because of store closures that cut $770 million from its revenues, the company said. Sears earlier this year closed 28 Kmarts and announced the closing of 150 Kmarts and Sears stores by year’s end.

In its announcement Thursday, Sears Holding said the latest round of closings slated for January is a move “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.”

The company said it informed its employees on Thursday and added that “It’s important to note that these stores will remain open to serve members during the holiday season.”

Sears Holding said that eligible employees at the Oregon stores, which has about 75 workers, will receive severance. Without any remaining Kmart or Sears stores in the area there will be no opportunity to apply for jobs within the company footprint.

Sears Holding plans to conduct liquidation sales as early as Nov. 9 at some stores to be closed.

Contact Jon Chavez at jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.