 Image from WLOS.com On Aug. 23rd after more than 30 years of business, Kmart on Patton Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina announced its closing due to Sears chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. As you may know, Kmart is owned by Sears so it impacts them too. The filing caused the closing of 142 of their “worst-performing” stores as an attempt to stabilize their finances this year, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times. Leaving only 687 Sears and Kmart stores remaining. Due to the losses that Sears is suffering from, it also closed its Sears store in the Asheville Mall on July 2018 and the Kmart store on Tunnel Road on January 2019.
Now Kmart is coming out with sales of up to 30% off everything and other sales as well, and will attempt to sell after closing down. Why Is Sears Bankrupt? Sears CEO Edward S. Lampert is losing money fast. After Sears “spent $5.8 billion buying back shares from 2005 to 2010,” according to Business Insider. Not only that, but Edward also blamed the decline on “shifts in consumer spending to the rise of e-commerce, and even — at times — the weather", according to Business Insider. After 1969, which was Sears peak, Kmart had a huge impact from online shopping. Causing their sales to drop and a downfall in the past 50 years. Kmart and Sears are not the only stores that got hit by online retailing, Toys- R-Us is an outcome of what online shopping can cause. Because of online shopping, fewer parents shopped at stores and instead they started buying off of Amazon or Ebay, which is more convenient for them. Causing Toys-R -Us to also have a downfall. That applies to Sears and other stores too. New Developments According to City-Data, a Publix store will open as a replacement for Kmart. It will be a good addition to the community as a replacement for Kmart. Since that Kmart wasn't as good according to a comment on City-Data. Explaining how there was poor customer service and the store had an “old smell." Overall, Kmart will be missed and e-commerce will continue its path, impacting large businesses such as Sears and Toys-R-Us. Hopefully, with a new Publix, we can see new things coming our way in Asheville. Story by Doni Palma-Roberto |
