Attention Kmart shoppers in Queens: You’re losing another “blue light special” store.
The Kmart store in Rosedale at 253-01 Rockaway Blvd., near the Nassau/Queens border, is among the 72 Kmart and Sears department stores nationwide slated for closure this summer, as announced on Thursday. Liquidation sales are slated to begin on or about June 14, and the doors will permanently close in September.
Sears Holdings Inc., parent company of Kmart and Sears, disclosed the latest round of store closings on May 31 as part of its quarterly earnings report. Like many other brick-and-mortar stores, the chains have suffered precipitous losses in sales with greater competition online.
In recent years, dozens of Kmart and Sears stores have shuttered across the United States as the company sought to stop the bleeding. Among the casualties was the Sears store in Rego Park, which closed last year.
Sears Holdings deemed the Rosedale Kmart and the other Kmart and Sears stores slated for closure this summer as being “non-profitable.” Eligible employees at the Rosedale Kmart will receive severance packages and have the opportunity to fill open positions at other Sears and Kmart stores in the New York City area.
“We continue to evaluate our network of stores, which are a critical component in our transformation, and will make further adjustments as needed and as warranted,” according to a Sears Holdings statement.
Spared from the latest round of closures, however, is the Middle Village Kmart, located at 66-26 Metropolitan Ave. Once the Rosedale Kmart store closes for good, it will be the last Kmart left in Queens.
The Middle Village Kmart has already outlasted its next door neighbor, Toys R Us, which closed earlier this year as the national chain went bankrupt.
