Employees will be encouraged to apply at openings at nearby Kmart stores, and eligible workers will receive a severance, she said.
While Sears Holding does not release store sales data, Freely said the closing has more to do with the company not reaching an agreement with the landlord. She said she did not know specifics on the store’s performance.
The store, at 4601 Roosevelt Blvd., is owned by Daniel G. Kamin and Middletown Eastgate LLC, according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office Web site.
To Steve Dillman, it’s just one more closing, leaving his stores that much more isolated. Dillman owns Dillman Foods and Save A Lot stores, which has a location near Kmart. Twenty-five years ago, a Target store closed near one of his stores on South University Boulevard.
“For 25 years, I have virtually been the only business in that center, virtually nothing has been redeveloped down there,” Dillman said. “Now here I am 25 years later wondering if I am going to go through the same situation again with Kmart pulling out.”
While the stores sold similar items, there was a lot of cross-shopping as residents looked for a sale. Now Dillman said he will be worried about fewer customers and being stuck next to a dilapidated, vacant building.
“I just don’t want to be put in this situation again where I am the only draw in a center that looks terrible, and there is nothing I can do about it really,” he said.
The closing is not part of a larger initiative by Sears Holding to consolidate stores, and is one of a handful of other locations that will be shuttered this year after company evaluations, Freely said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843
or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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