Kmart Store In Bridgeview Slated To Close This Fall

BRIDGEVIEW, IL — Another Kmart is biting the dust, this one in Bridgeview, leaving just one location remaining in Illinois. Transform Holdco, the entity that purchased Sears and Kmart in a bankruptcy sale last February, announced that it would close 26 large-format Sears and Kmart stores from late October through mid-November.

The retailers' parent company, Transform Holdco, headed by former Sears CEO and largest shareholder Edward Lampert, said in a news release that it would be accelerating efforts on opening more smaller-format stores:

"After careful review of where we are today, we believe the right course for the company is to accelerate the expansion of our smaller store formats which includes opening additional Home & Life stores and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores after the Sears Hometown and Outlet transaction closes."

Two Chicago-region Sears stores in Bloomingdale's Stratford Square Mall, and the Southlake Mall in Merrillville, Indiana, are slated for closure this year. Liquidation sales are planned at both locations, and other locations throughout the country. The demise of brick-and-mortar stores is blamed on consumers migrating to the web and away from malls and shopping centers.

The Kmart store in Bridgeview, located at 7325 W 79th St., will start liquidation sales later this month. No plans have been announced to close the Sears stores at Chicago Ridge Mall. The only Kmart store remaining open in Illinois is in Des Plaines.