Local K-Mart, Sears Stores Survive Second Round of Closures

The company that owns the K-Mart store in Stafford and Sears and K-Mart retail outlets elsewhere in Ocean County announced the closing of more stores throughout the country last week, but no local sites are affected.

In December, Sears Holding  in the future. At that time, no stores from New Jersey were on the list.

Of the 15 added to the list of store closures this month, only the Kmart on Route 206 in Hillsborough came from the garden state.

A press release issued by the company at the time said both brands lost money during the fourth quarter and during 2011. That loss is being attributed to "decreases in the consumer electronics and apparel categories," according to the release. Another contributing factor was a drop in sales of "consumer electronics and home appliance categories." Sales of items like apparel were also flat, which did not help the company's situation.

In light of the losses, Chief Executive Officer Lou D'Ambrosio said changes will need to be made. "Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model."

According to the company, any further announcements of closures will be posted on their website.