49 Told Jobs Will Be Cut When Sears Closes At Ocean County Mall

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Sears Holdings issued layoff notices to 49 employees when it announced the Ocean County Mall location would be among more than 100 Sears and Kmarts closing by April, according to information filed with the New Jersey Department of Labor.

The information was included in a report on WARN notices that were distributed by a number of companies in New Jersey this month.

More than 2,000 jobs are being cut by companies including JCPenney, Sam's Club, and Allergan, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 requires companies with 100 or more employees to provide 60-day advance notifications for plant closings and mass layoffs of employees. WARN notices also are required when an entire unit or store is closed down.

Sears had announced plans in November to close 60 stores in early 2018, according to a USA Today report. Those stores were set to close this month. The new list of closures is in addition to the 63 announced in November. The retailer closed 358 locations in 2017, according to a report by Clark.com, a website that focuses on consumer news.

Sears, in the announcement, said eligible employees will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at other area Kmart or Sears stores. The majority of the jobs are part-time positions, according to a CNBC report.

Liquidation sales at the Ocean County Mall store began in mid-January and the automotive center there was shut down.

It leaves Simon Properties, the owner of the mall, with a huge space to fill — more than 100,000 square feet.

Patch readers have had a number of suggestions to fill the space, including discount fashion retailer Primark; a Wegman's or Trader Joe's; Cabela's, which caters to outdoors enthusiasts; and Dave and Buster's, a combination restaurant and giant arcade.

The mall appears to be poised to add another restaurant soon; an application that will be before the Toms River Planning Board for final approval next week proposes building a BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse on a separate pad near the Sears end of the mall.

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