Sears Holdings Says It's Shuttering More Michigan Kmart, Sears Stores

Four more Michigan Kmart and Sears stores, one of them in the Tri-County area, will close in January 2015, bringing to a dozen the number that will be closed in the state over a six-month period, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Kmart stores in Ann Arbor and Iron Mountain, and Sears stores in Bay City and Warren join five previously announced stores that Kmart, owned by Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears Holdings plans to shutter. Together, the four stores employ 265 people

The previously announced stores – in Burton, Flint, Madison Heights, Port Huron and Rochester – are expected to close in December, leaving 610 employees without jobs. Liquidation sales are currently underway.

Earlier this year, Kmart closed a store in Detroit and another one in Southgate

Kmart is also closing several stores in three other states, including Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The latest announced closings brings to 55 the number of Kmart stores operating in Michigan, where the chain has deep roots. Kmart was founded by Sebastian Spering Kresge in Detroit in 1899, and became one of America’s largest retailers when it filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 22, 2002. It was headquartered in Troy.