A woman walks in front of Sears at the Lewis County Mall Thursday afternoon in Chehalis.
Shoppers walk towards the K-Mart in Chehalis in 2011.
The Chehalis Sears and Kmart locations will close in 2018.
That news was included in an announcement from Sears Holdings Thursday that 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores will close this year. The Chehalis locations are both expected to close in early April.
The Chehalis Kmart is the only location slated for closure in Washington. On Thursday afternoon, employees were still coming to terms with the announcement.
“They just told me when I got here, but I had a feeling. In fact, I thought it would be closed by the end of the month,” Kmart employee Nichole Haight told The Chronicle.
She noted that some merchandise had already been marked down for quick sale. She added that the location is no longer allowing returns, check cashing services, money orders or lottery ticket sales.
“We’re going to get in two more trucks and then that’s it,” she said.
Haight estimated that about 40 people are employed at Kmart in Chehalis.
“They told me there are opportunities to transfer to other stores but the nearest Kmart store to here is Gresham. That won’t work for me,” said Haight. She added that in the meantime, “They’ve promised as many hours as we want.”
Over at Sears in the Lewis County Mall, Store Manager Lisa Lizotte indicated that employees had been alerted to the impending store closure on Thursday morning.
“They are just anticipating that it will remain open until April. Of course that depends on the liquidation process and how long that takes,” said Lizotte. “There will be a liquidation company that comes in and does a sale. They do the pricing as far as the percentages off go. My understanding is they start with a certain percentage and then they go down. Everything will be sold. Fixturing down to everything.”
Lizotte noted that Sears currently employees 32 people and that many of them have stayed with the company for many years, if not decades.
“I can tell you that I’ve been in the store for half of my life, 25 years,” said Lizotte. “It is definitely a family. Absolutely, without a doubt, it is very heart wrenching to see this happen to us and the community.”
Neither Sears or Kmart is offering assistance to employees in their quest for new employment beyond the option to put in for a transfer to another store.
“We have other stores that are going to remain open within our area, so they will be able to, if they are wanting to transfer those options are definitely available to them,” said Lizotte.
With limited opportunities to transfer employment for the more than 70 local workers expected to hit the job market in the next four months, WorkSource Lewis County, which is also located in the Lewis County Mall, is expecting to see a wave of new clients.
“Definitely, they can come here for help with a job search,” said Marcella Willis, a job counselor at WorkSource Lewis County.
Willis noted that the unemployment rate in Lewis County is currently hovering around 5 percent, which is low for the recent average. It hit an all time low late last year. She believes that the job market is primed to absorb the bulk of those workers who will wind up displaced by the closure of Kmart and Sears.
“It’s a really good market for job searchers. Employers are really having a hard time finding quality employees to fill their positions,” said Willis.
A full list of Kmart and Sears locations set to close can be viewed online at: searsholdings.com/docs/010418-store-closing-list.pdf
A statement from Sears Holdings, which owns both Sears and KMart, read: "Sears Holdings continues its strategic assessment of the productivity of our Kmart and Sears store base and will continue to right size our store footprint in number and size. In the process, as previously announced we will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members. The company on Thursday, January 4 informed associates at 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores that we will be closing these stores between early March and early April 2018. Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores. Customers can use the store locator function on our web sites to find the location of their nearest Kmart and Sears stores. Liquidation sales will begin as early as January 12 at these closing stores. Following is a complete list of the impacted stores."
