Sears Holdings Corp., said Thursday it will close another 28 Kmart stores in addition to 180 previously announced closings this year as part of a $1 billion cost reduction plan this year.
The retailer announced the latest closings with its earnings statement that showed a quarterly loss, as the number of people visiting its stores continued to fall. Sales at Sears and Kmart stores open for at least a year fell 11.5 percent in the second quarter ended July 29.
Sears reported a loss of $251 million, or $2.34 per share, in its fiscal second quarter. Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.16 per share.
The department store operator posted revenue of $4.37 billion in the period.
Kmart plans to close its last remaining store in metropolitan Chattanooga on Sept. 3 when it shuts down its Fort Oglethorpe store on Battlefield Parkway.
The Sears store in the Walnut Square Mall in Dalton also will close during the first week of September right after the Labor Day weekend.
Sears – once the biggest retailer in America – will continue to operate stores at Hamilton Place and Northgate malls in Chattanooga, and Kmart – once the biggest discount retailer in the country – will retain its two stores in Dalton.
The list of 28 additional Kmarts being closed later this year includes a store in Mableton, Ga., but the Dalton stores were not on the latest hit list.
Sears shut down its store in the Bradley Square Mall in Cleveland and other outlets in Athens, Sweetwater and Maryville in East Tennessee last year. Kmart, which once operated nearly a dozen stores in the Chattanooga area, closed its Hixson store last year after previously shutting down area stores on Highway 58, East Brainerd and Signal Mountain Road in Chattanooga and other stores in Cleveland and Athens.
Sears shares have dropped almost 8 percent since the beginning of the year and fell another 0.23 percent Thursday to close at $8.55 per share. The stock has fallen 46 percent in the last 12 months.
Sears announced in July that it agreed to sell its Kenmore appliances on Amazon and integrate the voice-activated assistant Alexa into a line of smart products.