Kmart is closing its last remaining store in Chattanooga.
The discount retailer, which once operated more than a dozen stores across Southeast Tennessee, will shut down its Hixson store on Highway 153 by the end of the year. The closing is among 64 stores being closed across 28 states as Kmart continues to streamline its operations.
Kmart closed its 25-year-old Kmart store in Cleveland, Tenn., in March and shut down other outlets in Athens, Sweetwater and Maryville, Tenn., in July.
Employees said the affected stores that are closing will close in December. Kmart officials said those displaced by the store closings will be eligible to receive severance and be able to apply for open positions at local Sears or Kmart stores. Most of the associates work only part time.
Kmart is also closing other Tennessee stores in Nashville, Memphis, Oak Ridge, Clarksville and Smyrna in Tennessee, but Kmart will continue to operate 16 stores in Tennessee and 19 stores in Georgia.