San Jose Sears Among 100 Stores To Close

SAN JOSE, CA — Officials at financially beleaguered Sears Holdings have announced plans to close more than 100 Kmart and Sears stores nationwide, including the Sears at Oakridge Mall in South San Jose. It is slated for closure in March. Employees were told today, according to the company.

All told, Sears Holdings plans to shutter 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears as losses mount. Other California stores on the closures list include the Sears at Northgate Mall in San Rafael, plus four in Southern California. Five California Kmart stores will close - none in the Bay Area.

Struggling to remain viable amid a growing Internet-based retail landscape, brick-and-mortar stores are increasingly being closed. Last year, U.S. retailers announced plans to shutter nearly 7,000 stores — an exponential increase in announced closures the prior year by 224 percent. Those numbers were compiled by the think tank Fung Global Retail & Tech, which tracks store openings and closures in the U.S.

Fung Global analysts compiled a list of 6,885 announced store closures in 2017 compared to 3,443 announced store openings. In 2016, there were 2,122 announced store closures in 2016 and 2,294 announced store openings.

For a list of Sears stores on the chopping block nationwide, click here.

Oh, and bargain shoppers: Clearance sales are expected to start as early as Jan. 12 ahead of the closures, according to officials.

>>> Written By Tony Cantu, Patch; Edited By Bea Karnes, Patch; Photo retrieved from Patch archive by Tony Cantu