Sears Holdings notified the state Thursday it will close the Kmart store at 4645 Blanding Blvd. and lay off 83 employees.
Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said Thursday the company announced to the employees the store would close in late January and liquidation sales would begin early next month.
“Those that are eligible will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores. We made a business decision to close this store based on its performance,” Brathwaite said
It will be the second Kmart to be closed in Jacksonville. Sears announced in September it would close the store at 5751 Beach Blvd. by the end of the December.
Kmart is holding an “inventory blowout” sale toward closing the Beach Boulevard location. The store is not participating in current Kmart circulars, instead selling off its items in preparation for its closure by year-end.
Proclaiming “everything is on sale!” the store is discounting inventory from 20 to 70 percent, according to ads. The store should be vacated by the end of December, a Sears spokeswoman said previous.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications filed with the state said 71 workers would be affected from Dec. 9-23 at the Beach Boulevard store and 83 from Jan. 20-Feb. 3 at the Blandinga Boulevard store.
On Dec. 27, Sears Holdings announced it would close 120 underperforming Sears and Kmart stores but has not identified all of them, according to searsholdings.com.
Among its initial closings were two area Kmart stores in Fernandina Beach and St. Augustine.
Sears also notified the state Thursday it would close a Pensacola store from Jan. 20-Feb. 3, laying off 69 employees.