Austintown Kmart closing

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

Another Mahoning Valley Kmart store will close come late January.

Sears Holdings, parent company of Kmart, announced the closure of 45 Kmart stores, including the one at 4475 Mahoning Ave., and 18 Sears stores.

Liquidation sales will begin as early as Nov. 9 at the closing stores.

“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,” a company statement read.

The number of employees affected was not available from Sears Holdings. The majority of the jobs are part-time positions. Eligible associates will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores, Sears Holdings spokesman Howard Riefs told The Vindicator in a statement.

The Austintown Kmart closure follows the shuttering of the Boardman Kmart at 1209 Boardman-Poland Road and the Warren Kmart at 2485 Parkman Road NW, which both closed in April 2016.

Kmart’s website lists the following nearby Kmart stores still open: 2100 Niles Cortland Road SE in Howland; 2235 East State St. in Hermitage, Pa.; 2652 Ellwood Road in New Castle, Pa.; and 15891 state Route 170 in East Liverpool.