Kmart closing in August

KAILUA-KONA — A liquidation sale at the Kailua-Kona Kmart will begin Thursday in advance of its closure planned for early August, the store’s parent company announced Friday.

The announcement comes nearly a year after the store’s Maui location closed in June. One month later, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported the store’s last Oahu location would close later that year.

The announcement to close the Kailua-Kona location, which opened in November 1994, leaves the state with just one store on Kauai.

“We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and have accelerated the closing of unprofitable stores as previously announced,” said Sears Holdings spokesperson Larry Costello.

Sears Holdings Corp., of which Kmart is a subsidiary, said in a statement announcing the closure that the number of employees “is not publicly available,” but those eligible will receive severance and be able to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores.

The most recent company statement related to store closings available on the Sears Holdings website is from January, when the company announced that it was closing 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores between early March and early April.

The list of affected stores included locations in more than two dozen states, although no Hawaii stores were on that list.