SEARS, KMART CLOSURES: 5 things to know today

Sears will shut down 72 stores, on top of the 180 stores already announced as closing, including one in Middletown.

Major retailers across the country are closing brick-and-mortar stores at an alarming rate, in what some are coining the "retail apocalypse." Here's what you need to know about the latest closures:

1. The company released a list of closing stores, including 16 Sears, 49 Kmart stores and seven more auto centers, according to the Business Insider. Stores could close by September. The Sears in the Towne Mall Galleria in Middletown is one of the closing stores.

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2. Other stores in Elyria and Columbus, Ohio also made the list.

3. The company, which lost $2.2 billion in sales last year, announced earlier this year that it would close 150 Sears and Kmart stores. That decision impacted 11 Kmart and Sears stores. It is not apparent if the filing would result in any more immediate store closures or lay-offs.

» STORE CLOSINGS: What’s really going on?

4. At least 8,600 stores are expected to close in 2017, as consumers shift their spending habits online. The effects of the closures are far-ranging, impacting the job market and retail destinations in Dayton, Springfield and Cincinnati.

5. At least 100 stores have closed or will close this year in Ohio, affecting thousands of retail workers. A new research report from brokerage firm Credit Suisse estimated that more than 8,600 stores will close this year, up from the 2,065 that closed last year and the 5,077 store closures in 2015.

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