52 to lose jobs at Springfield Kmart

Retailer will  shut down Derr Road store on April 8.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 12:34 PM Thursday, February 2, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Kmart will officially close its store on Derr Road on April 8, laying off 52 employees in the process, according to a notice sent to the state.

The retailer announced plans to shutter up to 120 Kmart and Sears locations after a sharp drop in sales this past holiday season. The Kmart store at 2960 Derr Road was included on a list of store closures. The one on Upper Valley Pike wasn’t on that list.

In a notice to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Kmart outlined that the layoffs would begin April 1 and no store employees will receive bumping rights to be employed at another store.

Kaetlyn Grein, 48, of Springfield said she will continue shopping at Kmart until the Derr Road store’s closure. But after that, “I’ll likely take my business elsewhere.

“I feel loyal to this store, these employees,” Grein said. “But not to a company that is going to leave them like this.”

A Kmart spokeswoman said they don’t release details about store closures or the impact on employees. She said any job openings are available at the Sears Holding website, but she would not specify if any workers will be able to transfer to the Upper Valley Pike store.

Sears Holding — which operates Kmart and Sears — has struggled for years.

Since the company’s peak in 2007, shares have dropped from $192 to just less than $42 at the stock market’s close Wednesday. While it has almost as many locations as Walmart, its same-store sales declined 5.2 percent in the eight weeks before Christmas, prompting the announced closures.

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