A Massive Retailer Now Closes in New Jersey For Good

January 11, 2024

Updated on January 10, 2025

A massive retailer now closes in New Jersey for good after bankruptcy prompted the company to shutter hundreds of stores nationwide.

The final Sears store in New Jersey appears to be closing down for good, leaving shoppers heartbroken, reports The-Sun.

A discount sale is underway – with the prices of items cut by up to 70% as bosses rush to clear the last remaining stock.

Tools and clothes on sale at the Jersey City, New Jersey, store have been reduced in price by up to 40 and 50%.

The Jersey City location is just one of a dozen Sears stores open across the US.

The pending closure comes just 14 months after the embattled department store chain exited bankruptcy.

Sears had around 700 stores at its peak but hundreds of stores have closed recently.

“Another bites the dust,” one shopper posted online.

Shoppers are both devastated and bewildered at the pending store closure.

“Why, it’s an iconic store, it makes no sense to close it. It’s in a good location,” one shopper said.

“My son is obsessed with Sears, and he is heartbroken,” another commented.

“Dang, they just keep shutting them down,” a third said.

“So sad,” one more posted.

Shoppers responded to the in-store pictures shared on the store’s official Facebook account, saying it looked barren.

Loyal customers have said they will rush to the store before its doors slam shut.

“When’s the last day? This accelerates my travel plans,” a customer said.

Just 11 other Sears outlets are still trading, four of which are in California.

There are three in Florida, two in Washington, and one in Texas and Massachusetts.

Sears still has a presence in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

In May 2022, bosses warned more than 70 stores would close as part of the company’s restructuring plans.

Hundreds of Sears outlets closed for good between 2018 and 2022 as the chain fought for survival.

Also Read: SNAP Benefits Will Now Increase For The Year 2024

Other Economy News Today

An iconic home retailer now makes unexpected store closures as 17 locations abruptly shutter due to ‘financial issues’.

The Kelly-Moore Paints locations were closed just days before the new year, leaving employees out of work for the start of 2024, reports The-Sun.

Stores throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and California were closed, and the company’s paint manufacturing facility in Hurst, Texas, has temporarily halted production.

Kelly-Moore said it will continue to fulfill online orders and stock retail stores with products it already has.

Jordan Wilson worked at one of the Texas stores that closed and exclusively told The U.S. Sun about how the news was delivered.

On the morning of January 5, Kelly-Moore’s chief executive officer, Charles Gassenheimer, announced over a Zoom call that the company was having “financial issues” and 700 employees would be placed on furlough, he said.

It would last until a deal could be reached with an outside investor, and there were allegedly three deals in the making.

Gassenheimer also said there would be limited production during the furlough to clear out existing inventory.

“I am one of the 700, and with 9 years in service at Kelly-Moore, and many others with much longer, we never expected to see anything like this,” said Wilson.

“On top of the 700 lives, this furlough has caused understaffed stores and limited production in the factory, which will cause a loss of customers, which in turn will lead to a loss of business, then the company dies.

“I don’t think many of the 700 can afford to just sit around and hope, and trust that things will get better and they will get their jobs back. I sure can’t!

“My thoughts are that the Flacks group is gearing up to sell Kelly-Moore to the highest bidder and get out with as much money as they can.”

He is referring to Flacks Group, an investment firm that bought Kelly-Moore in October 2022.

Kelly-Moore has been grappling with thousands of asbestos litigation claims for the last 30 years.

Under previous ownership, asbestos was used in cement and texture products until 1981 when the practice was discounted.

However, existing lawsuits led to a “cash drain” that left Kelly-Moore’s finances “severely constrained.”

The company has struggled to address supply chain issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic due to the lack of cash.

Also Read: A US Company Now Declares An Unexpected Bankruptcy

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