Sears Holdings announcement of store closures nationwide hits close to home as one of the two Utah locations on the list is their Vernal Kmart location. The company officially informed its workers at 78 Kmart stores and 26 Sears stores across the country on Wednesday in a public release. The statement reads: “The decision to close stores is a difficult but necessary step as we take actions to strengthen the Company’s operations and fund its transformation. Many of these stores have struggled with their financial performance for years and we have kept them open to maintain local jobs and in the hopes that they would turn around. But in order to meet our objective of returning to profitability, we have to make tough decisions and will continue to do so, which will give our better performing stores a chance at success.” The statement also explains that employees at closing stores will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at other Kmart or Sears stores. The Layton Kmart was the only other closing Utah location.
