The closures include 108 Kmart stores nationwide and 42 non-California Sears locations.
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UC Riverside students expressed their dissatisfaction upon hearing the news of the closing of a nearby Kmart.
"When we want to come in and shop cheap and get necessities like soap, toilet paper, Kmart is here," Amanda Waring said.
"I think it sucks for the people that work in the area locally, that they can't be able to be here or have a job," Mo Contreres said.
Macy's also announced that it will shutter 68 locations, laying off 3,900 employees. Dismal profits and changing spending habits are blamed for the department store closures.
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"A lot of it has to do with the kind of adjustment that traditional brick and mortar retailers need to go through because some of them like Macy's have not done a good job of staying ahead in the e-commerce and digital marketing games" Peter Gold, the chief digital marketing officer at Shop.com explained.
According to Gold, while Sears and Kmart have great online strategies, both have product brands that have faded in popularity.
Kmart will begin liquidating its inventory today and will officially close its stores in the spring.