The Jamestown Post-Journal is reporting the Kmart store in West Ellicott is one of 26 Kmart or Sears locations around the country that will be closing by late October.

The Sears Holdings Corp., which entered Bankruptcy in 2018, made the announcement on Tuesday. It said it has faced a “number of challenges returning their stores to sustainable levels of productivity,” and noted the weak retail environment.

In addition to the Kmart Announcement, the Sears store in the Chautauqua Mall closed late last year. Other stores that have shuddered in recent years include the Bon Ton and SAM’s Club.

The Kmart in West Ellicott opened in May 1995. No word on the number of employees who will be affected by the closure.

Details of the loss of jobs was provided in a report by the Buffalo News, citing a notice filed with the state Department of Labor.

Sears last week it was closing more than 140 under-performing Sears and Kmart locations amid bankruptcy protection. The Sears at the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood — one of the few remaining in Western New York — is scheduled to close Jan. 31.

The Kmart in West Ellicott will remain open.

Sears announced Monday morning it was closing dozens of stores as part of its bankruptcy process and the location at the local mall was one of the 142 stores on the list.

According to the company, a liquidation sale will begin as soon as the next couple of weeks.

Sears also owns Kmart and while some of those stores were also on the list to be closed down across the country, it didn’t include the location in West Ellicott.

The loss of Sears is yet another major hit to the local retail business in the area. Earlier this year the SAM’s Club on Fairmount Ave. in West Ellicott was closed down by its parent company Walmart. And just a short time later it was announced that the Bon Ton in the Chautauqua Mall would be closing. Monday’s announcement by Sears creates a double whammy for the Chautauqua Mall in less than a year.

The national trend of online shopping and less reliance on department stores is being blamed for the closure.

It’s not known how many local employees will be affected.

According to the Post-Journal, Sears was first introduced to Jamestown in 1929 and began operating in the Chautauqua Mall in 1970 when it was first opened to the public.

Sears Holdings released a list of the stores that are to be shuddered and it includes 13 Kmart stores and 33 Sears stores. However, neither the Kmart in West Ellicott nor the Sears store in the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood are on the list.

The company also said it is continuing to evaluate other stores and more closings could take place.

The latest list of closings comes after the company announced in May that it was closing 15 Kmart and 48 Sears stores due to low sales.

However,  by late Thursday afternoon the list of stores was released and neither the Kmart on Fairmount Ave. in West Ellicott or the Sears inside the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood were listed as locations that would be closed.

But even though a total of 15 Kmart stores and 48 Sears stores in other areas of the country that have been deemed “non-profitable” and are slated for closure in September by Sears Holdings, the company said a small group of stores were pulled from the list for further evaluation and more closing announcements could be forthcoming.

Retail outlets have taken financial hits in recent years due to the growing popularity of buying items and goods online from retailers like Amazon. The Bon-Ton in the Chautauqua Mall has already fallen victim to the trend and will close later this month. The West ellicott Sam’s Club on Fairmount ave. also closed down earlier this year.

JAMESTOWN – Residents in the village of Falconer and some parts of east Jamestown were without power earlier this morning thanks to our overnight wintery weather. A tree limb reportedly snapped near the area of Jamestown Community College, severing a power line and causing a transformer to blow. The outage began sometime before 5 a.m. with power being restored just after 5:30. Costumers in the Jamestown BPU service area were affected.

MOTORISTS ADVISED TO USE CAUTION IN WINTERY WEATHER

MAYVILLE – Local public safety officials are also reminding motorists to be extra careful while driving in wintery weather conditions. Several crashes occurred throughout the county yesterday afternoon after a mixture of snow and freezing rain hit the area. Many of the accidents were reported due to wet roads and freezing temperatures. During the winter weather, motorists are reminded to slow down – as higher speeds lead to a greater chance of losing control. They should also provide themselves with more breaking distance so they can stop in plenty of time.

Snow-covered roads contributing to a rollover accident in Harmony at 11:30 a.m. The Sheriff’s Office, Panama Fire Department and Clymer’s ambulance responded to the accident in front of 6948 King Corners Road. Officials also responded to several accidents Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 86, including one near the Kennedy exit. No serious injuries were reported.

SEARS, KMART CLOSINGS ANNOUNCED

NEW YORK – Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will be closing, but no announcement has been made to determine how this move will impact the businesses in the Lakewood area. Yesterday, the parent company of Sears and Kmart said stores in the United States and Canada will be shutting down to trim costs after a poor holiday shopping season.  Company officials expect the store closures to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold. They also expect to generate additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related real estate.

Final determination of the stores to be closed has not yet been made. The list of stores closing will be posted at www.searsmedia.com when final determination is made.

 SPIRE OF JAMESTOWN TO HOLD AUDITIONS TONIGHT

JAMESTOWN – Auditions for Godspell will be held on tonight at 6:30 pm in The Spire – 317 E 3rd St. Jamestown. Anyone who would like to be involved in the production is encouraged to stop by. Singers, actors, musicians, and crew should all go to auditions or at least contact BigTime Productions.

The play will take place 8pm April 20, 21, 27, & 28 at the spire, and all proceeds will benefit Catholic Academe of the Holy Family.

The production in will be a Community Theater Play under the direction of Angelo and Ylsa Giuffré and Anne Eklund.  Call (716)450-7357 or info@spiretheater.org for more details.