DARTMOUTH — The Sears in the Dartmouth Mall will close this fall, The Standard-Times has learned.
Acting on a tip, The Standard-Times confirmed the plan on Monday. A Sears spokesperson said the store will close in the fall and that the Sears Auto Center will close as well.
The Dartmouth store was not pegged for closure in recent announcements by the 126-year-old retail chain, once America’s largest.
Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Sears and Kmart, has struggled for years and closed hundreds of stores.
The company announced multiple waves of closures in 2018 before filing for bankruptcy in October. At the time of the filing, Sears said it would close another 142 unprofitable Sears and Kmart stores near the end of 2018.
Subsequent announcements have slated 40 stores for closure by the end of next month and another 80 in late March.
Earlier this month, Sears announced a deal with Sears chairman Eddie Lampert’s ESL Investments to acquire substantially all of the company’s assets for $5.2 billion, subject to Bankruptcy Court approval. Business news outlets reported that the deal would keep about 400 stores open.
It was not immediately clear whether the Dartmouth closure was an isolated case or part of an upcoming round of more closures.
Dartmouth Mall spokeswoman Beth Yager said she did not have time to comment Monday.
The number of employees who will lose their jobs at the Dartmouth store was not available. The Sears spokesman said employees will be eligible for severance pay and can apply for open positions at other Sears and Kmart stores.