Sears Announces Widespread Store Closures [POLL]

Sears Holdings Corp. announced Tuesday that they will close more than 100 Sears and Kmart locations in the United States, after many stores experienced lackluster revenues during the holiday shopping season. 

Despite signs of a slowly recovering economy in the U.S., Sears has hemorrhaged customers of the past few years to competitors such as Macy's and Target due to competitive prices and a more appealing look to their stores, said a report by the Huffington Post.

"The closings are the latest and most visible in a long series of moves to try to fix a company that has struggled with falling sales and shabby stores as rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. spruced up their looks and turned into one-stop shopping sources," said the article. 

"There's no reason to go to Sears," said the piece quoting New York-based independent retail analyst Brian Sozzi, "It offers a depressing shopping experience and uncompetitive prices."

With as many as 120 stores projected to close between the two retailers, local consumers could have their shopping experiences disrupted in the coming months. While the company has yet to say which locations will close, widespread implications such as major job loss and large retail real estate vacancies could adversely affect many regions within the United States. 

Nothing specific has been mentioned pertaining to the location, but Natick Patch is wondering how local consumers would deal with a closure of the retail center. 

Would you miss ? What do you like/dislike about the retailer? What can they do as a company to change their image/future prospects? Vote in the poll and tell us in the comments.