The Kmart aisles were mostly empty Monday night except for brothers Miles and Reese Forziano.
They took advantage of the open space by tossing a football across the department store.
Shawn Forziano, 49, waited for her two sons to stop playing and focus on finding space-themed pajamas for homecoming week at Gainesville High School.
Miles, 17, Reese, 15, and their mother came to the 900 NW 76th Blvd. Kmart for a quick stop. Soon, the Forzianos will have to travel into “Archer Road mayhem,” Shawn Forziano said.
Sears Holdings announced Monday that Gainesville’s Kmart, one of three Florida stores, will close by the end of the year.
Sears Holdings, the company that owns Kmart and Sears department stores, will close 142 locations across the country after filing for bankruptcy, according to a Sears Holdings press release.
The company is closing unprofitable stores to save money, Howard Riefs, the corporate communications director, wrote in an email. The Sears at the Oaks Mall closed in mid-July.
In August, Sears Holdings announced 46 other stores will close by November while the next 142 will close by the end of the year. Clearance sales will begin soon, the release said.
The Forzianos are regular Kmart shoppers because they live a few minutes away in a suburb on Newberry Road, Shawn Forziano said.
“It’s sad and scary,” she said. “You’re going to have to buy everything on the internet.”
Contact Angela DiMichele at adimichele@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @angdimi
