78 workers will lose their jobs when Sayville Kmart closes in February 

The closings of 96 Kmart and Sears stores across the country will eliminate 207 jobs in New York state, including 78 on Long Island, according to new state filings.

Transform Holdco LLC, the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company that bought the assets of Sears and Kmart’s former parent company last winter, said on Nov. 7 that it would close 96 stores by February.

Those closing stores include a Kmart at 5151 Sunrise Hwy. in Sayville that has a Bohemia mailing address and two other stores in the state — a Sears in Buffalo and a Kmart in Sidney.

Those three stores will close Feb. 16, eliminating a total of 207 jobs, including 78 at the Kmart in Sayville, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act alerts, or WARNs, that Transform filed with the state Nov. 8.  The filings were posted on the state labor department’s website Friday.

The workers’ jobs will be eliminated Feb. 16 or during a 14-day period starting on that date, according to the WARNs.

The reason for the closings of the three New York stores is “economic,” according to the filings.

Under the WARN Act, certain employers must notify workers and the state in advance of mass layoffs or work site closings.

Mired in debt and losing shoppers to discount retailers, Sears and Kmart’s former parent company, Sears Holdings Corp., closed hundreds of stores for years before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018.

Transform, doing business as Transformco, has continued to close stores since buying Sears Holdings’ assets for $5.2 billion in February. 

“Transformco has faced a difficult retail environment and other challenges. We have been working hard to position Transformco for success by focusing on our competitive strengths and pruning operations that have struggled due to increased competition and other factors,” the company said in its Nov. 7 statement.

In January 2010, Sears Holdings had 1,292 Kmart stores, 35 Kmart supercenters and 848 Sears that were full-line mall stores, according to an annual report.

The 96 closings that Transform announced Nov. 7 will leave the company with 182 Sears and Kmart stores. 

Seven Long Island stores have closed since April 2018: Sears in Hicksville, New Hyde Park and Garden City, and Kmarts in Farmingville, West Babylon, Riverhead and Huntington.

After the Kmart in Sayville closes, the only remaining Kmart on Long Island will be in Bridgehampton.

There are three remaining Sears stores on Long Island — in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, Sunrise Mall in Massapequa and Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.