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More Than 100 Sears, Kmart Stores To Close

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- More than 100 Sears and Kmart stores will be shutting their doors for good.

The news comes after a dismal holiday shopping season for the company that owns both stores.

"Sad," one shopper said. "I feel bad for the people that work there."

The sales numbers for the chains are off by more than 5 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base and accelerate the transformation of our business model," Lou D'Ambrosio, chief executive officer of Sears Holdings Corp., said in a statement.

In other words, they're closing stores.

"Sears has been around as long as I can remember," another shopper said. "You know, it's kind of hard to accept, but I hope we don't lose a lot in this area."

The store closures will generate $140 million to $170 million, reduce fix costs by $100 million to $200 million and inventory costs by $300 million.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have five full-line Sears stores and 10 full-line Kmarts.

The company has not yet released the list of stores that will close.

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