Havre Big Kmart closing in September

The third major Havre retailer in two months has announced it is closing.

Big Kmart will be closing with an 11-week planned closure sale, Sears Holding Corp., which owns Kmart and Sears, told the Havre employees Thursday.

A Havre manager said employees could not comment and referred questions to Sears Holding.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to streamline the Company's operations and focus on our best stores, the company on Thursday, June 28, informed associates at the Sears (sic) store at 3180 Highway 2 West in Havre that it would be closing in late September 2018," Melissa Pomerantz, director of corporate communications at Sears Holding Corp., said in a statement emailed to the Havre Daily News.

3180 U.S. Highway 2 West is the address of the Havre Big Kmart.

Pomerantz said that the number of employees for the Havre store was not available. Eligible associates impacted by the store closure will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores, she said.

The closure comes on the heels of both the Herberger's and the Sears Hometown Store in Havre's Holiday Village Mall announcing they are closing.

Sears is expected to be closed July 23, and Herberger's announced in April it was closing. It's closing date is expected to be Aug. 31.

A representative of Eldon S. Gottschalk and Associates confirmed that company has been hired to handle the advertising campaign for the closure of the Havre Big Kmart.

A liquidation manager will be at the store by July 10, and liquidation sales are scheduled to begin July 12, the representative said.

No employees will be fired during the liquidation sale and applications are being taken for seasonal help to beef up the staff during the sale, the representative said.

An advertisement telling what the discounts are will be published in the Havre Daily News and the Hi-Line Shopper and will be posted in the store as well, the representative said.

Kmart first came to Havre in 1977 in a store on the east side of town along U.S. Highway 2 East, now occupied by Vaughn Truck Sales.

In 1992 the company closed that store and opened the Big Kmart store on U.S. Highway 2 West.

At one point, the store would employ far more than 100 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees during the Christmas season.

The Kmart company filed for bankruptcy in 2002, leading to fears in Havre at that time the local store would close.

The company came out of bankruptcy in a strong position and purchased the struggling Sears, Roebuck and Co. department store chain in 2004. It created Sears Holding Corp. as the parent company of both chains.