Delaware's last Kmart is one of nearly 50 closing nationwide

Brandon Holveck | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Bed Bath & Beyond, other store closings can blame shoppers Brick and mortar stores that we thought would never disappear are now creating empty retail landscapes.

Delaware's last Kmart will close next year, as the once-retail behemoth continues to crumble.

The Kmart on Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach is one of 45 locations that will close in February. A going out-of-business sale will begin Dec. 2.

Transformco, the company that acquired Kmart and Sears out of bankruptcy earlier this year, announced the closures Thursday. It will also close 51 Sears locations, leaving the company with 182 stores nationwide.

The company's only traditional large-format store in Delaware is the Concord Mall Sears. There is a Sears Outlet in Christiana's University Plaza, and Sears Hometown Stores in Middletown, Seaford and Milford (Transformco recently acquired the brand).

In explaining the decision to close a third of its stores, the company said Thursday it "has faced a difficult retail environment and other challenges."

FULL LIST: 51 Sears, 45 Kmart locations to shutter

Over the last 15 years, Sears and Kmart have closed more than 3,500 stores, resulting in the loss of about 250,000 jobs.

Two months ago, the company announced the Kmarts at 301 Governor Place in Bear and 4700 Limestone Road in Pike Creek will close by the end of 2019. Both locations are holding clearance sales.

The Kmart in Newark's College Square shopping center closed at the end of 2018, months after the shopping center's owner announced a plan to remake the complex into a mixed-use community. Many of the former shops around Kmart were demolished this fall, but the Kmart building is still standing.

In 2018, Sears locations in the Dover Mall and Prices Corner also closed, leaving the Concord Mall store as the department store's last vestige in Delaware.

The former Prices Corner Sears will be split into at least two stores as part of a large-scale shopping center upgrade that will include new shops and restaurants, and updated storefronts.

Since former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert struck a last-minute deal in February to buy Sears assets out of bankruptcy under Transformco, the company has announced three large waves of closures.

USA TODAY contributed to this story.

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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com or at (302) 324-2267. Follow on Twitter @holveck_brandon.