Category Archives: Idaho

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Health food nuts victorious! Hostess Twinkies have bitten the dust! 18,500 U.S. workers laid off! Incompetent unAmerican Corporate America to blame! Twinkie the Kid to be replaced with Pancho Villa?

“…Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets.”-Gregory F. Rayburn, CEO Hostess

18 November 2012, the iconic maker of U.S. snack foods, Hostess, is no more!  It’s being shut down and sold off by the corporate executives who ran it into the ground!

No more Wonder Bread, Twinkies or Ding Dongs for Pocatello, Idaho!

Oh, but many anti-labor commentators are blaming the unionized employees. Bull shit, Hostess can’t survive a strike?

No more Eddy's Bakery in Chubbuck, Idaho!

A Forbes article points out that it’s the corporate management that ran Hostess into the ground, not the unionized employees.  This happened because the corporate leaders tried to make up for dropping profit margins by running the company on debt financing.

Also, after the 2004 Interstate Bakeries bankruptcy (which the company emerged from in 2009, renamed officially as Hostess) the highly educated company leaders made no attempts to change how Hostess did business: “The obvious problem is leadership kept trying to sell the same products, using roughly the same business model, long, long, long after the products had become irrelevant.”-Adam Hartung, Forbes

Sales were constant, but only because Hostess execs kept prices artificially low, which lead to loss of profits.  This was because U.S. consumers are not willing to pay more for junk food.

By 2011 the bad economy finally affected Hostess sales; according to Mintel in the past year Twinkie sales dipped 0.8%, Ding Dongs fell 8.7%, Ho Ho’s down 6.3%.

Back during the first bankruptcy the unions made $110 million USD worth of concessions.  In May and October 2012, a bankruptcy judge gave Hostess the authority to impose more concessions by cutting pay and benefits, that’s what lead to the worker strikes.   Hostess was enacting more concessions without input from employees!

The Teamsters Union blamed the need for concessions on incompetent corporate officials: “Unfortunately, the company’s operating and financial problems were so severe that it required steep concessions from a variety of stakeholders but not all stakeholders were willing to be constructive.”-Ken Hall, Teamsters General-Secretary

According to a CNN report, the average Hostess worker made $20 per hour (and many Hostess factories are located in areas where $20 per hour is barely a living wage).  This is starting to look like just another step in unAmerican Corporate America’s plans to drastically reduce the cost of labor across the country, as part of the long term plan to return the United States to top export status.  The problem is that the cost of living is still too high, even for many making $20 per hour.  The elitists will make huge profits off their export sales, while the domestic economy will continue to fall (more Sears & Kmart closings to say the least) because more and more workers in the U.S. can’t make enough money even for basic necessities.

Don’t worry, your favorite Hostess junk food might survive, as the rights to those brands are being sold off.  But will you be able to afford them?

The most recent Christian Science Monitor report says that Mexican snack food giant (and world’s largest bread maker), Bimbo, is considering buying the rights to most of the Hostess brands.  Bimbo took over Sara Lee, Entenmann’s and Thomas English Muffins in 2010 (did you hear about that one? Start calling them Mexican Muffins).  They also tried to take over Hostess a few years ago.  If Bimbo does buy the Hostess brands analysts say most of the jobs will be in Mexico.

 

Idaho, U.S.

U.S. West Nile Virus update, 17 November 2012: Cases still climbing, but slowing down. Reports of new mutated version? Will Survivor actress survive West Nile?

“As of November 14, 2012, 48 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. A total of 5,128 cases of West Nile virus disease in people, including 229 deaths, have been reported to CDC.”-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A doctor in Mississippi, Art Leis, reports that the recent cases of West Nile show the virus is attacking the communications areas of the brain, something never seen before. Another doctor in Michigan, Elizabeth Angus, is reporting brain damage in young victims, also never seen before.  Officials with the CDC are not concerned that there is a new stain of West Nile, because they say what is happening is that many of this year’s cases are more severe than in past years.

The CDC’s official death count from 14 November just had several more added on.

On 16 November, New Jersey reported five more human deaths. There are at least 45 cases in the hurricane ravaged state.

By 10 November, Louisiana reported 12 new cases, with two people dying.  At least 356 cases, 15 people have died.

Texas reporting at least 260 new cases since 01 October. On 13 November it was reported that two people died in Travis County.  At least 1,754 human cases, with 81 deaths.  Central Wyoming College determined that as many as 80% of Fremont County mosquitoes could be carrying with the virus.  A former teen TV star, Lisa Whelchel, who recently finished an episode of Survivor, revealed that she is sick with West Nile. It’s not known when she caught the virus, the Survivor episode took place in the Philippines, but Whelchel lives in the U.S. West Nile epicenter of Texas.  Officials say the colder weather might not stop the mosquitoes: “Culex mosquitoes show decreased activity with temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees, but they will continue to breed. It will take days of freezing temperatures to kill them and stop breeding.”-Russell Hopkins, Northeast Texas Public Health District

As of 16 November, California reports 417 human cases (up by 22 since 07 November), 16 people have died (which is unchanged since 07 November).  1,632 dead birds have tested positive, as have 2,839 mosquito group samples. 22 horses have the virus. 532 sentinel chickens are sick, and 22 squirrels.

On 13 November it was reported that Alachua County Health Department, in Florida, was investigating three cases. They are the first cases for that county, and were detected when the people were screened for blood donation.  On 16 November, Walton County and Holmes County were put on West Nile alert after three people became sick. There are at least 64 cases, with two deaths.  Birds and horses are also being reported infected with West Nile.

The number of cases are increasing in Alabama.  Since 08 November several new cases bring the total to 43.

Mississippi reporting six new cases. So far 242 cases, with five deaths.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Idaho is up to 17 human cases.

At this point, Alaska and Hawaii are the only U.S. states not reporting West Nile virus cases.

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, Opinion, Technology, U.S.

What Democracy? Idaho voters fools, lap top proposition a done deal to help save HP!

The Idaho media reported that the majority of Idaho voters turned down propositions that were an attempt to make public education better (Idaho consistently ranks low in quality of education in the United States, I guess most people in Idaho are happy with that).

What the dumb voters (encouraged by the dumb Idaho media) don’t know is that those propositions are not going away.  State legislatures will simply revisit those proposals, and can even pass them as laws without voter input (they’ve done it before).

But here’s one good reason that Proposition 3 (provision of computing devices and online courses for high school graduation, aka lap tops for students proposal) isn’t dead: Hewlett Packard was already awarded an eight year $180 million USD contract to provide those lap tops, back on 23 October!

Now you voters in Idaho don’t want to be responsible for anymore layoffs there at the Boise HP Center, do you?

Here’s some of the latest data to show you how bad education is in the Gem State:

Montana State University:  Idaho ranks 33rd for teacher quality.  Idaho ranks 35th for education input.  Idaho ranks 33rd for education social impact.  Idaho submitted no data for the education output & education efficiency rankings.

Quality Counts Education Survey, 2012: Idaho ranks 47th (tied with Nevada). 

CNBC Business ranking 2012:  Idaho ranks 48th in the survey’s Education category, a drop from 45 in 2011.

U.S. Census Bureau: Idaho ranks 50th in school spending.  I’m normally against increased spending, especially since most of the money goes to administrative costs and not actual education, or is not even accounted for, (and it seems year after year I have to pay more fees, besides property taxes, for my high school aged kids).  But maybe there is a correlation here?  However, according to National Kids Count Program (2009 data), when you adjust spending on regional cost of living then Idaho actually spends more than California, per student! Ah ha!

Here’s the problem I have with increasing funding: For example, School District 25 gets millions and millions of dollars from local property taxes (technically they’re called fees, which is why school officials get away with telling voters that school bonds/levies will not raise “taxes”.  A few years ago a local newspaper article revealed that just one major employer in Pocatello pays $1 million yearly in school fees on their property tax bill!).  Then they get money from the State and Federal governments (again from our taxes we pay).  Then, supposedly, they get millions from Powerball Lottery (at least that’s what the lottery advertisements say).  Oh, and I almost forgot the grant money, and computers they get donated from corporations, like the Albertson’s Foundation (I remember when my kids were attending Chubbuck Elementary [little more than ten years ago], seeing the school get new computers almost every year, and one year one of my kid’s teachers admitted that she didn’t even use them ’cause it was too stressful for her to learn how!)!  Yet school district officials are always whining that they don’t have enough money!  I want to see an investigation and a detailed breakdown of where all that money goes!

And if the votes of Idaho voters really count, then what’s going to happen to the $180 million HP is getting for Proposition 3, the Proposition voters just rejected?

(Here’s an update for 09 November 2012: my youngest daughter came home from school [she’s a Junior at one of the local high schools] saying that teachers were trying to explain that the “lap tops for students” was still happening, despite the election results.  You see, your votes really don’t count!)

Business/Economics, Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

Economic Recovery or Civil War? Gun sales in the U.S. expected to skyrocket

07 November 2012, the day after the main stream U.S. media prematurely declared Barack Obama the new President (the Shadow Voters, aka Electoral College, vote to elect the President on 17 December 2012), investors are driving up stock prices for gun makers and those chain stores that sell guns.

Investment analysts say it because investors expect a run on guns, because many supporters of the Second Amendment think a re-elected Obama will result in more gun control laws.

That might be, but there could be another reason: Civil War.

Back in August a Texas judge warned that if Obama was re-elected there would be civil war:   “…he’s going to try to give the sovereignty of the United States away to the United Nations. What do you think the public is going to do when that happens? We are talking civil unrest, civil disobedience, possibly, possibly civil war, OK? Now what happens? What happens? Now I’m not talking just talking riots here and there. I’m talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms, get rid of the dictator. OK, what do you think he is going to do when that happens? He is going to call in the UN troops, personnel carriers, tanks and weapons.”-Tom Head, Lubbock County judge and Emergency Management Coordinator

Seemingly in response, on 06 November several so called Liberals stated on Twitter things like “Vote for Mitt Romney… It’ll better our chances to start a civil war”, “If Romney win second civil war”, “Lady in the polling line say if romney win its gone b a civil war”, “Goin buy a gun tommorow Cus if Romney win I ain’t goin out without a fight”, “If Mitt Romney win get ya gun game up” etc.

Note the pro-gun statements by so called liberals.  Here in Idaho, Democrats are just as supportive of the Second Amendment as their Republican neighbors, and the same can be said of most Idahoans who don’t claim a political party preference.   Maybe that’s why the main stream anti-gun rights north-eastern based & focused U.S. media assume all Idahoans are Republicans?

 

 

Idaho, U.S.

What Democracy? U.S. Main Stream Media say Idaho picks Mitt Romney, with 0% of polls reporting! More proof you wasted your time voting!

“These are party loyalists. We don’t get into the ‘faithless electors’ scenario.”-Ben Ysursa, Idaho’s Secretary of State, referring to Idaho’s Electors

The evening of 06 November 2012, with some people still voting in Idaho, and 0% of “polls” reporting, the U.S. main stream media confidently “projected” that Mitt Romney won the Gem State!

Could it be because Idaho is one of those states where the electors are made up of the dominant political party, and must vote accordingly?  Why yes!  So all you Idahoans who keep going to the polls, Presidential election after Presidential election, hoping to bring change with your vote, you’re all fools!

Do you know who Idaho’s Electors are?  Travis Hawkes, Republican who raised millions for Mitt Romney. Teresa Luna, Republican appointed to run Idaho’s Department of Administration.  Jason Risch, Republican attorney. Damond Watkins, Republican who gave Mitt Romney at least $1 million!

These Shadow Voters actually vote on 17 December 2012, weeks after the facade of the popular vote is over!

I’m not just targeting Republicans, the main stream media did the same for California and Hawaii, “projecting” that each of those states elected Democrat Obama, even though people are still voting as I write this!  (which was at approximately 21:00 hours Mountain Time, 06 November 2012)

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, U.S.

Some Economic Recovery? Idaho’s $1 billion per year meat industry will get boost from Japan!

06 November 2012, the Japanese Health Ministry decided to ease restrictions on U.S. beef imports.  Seven years ago Japan banned U.S. beef from cows older than 20 months, because of the Mad Cow disease.

They will now take beef from cows as old as 30 months.  There is one condition, the brain and spinal column must be removed.

Japan is a major buyer of beef from the U.S. state of Idaho, and even with the 20 month age restriction, sales to Japan has helped Idaho's meat industry make about $1 billion USD per year ($2.5 million of that is from exports of beef)!

Japanese health officials say they’re raising the age restriction because there has been no Mad Cow reported in the U.S. for ten years.  Unfortunately that is not true, back in April it was confirmed that a cow in the U.S. state of California had the disease.

The real reason is probably economic: Japanese officials claim that more than 90% of U.S. beef exports to the rest of the world are from cows 30 months of age or younger, and their decision to increase their age restriction will help drop the outrageously high beef prices in Japan: “They say U.S. beef prices will come down about 20%, once the ban is eased and imports increase. I think our customers will be happy.”-Grocery store manager in Japan

Another reason could be that U.S. officials, backed by the U.S. beef industry, has been threatening to retaliate by restricting the sale of Japanese beef in the U.S.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? 3M says sales in the U.S. will continue to fall for years to come! Blames crashing solar power demand in U.S.!

“We will continue our Hefei project, which includes 12 big buildings. I believe, as a clean and stable energy, solar must be promising in the future. I don’t think the behavior of the EU and the U.S. is proper.”-Kenneth Yu, 3M China operations

31 October 2012, U.S. based 3M expects its U.S. sales to fall for the next five to ten years, and they expect China to become their number one market.

In their latest quarterly report, 3M showed a big jump in revenues from Canada and Latin America, up 10.5%.  The United States had increased sales of 2.3%. Sales in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia were flat.  However, 3M officials think that over the next decade their sales will boom in China.

They say they will streamline their operations, with their consumer and office supplies division looking like it will be drastically cut due to flat profits.  3M will continue investing in future markets.

3M has already invested $1.2 billion USD in China since 1984.  For the next five years the corporation, formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is investing $120 million in the solar power industry in China.

3M officials say global demand for solar power products are booming, and China is likely to become the center of the global solar power industry.

As an example of government incompetence, President Barack Obama, with support from the Republican controlled Congress, enacted outrageous tariffs on solar products from China.  It was the death blow to struggling Hoku Materials in Pocatello, Idaho.

The newly built polysilicon factory, in southeast Idaho, had locals hopeful that hundreds of desperately needed good paying jobs would be available.  Hoku’s contracts were with Chinese solar product companies that were directly affected by the tariffs.

Now it looks like U.S. based 3M is jumping ship for better shores in China.

Idaho, U.S.

Presidential emergency declarations made BEFORE hurricane Sandy hit the U.S.? Just because you live outside the hurricane zone doesn’t mean your state isn’t under a federal disaster declaration.

A Los Angeles Times article points out that the emergency declarations made by President Barack Obama, regarding New York and New Jersey (due to hurricane Sandy), were made without truly assessing the situation.

You can go to the FEMA website, and check out the disaster declarations.

Also, FEMA has a map which shows that at least 27 states are currently under some kind of Active Disaster declaration. Some of those involve flooding, some wildfires, some tornadoes.

States currently on the Active Disaster list: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia,  Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia (aka Washington DC).

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Don’t forget to add the Sears stores bought by GGP to the closing list. All part of REIT plan to change the way you shop, and they blame you the shopper!

“….those with high occupancies, solvent anchor tenants, good population density and access to affluent shoppers, as stable, low-risk, income-producing assets and will pay up for them today. Poor quality malls, on the other hand, are either not trading or selling at a steep discount, and perhaps are scheduled for demolition or conversion.”-Ryan McCullough, Property and Portfolio Research

21 October 2012

Back in February 2012, it was announced that General Growth Properties (the largest mall owner in the U.S., and also struggling) bought eleven Sears owned and leased anchor stores at various GGP malls throughout the United States.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, the overwhelming majority of the $270 million USD paid for those 11 Sears stores, is going towards just one store at the GGP mall in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Even though the Hawaii Sears store was the jewel of the deal, GGP wants to shut it down: “General Growth intends to eventually raze the store and build in its place several smaller shops, which deliver more rent in aggregate than department stores.”-Wall Street Journal, 23 February 2012

Other reports say all 11 Sears stores bought by GGP will be closed by the end of 2013: “The stores will continue to operate as Sears locations into 2013 with final closing dates to be determined and announced later this year.”-RetailTraffic, 23 February 2012

So the purchase of Sears owned and leased anchor stores, by GGP, was not an effort to save those stores, but part of bigger plan to shut down big department stores (except for WalMart of course).

According to a 03 October 2012 article by CoStar Group (a commercial real estate information company), what’s happening with Sears and Kmart is part of a much bigger plan to drastically change up shopping malls and plazas in the United States: “I don’t think we’re overbuilt, I think we’re under-demolished……there are projects that are not going to lease. Retail has a finite lifespan and once you reach that lifespan, you can put up all the signs you want, and charge as low rent as you want, but that doesn’t make tenants want to take the space.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp (formerly Developers Diversified Realty Corporation)

Big corporate retail property owners are also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), for tax reasons.  GGP, as are other mall/plaza owners, is a REIT.

According to the CoStar article, REITs claim that traditional malls/plazas/stores only do well in areas with high population and a relatively high level of income for the people who live there.  Does that leaves most of Idaho out?

Foothills Plaza, Pocatello, Idaho. What'll happen when the WinCo moves from here to their new location in the Alameda Plaza?

GGP owns malls in Idaho Falls, Chubbuck, Boise and Coeur D Alene, plus Alameda Plaza (aka Old Fred Meyer store) in Pocatello (some hope there is that it’s now the site of the new bigger WinCo store).  Boise might be the only area of Idaho that meets REIT description of a successful commercial area; Boise is a “lifestyle & power center”.

pine ridge mall

Fading Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho. Some hope, this anchor store is the new home to upscale Herbergers (never heard of them).

According to CoStar Group data, regional malls, power centers and community center properties averaged a vacancy rate of 50.6%!  But the bigger malls did not enjoy less vacancy; super-regional malls averaged 54.5% vacancy!

The problem, according to most vulture REIT crony capitalists is location, location, location.  Most retail operations are now located in parts of the country where personal incomes are down, hence shopping is down (in a round-a-bout way the vulture capitalists are blaming you the shopper, never mind the fact that vulture crony capitalism is what’s causing most people to lose jobs or see their incomes go down).

“When you have tenants looking for space and nothing new being built, and we’re sitting at mid-90% occupancy levels, it’s hard to argue we’re overbuilt when they’re scrambling to find 10,000 square feet.”-Daniel Hurwitz, DDR Corp

What Hurwitz is saying is that there’s plenty of empty stores for rent, but retail tenants don’t like what is available.  Those potential tenants are basing their preferences on what they perceive to be what shoppers want.

To make matters worse, the closing down of Sears, Kmart, The Gap and Office Max stores will add another 15 million square feet of available store space to the flooded commercial real estate market!

Moody’s Investors Service pointed out that malls located in lifestyle & power centers continue to make profits, while malls outside those areas are losing money and will continue to lose money. Also, it’s probably not worth trying to rebuild those malls located outside of lifestyle & power centers: “Renovating or reconfiguring an underperforming mall may cost many millions……What’s more, should the location lose its viability for retail altogether, the value to revert to land less demolition cost will produce an even greater loss.”-Tad Philipp, Moody’s

In other words, these vulture REIT crony capitalists don’t think things are going to improve for areas outside the lifestyle & power centers anytime soon.

As I quoted Ryan McCullough at the beginning of this article,  new retail businesses need to be located where there’s a lot of people, and those people have high levels of income.    So what we’re seeing, with the closing down of many iconic U.S. retail businesses, is part of the bigger plan of those Mitt Romney style vulture crony capitalists who are simply, in their minds, following the big revenue money from the big income consumer (rich people living in those lifestyle & power centers).

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? More Sears mall leases not being renewed, more Kmart leases allowed to expire!

“We made a decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

19 October 2012, as I warned, Sears/Kmart continues to close stores simply by not renewing their leases.

Residents of Kelso, Washington, learned on 17 October that the Sears in their local mall is going away in January.

Kelso’s Three Rivers Mall isn’t doing so well anyway, but dedicated mall walkers are upset by the Sears announcement: “We’re worried about foot traffic going down…..I just worry that we won’t be here in a few years.”-unnamed store manager

The owners of the mall said they knew about the Sears closing before the official announcement: “The Sears closure is something we anticipated some time ago and as a result are working with a number of exciting retailers…”-Rouse Properties statement

Pennsylvania is learning of another Sears closing.  On 17 October the local media revealed that the Sears at Penn Center East, in Wilkins, will not renew its lease, resulting in 135 people losing their jobs by January 2013.  Wilkins Township commissioners swear a new WalMart will take its place.

In Virginia, the new owners of the Liberty Fair Mall announced they will allow a “homegrown” store to fill the void left by the outgoing Sears.  I worked for mall owners J Price Realty before the Pine Ridge Mall (in Chubbuck, Idaho) was sold to General Growth Properties (and they contracted out almost all our jobs), and one policy was that the big ‘anchor’ stores had to be national chain stores.  So, for a mall owner to allow a “homegrown” local shop in as an anchor store is a sign of trouble.

I’ve seen it here at the Pine Ridge Mall, when General Growth Properties (who actually had a policy that all the stores in the mall had to be national chain stores) went back on their own policy, stopping their ‘eviction’ of local stores (they were evicting local mom & pop stores by jacking up rents to astronomical levels, I saw the official corporate order from Chicago which had been left in plain view on the mall office copy machine) and even allowed local stores to temporarily occupy the empty Macy’s anchor store.

To try and raise money, Sears has spunoff its Sears Hometown, and Outlet Stores as separately traded stocks.  The move made Sears Holdings (aka Hoffman Estates) $446.5 million USD, according to the Washington Post.   Yet store closings continue.

In another move to try and generate revenue, Sears and General Electric signed a deal to sell GE’s Brillion Connected Home Solutions products.  (yet another connection to the too Big to Fails, three former GE execs just got sent to prison for ripping off U.S. taxpayers)

On 18 October, residents of Freeport, Illinois, learned that Kmart will go away in January 2013: “We made a business decision not to renew the lease.”-Chris Brathwaite, Sears Holdings

Notice the above statement from Brathwaite is the very same statement made concerning the Three Rivers Mall in Washington!  Like I keep saying; what economic recovery? “It’s just an indication that we haven’t gotten to that point in terms of economic recovery that there is consumer confidence and people are willing to go out and spend…”-David Young, Northwest Illinois Development Alliance

Brathwaite made the very same announcement concerning the Pontiac, Illinois, Kmart on 13 October:  “We made the announcement to Pontiac associates on Wednesday.  It was a business decision to not renew our lease.”    (it’s now obvious this Brathwaite is a robot, cause he says the same thing at every announced closing, just insert name of town and how many people will lose their jobs)

In California, the Kmart in the DVC Plaza in Pleasant Hill (near Oakland) will close after 40 years in business.  The lease will not be renewed, more than 50 employees will be laid off.

In Colorado, about 52 employees will be out of work after the lease expires for the Kmart at Pueblos’ South Side.  The store has been there since 1974.

74 Kmart employees just learned they will be unemployed by January 2013, because the lease for the Cartersville, Georgia, store was not renewed.

52 people will lose their jobs when the Woodhaven, Michigan, Kmart closes on 13 January 2012.

In New Jersey, about 80 people will be unemployed when the Lawnside Kmart closes in January.  The same announcement came from Sears Holdings, but actually from a different person: “The lease is not being renewed at that location.”-Kim Freely, Sears holdings

It seems the owners of Sears/Kmart (Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates/and don’t forget the Mitt Romney/Bain Capital/Carlyle group connection) are shifting Kmart’s focus to female Spanish speaking customers.  On 18 October it was published that Hoffman Estates will pick five Latinas for a 10 week paid internship at their Illinois headquarters. It’s called the Latina Smart program.

Here’s an updated list of Sears/Kmart closings:

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart, Mobile Sears Grand/Essentials, Auburn Kmart.

California:   El Monte Sears Grand/Essentials, two San Diego Sears Grand/Essentials, recently revealed Pleasant Hill Kmart.

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart, Glenwood Springs Kmart, Lone Tree Sears Great Indoors, Longmont Sears, recently revealed Pueblos’ South Side Kmart.

Georgia: Macon Sears, Buford Kmart, Douglasville Kmart, Atlanta Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Jonesboro Kmart, recently revealed Cartersville Kmart.

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart, Callaway Kmart, Orange City Kmart,  Deland Sears Grand/Essentials, Stuart Sears Grand/Essentials, West Palm Beach Sears Grand/Essentials, Port St. Lucie Sears Grand/Essentials, Crystal River Sears, New Smyrna Beach Kmart, St. Augustine Kmart, Pompano Beach Kmart, and recently revealed Jacksonville Kmart.

Idaho: Lewiston Sears.

sears chubbuck
Floundering Sears at the GGP owned Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck, Idaho.
Kmart Pocatello
Floundering Big Kmart in Pocatello, Idaho. Are they next to go in Idaho?

Indiana:  Anderson Sears Full Line, Saint John Kmart, Indianapolis Kmart.

Illinois: Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center, and recently revealed Freeport and Pontiac Kmarts.

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart, Davenport Kmart, Burlington Kmart.

Kansas: Lawrence Sears Full Line.

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, recently revealed Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears Full line, Moorehead Sears Full line, Rocky Mount Sears Full line, Statesville Sears Full line.

New Jersey: Recently revealed Lawnside Kmart.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears Full line.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, and recently revealed Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears Full line.

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, Morristown Sears Full line.

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart.

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart, and recently revealed Kelso Sears.

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

Don’t forget, this is the 2012 known list of closings, there were closings in 2011 and 2010 as well, and they’ll be more for 2013.

Side note: it seems Sara Palin likes shopping at Kmart.