Gwinnett Daily Post

BUFORD -- Sears Holdings Corp. has announced plans to close the Kmart at 1605 Buford Highway as part of a company-wide cost-savings measure.

The local store is among 120 Kmart and Sears stores expected to shut its doors in actions to "accelerate the transformation of its business."

Other Atlanta area stores expected to close include one on Cleveland St., in Atlanta, one at Hwy. 5 in Douglasville and a location at Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro.

After poor holiday sales, the retailer announced this week it planned to move away from propping up "marginally performing" stores in hopes of improving its performance. Sears said it will now concentrate on cash-generating stores.

"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," said CEO Louis D'Ambrosio. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers."

Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales.

According to a news release from Sears, employment varies by store and format "and at this time we cannot provide the total number of impacted associates. However, a typical store that is being closed employs between 40 and 80 associates."

Kmart's 6 percent decline in revenue at stores open at least a year was blamed on diminished layaways and a drop in clothing and consumer electronics sales. Sears' cited lackluster consumer electronics and home appliance sales for its 4.4 percent drop off. Sears' clothing sales were flat, while sales of Lands' End products at Sears stores rose mid-single digits.

A manager at the Buford store Thursday declined to comment.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this story.