{"id":1367917,"date":"2021-06-18T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pajaronian.com\/?p=1367917"},"modified":"2021-06-23T11:50:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T18:50:20","slug":"kmart-in-watsonville-closing-doors-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pajaronian.com\/kmart-in-watsonville-closing-doors-in-august\/","title":{"rendered":"Kmart in Watsonville closing doors in August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WATSONVILLE<\/strong>\u2014The Kmart store at 1702 Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville will permanently close its doors on Aug. 22, the company announced through a publicity agency on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The store will begin to wrap up business beginning Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement did not contain any further information. Transformco, the Illinois-based company that owns Kmart, did not respond to a request for comment by 2pm on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando Mu\u00f1oz, whose family owns nearby Taqueria Mi Tierra II, says the announcement came as no surprise. The store never fully embraced online retail, he says, and never added a grocery section like its competitors Walmart and Target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the aging store was never upgraded, Mu\u00f1oz says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not clear what business will occupy the property once Kmart vacates it. Mu\u00f1oz says that several have expressed interest, and expressed hope that a major retailer such as Costco or Walmart might move in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would create a lot of local careers and keep local dollars local,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kmart\u2019s Scotts Valley location closed in February 2020, and Transformco sold that property to Target this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[An earlier version of this story misidentified the owner of the Kmart property. \u2014 Editor] <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WATSONVILLE\u2014The Kmart store at 1702 Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville will permanently close its doors on Aug. 22, the company announced through a publicity agency on Tuesday. The store will begin to wrap up business beginning Thursday. The announcement did not contain any further information. Transformco, the Illinois-based company that owns Kmart, did not respond to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1367918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n