Scotts Valley Kmart Safe–For Now

It appears the on Mt. Hermon Road is safe from the chopping block–for now.

On Dec. 27, Sears Holding Corporation, which owns the Sears and Kmart chains, announced plans to close between 100 and 120 stores across the nation.

A list of the first 80 stores to be closed was published a few days later. This list is available on the company's website.

As of now, the Scotts Valley Kmart location is not on the list, but that doesn't mean it's completely safe. A longer list with additional locations could be released later this year.

Sears Holding Corporation CEO Lou D'Ambrosio said in a press release issued Dec. 27 that lower-than-expected holiday sales and a general decline in revenue overall nationwide led to the decision to close the stores.

"We expect these store closures to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold, and we expect to generate additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related real estate," D'Ambrosio explained.

D'Ambrosio added, the 100-120 store closures is just one action the company plans to take in an attempt to try and turn things around.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," he said. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail–at the store, online and in the home."

Other actions Sears Holding plans to take include stocking a lower level of inventory in all stores; implementing tighter, stricter buying standards; and reducing fixed costs by $100-200 million.

The only stores in California that appear on the first list of planned closures are located in El Monte and San Diego.

Florida is the state with the most planned store closures, at this time, with 11. Ohio, Michigan and Georgia are just behind, with six each. Interestingly, no stores in the company's home state of Illinois appear on the list.