Kmart will show smaller October decline
DETROIT (AP) – Kmart Corp. will show a smaller decline in October sales from a year ago than it has in the past few months, the chief executive of the retailer that is operating under bankruptcy protection said Monday. Kmart’s sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales, will be down less than 5 percent, James B. Adamson said prior to a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
Same-store sales are considered the best gauge in a retailer’s health.
The Troy-based retailer, which is set to report third-quarter earnings and October sales later this week, posted a decline of 6.9 percent in September same-store sales.
“We’re continuing to show customers coming back, continuing to show improvement,” he said.
Adamson said the holiday season is important for Kmart and said the retailer would have at least a chance to be neutral to positive for December sales.
As part of its five-year business plan, Adamson said Kmart would evaluate store closings.
“We haven’t determined how many stores, where they’re going to be located,” he said Monday. He said an announcement would come in early January.
In October, the Atlanta Business Chronicle said it had obtained a list – from unnamed sources – of more than 500 stores to be closed following the holiday season.
Adamson said that list was “erroneous.”
There is room in the market for Kmart, he said. “It’s going to be around in some way, some shape, some form,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kmart has found a buyer for a third corporate jet as part of an effort to rid itself of expensive items during its restructuring. Kmart is asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Pierson Sonderby for permission to sell the 1999 Beechjet 400A to Big Country Air LLC for $3.4 million.
Kmart earlier this month said it had received an offer on a second jet from Dominion Aircraft Inc. for $3.5 million. Sonderby was to address both requests on Tuesday during a regularly scheduled hearing in Chicago. Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Jan. 22, following disappointing holiday sales.
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