New Kensington Kmart's looming closure has shoppers dejected

Joyce Confer-McElwain remembered shopping at the Kmart store in New Kensington’s Riverview Plaza as a little girl and then taking her grandchildren there to pick out Christmas and birthday gifts.

Mary McCafferty of Hicksville, N.Y., said she routinely stops there to buy toiletries and toys when she visits family in Lower Burrell.

Marie Smith just started shopping at the store three or four months ago because she liked its prices and clothing.

All were disappointed to hear the Kmart store is one of many scheduled to close by the end of this year.

Sears Holdings, which operates both Sears and Kmart stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday amid financial strain from massive debt and staggering losses. Sears Holdings said it will close 142 unprofitable stores near the end of the year, with liquidation sales expected to begin shortly. That’s in addition to the previously announced closure of 46 more unprofitable stores.

Stores scheduled to close by the end of the year include ones in New Kensington, Pleasant Hills and Shaler.

A man who identified himself as a manager at the New Kensington store told a Tribune-Review reporter that he couldn’t comment about the closure and provided a phone number to call instead. A message left at that number wasn’t immediately returned.

“It’s a shame,” Smith, 69, of Lower Burrell said of the New Kensington store’s looming closure.

The store has been around for more than a half-century. It opened on Feb. 27, 1964.

Confer-McElwain, who lives in Arnold, was holding onto hope the store wouldn’t close.

“It’s really going to put the economy down around here,” said Confer-McElwain, 65. “What’s the Valley going to do?”

Although Confer-McElwain said she knows there is a Walmart in Harrison, she added, “That’s so inconvenient when you have to run clear across the bridge and up the hill. Kmart’s going to be missed. But obviously, that can’t be true, because they’re closing.”

Kmart shoppers can still head to the store in Allegheny Township, which survived the latest closures. There’s a second Walmart at the Mills Mall in Frazer and a Target in Harmar.

McCafferty, 67, comes to the Alle-Kiski Valley from New York once a month. She usually stays for a week and visits the New Kensington Kmart at least once per visit.

She said most of the Kmarts on Long Island have closed, and she looked forward to shopping at the New Kensington store because it’s one of the few Kmarts left.

“With all the toy stores closing, where are you going to shop for your Christmas toys?” McCafferty said. “It’s going to make a big impact.”

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo said Kmart has been a big part of the community for many years — as long as he can remember, it has been there.

He is concerned about the people who will lose their jobs.

“We don’t ever want to see anybody losing their jobs,” Guzzo said. “That’s always a sad thing.”

Guzzo said the area is a prime redevelopment spot. He hopes someone will be interested in it.

He is hopeful that a store similar to Kmart locates there because it is affordable and sells a variety of appliances and other items.

“It is important, and I’m hoping that something like that happens,” he said. “Certainly, we’ll be looking to help in any way.”

The Associated Press contributed
to this report. Madasyn Czebiniak is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Madasyn at 724-226-4702, mczebiniak@tribweb.com or
via Twitter @maddyczebstrib.