May 8, 2017, News Release from Sears Holdings Corp.:

We can confirm that we are making the difficult, but necessary decision to close the Kmart store at 1801 Hydraulic Road in Charlottesville.

The store will close to the public in late July. Until then, the store will remain open for customers. The store will begin its liquidation sale on May 11.

We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and have accelerated the closing of unprofitable stores as previously announced.

We often hear from our members who are disappointed when we close a store, but our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors. As a result, we hope to retain a portion of the sales previously associated with this store by maintaining our relationships with the members who shopped this location. Our members and customers can also shop at our other Kmart locations, which are listed at http://www.kmart.com/stores.html.

Those associates that are eligible will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores. Most of the associates are part time/hourly.