ALPENA – One of Alpena’s largest retailers is going to be closing its doors by the middle of December, but plans already are in the works to find a new tenant.

On Friday Sears Holding Corp. announced it is going to terminate its lease agreement with property owner Seritage Growth Properties and close the store by the end of the year.

The Alpena location is one of more than 60 around the country expected to close due to lack of profitability. Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings, said in a statement the company has been closely monitoring sales for all of its stores and in the best interest of the company closures were needed.

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

Riefs didn’t say how many employees would be impacted by the closure, but said the company will do its best to provide assistance or find other employment opportunities.

“The number of associates is not publicly available, but those associates that are eligible will receive severance and have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Sears or Kmart stores,” Riefs said. “Most of the associates are part time and hourly.”

Liquidation of inventory of the store will begin Thursday when discounted prices on merchandise begins. Riefs said shoppers will be able to shop for items after the store closes via other avenues.

“Our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors,” Riefs said. “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.”

The move to close 60 Sears Holdings-owned properties and an additional 17 properties it leases from Seritage Growth Properties comes on the heels of a less-than-stellar second quarter financial report the company released on Aug. 25. Declining sales led Moody’s to downgrade the company’s speculative grade liquidity rating. In the last year its stock price has fallen by more than 50 percent.

Although it has terminated its lease agreement with Seritage Growth Properties, Sears Holdings is required to make lease payments until the store is closed and pay a full year’s worth of rent as stated in the lease agreement.

Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Jim Klarich said the decision to close the store is not unexpected. He said he is hopeful another business will find the location attractive and decide to take advantage of it.

“It is in a high traffic corridor, it is a very large facility, so we’ll have to see how things play out,” Klarich said. “Kmart was one of the original stores when the Alpena Mall opened in 1980, but moved to its current location in the late 1990s.”

The other Michigan Kmart locations that will close by the end of the year include Jackson, Fenton, Manistee, Grand Rapids and Sault Ste. Marie.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews. Read his blog, Upon Further Review … at www.thealpenanews.com.