AREA KMARTS SAFE FROM CLOSING

By mid-morning Tuesday, William Marra did not know which five Missouri Kmart stores would be closing.

"We hadn't been informed," said Marra, manager of the Cape Girardeau Big Kmart. "But, I think our store has been doing okay."

Kmart Corp.., headquartered in Troy, Mich., announced Tuesday that 72 of its less-profitable stores, in 28 states were scheduled for closure, affecting 5,000 workers.

Kmart, which earned $403 million on revenue of $35.9 billion in fiscal 1999, operates 2,171 stores. The latest closings represent about 3 percent of all Kmart stores.

The stores will close by Nov. 1, but neither Cape Girardeau, Sikeston nor Poplar Bluff are affected.

"Five Missouri stores will close," said a spokesman from Kmart's Troy, Mich. corporate offices. "None are in Southeast Missouri."

Included on the list were stores at Joplin, Lebanon, Kirkwood, Maplewood and another store in St. Louis.

While most of the stores being closed are marginally profitable, the Kmart spokesman said they didn't justify additional investment because of location and suitability for expansion.

The Cape Girardeau store made the transition from regular Kmart to Big K(mart) in August of 1999.

Refurbishments were also completed last year at Poplar Bluff and Sikeston.

Hourly workers at the affected stores will lose their jobs, but are advised to apply to other Kmart locations. Managers are being transferred said Kmart spokesman Steve Pagnani.

The retail chain, the nation's third largest retailer, also indicated it would put the piles of merchandise filling its warehouses on sale and invest in a more efficient inventory control.

While Kmart is considered more financially sound than it was in the mid-1990s, it has struggled to compete with Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Minneapolis-based Target. Its stock price is down 54 percent in the last 52 weeks.

The retail chain is attempting build a presence on the Internet as well as renovate and open new stores.

At a shareholders' meeting in mid-May, Kmart said it would spend $340 million to open 20 new Big Kmart stores, expand 12 to 15 existing stores and adding five new Super Kmarts -- 24-hour centers that combine traditional Kmart discount stores with full grocery operations.