Four Kmart stores will close in New Jersey, leaving only seven stores in the state.

The company is closing stores in Wayne, Trenton, Wall and Somers Point.

“The liquidation sales are expected to begin in mid-September and the stores are planned to close by mid-December. We encourage customers to continue shopping on Kmart.com for all their product needs," according to Kmart/Sears spokesman Larry Costello.

Costello would not disclose how many employees would be affected by the decision and whether or not they would lose their jobs or be reassigned. The company has not yet filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice with the state. WARN notices are supposed to be filed by companies at least 60 days ahead of a mass layoff.

Parent company Sears Holdings has been closing Sears and Kmart stores in New Jersey and around the country before and after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.

Many of the Sears stores to close are anchor stores, compounding the problem of malls trying to fill empty spaces. The Ocean County Mall, Hamilton Mall, Paramus Park, Quakerbridge Mall and Willowbrook Mall have lost their Sears anchors.

Other retailers to close New Jersey locations in 2019 include Charlotte Rouse, Dollar Tree, Dressbarn, Family Dollar, The Gap, Gymboree, JC Penney, Payless ShoeSource and Victoria's Secret.

The remaining Kmart stores in New Jersey after the closure are in Belleville, Kearny, Toms River, West Long Branch, West Orange, Westwood and the Avenel section of Woodbridge.

Ocean County Scanner News was first to report the Kmart closures.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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