Boca Raton Kmart to close Oct. 31
A more than 40-year-old Kmart in Boca Raton is scheduled to close on Oct. 31; liquidation sales already have begun, a company spokesman said.
Located at 1401 W. Palmetto Park Road in Palmetto Park Square, the Kmart “did not meet our go-forward criteria,” the Kmart spokesman said. Kmart owner Sears Holdings is evaluating all its stores to invest in its “best stores,” he said.
One of the few remaining Kmarts in South Florida, the Boca Raton store occupies more than 100,000 square feet in the shopping plaza it shares with a Publix Supermarket and smaller retailers.
Jonathan Cashion, principal of Katz & Associates real estate firm in Boca Raton, said his firm has interest from “national expanding retailers” in the space, as it is a prime location near residential communities in eastern Boca Raton. The space could be filled by one large tenant or multiple smaller ones, he said.
Illinois-based Sears Holdings has been closing hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filed in 2018.
Only two other Kmarts remain in South Florida, in Lantana and Hollywood. Kmart’s spokesman didn’t respond to questions about whether either of those stores are slated to close. He also said he didn’t know how many workers will be affected by the Boca Raton store closure.
The Kmart is owned Enterprises of Atlanta. by Selig The Geo Group has built a new headquarters in Boca Raton at a cost of $57 million.