The new year has barely started, but it’s already time to shed a few more tears for Sears. The American retailing legend is trying to stage a comeback as a place where Americans are willing to shop again. Part of that comeback is shedding stores and facilities that it no longer needs. It’s time to add facility to that list: a parts distribution center in Dallas that employs 77 people.

The distribution center will close in mid-February, according to a report in the Dallas Business Journal. Sears filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state of Texas, which must be filed at least 60 days before a planned layoff. The facility employs 77 people.

In addition to a large number of Kmart and Sears stores, local news reports and information from employees indicates that Sears plans to close two distribution centers and three repair centers.

The contact person in the WARN notice was not a Sears Holdings employee. Update: We heard back from Sears, where a spokesperson explained to us that the parts distribution center closing is part of an overall effort to change (and, they hope, improve) how parts get to customers for their appliance repair business. Here’s the staement that Sears sent:

As part of Sears Home Appliances & Services’ goal to enhance and improve service to our members, we have increased the parts inventory we have on hand and decreased the turnaround time, which allows us to ship parts to our members faster. Additionally, we have determined that we can improve our productivity by reducing the number of Parts Distribution Centers (PDC) in our network and realigning the remaining PDCs more closely to our regions – while also increasing their capacity. Last month, we notified the associates at our Parts Distribution Center in Dallas, that it will close in February. Our teams are currently working with the affected staff to provide job search assistance for positions within and outside of Sears Holdings.

Sears lays off 77 from parts distribution facility [Dallas Business Journal]

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