Last bluelight dims in Dayton: Final area Kmart store to close Sunday

» STORE CLOSINGS: What’s really going on?

“This is part of a strategy both to address losses from unprofitable stores and to reduce the square footage of other stores because many of them are simply too big for our current needs,” Sears Chief Executive Eddie Lampert said in a blog post on the closures.

Sears Holdings lost $2.2 billion in sales in 2016.

RELATED: At Home to open first area location in Beavercreek

In late March, the company issued a somber message and officials said there is “substantial doubt” that Kmart and Sears can continue to survive. The warning came in an annual report filed with the Security and Exchange Commission.

Kmart also closed a store located at 4480 Indian Ripple Road in Beavercreek in July. That Kmart location will become the first At Home store in the Dayton area.