SOUTH TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – Everything must go at local Kmarts poised to close after an announcement back in December. For shoppers it means fewer choices. For one part of the city, it means more empty properties in an already barren landscape.
"It's depressing because I grew up here, so I remember this when it was once a thriving area. I remember when Southwyck was the mall of all malls," said Toledo Councilman Michael Collins.
The Kmarts on Reynolds Road in south Toledo and Manhattan Boulevard in north Toledo will be closing, along with more than 100 Kmart and Sears stores nationwide.
Shoppers are disappointed.
"I've seen it deteriorating for a while and it's kind of sad because it's an institution when I was a child. It was Kmart, Kmart, Kmart, and now they are all gone except the one on Alexis," said Cris Espinoza.
"It's just unfortunate. This used to be such a nice area of Toledo and now it's well into decline," said Ralph Gross.
Collins said 60,000 cars drive past the Kmart on Reynolds Road every day. With that traffic, plus its close proximity to the Ohio Turnpike, he believes businesses are bound to come back to the area.
"This property and this area of the city is too valuable not to see some entrepreneur come through and invest, capitalize off the great dynamic we have here," said Collins.
Meanwhile, Kmart employees said they still do not know when the Toledo locations will close.
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