Petaluma Kmart on McDowell Boulevard will remain open despite bankruptcy

The store, first opened in 1980, was profitable enough to avoid the axe|

After several years of unstable profits, the Sears corporation announced its plans to close 142 stores across the nation, including 10 in California. The Sears store that has stood in the Santa Rosa Plaza since the 1980s will be shuttered, with plans to offer a liquidation sale in the coming weeks.

Sears is the parent company to Kmart, which will lose seven of the worst performing stores across the state. That does not include the Petaluma Kmart, which eked out enough profit to avoid the chopping block. The big-box discount store is a cornerstone of the Plaza North Shopping Center on McDowell Boulevard. It was opened in April of 1980, when hoards of shoppers flooded the aisles to check out the merchandise. The event was so big, police were called in to help keep traffic flowing.

This is not the first time the troubled chain has faced financial instability. In 1995, the Kmart corporation was considering bankruptcy with plans to close many of its locations. The Rohnert Park store was axed at that time, but the Petaluma location was again profitable enough to save.

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