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Kmart to axe jobs, store in Fresh Meadows


A spokesman for Borough President Helen Marshall said she would…

By Tien-Shun Lee

The Kmart at Fresh Meadows Shopping Center will be one of 326 Kmart stores nationwide to close as part of its plan to emerge from bankrupty protection later this year, Kmart said Tuesday.

A spokesman for Borough President Helen Marshall said she would like to help the giant retain chain find jobs for the Q ueens employees affected by the closing.

“It’s an unfortunate thing, but I can’t prevent it,” said a store employee at Fresh Meadows who asked not to be identified.

The remaining Queens Kmart stores in Middle Village and Rosedale will stay open. A Kmart in Glen Oaks closed last year.

According to workers at the northeastern Queens location, the Fresh Meadows Kmart at 61-17 190th St. has been open for about nine years and employs about 1,000 people.

Nationwide, the closing of 326 Kmart stores will result in 30,000 to 35,000 jobs lost in 44 states, Kmart officials said.

Kmart, based in Troy, Mich., filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors last year and the latest round of closings is designed to prepare the company to come out of Chapter 11 on April 30, the company said.

After the new closings, Kmart will be a third smaller than it was on Jan. 22, 2002, when the corporation filed for Chapter 11.

In addition to the imminent store closings, Kmart has already closed 283 stores in the past year, laying off more than 22,000 workers.

“It’s upsetting news. We don’t like to see any jobs leaving the borough,” said Dan Andrews, a spokesman for Borough President Helen Marshall. “But this was a corporate decision. If they want to reach out to us, we would do what we can to assist those who lost their jobs.”

Workers at neighboring stores within the Fresh Meadows Shopping Center, which includes a Cineplex Odeon movie theater, Starbucks, Applebee’s, Boston Chicken, Weight Watcher’s and numerous clothing stores, said the Kmart closing might affect business within the rest of the complex.

“It brings a tremendous amount of traffic into the store,” said Richard Berle, owner of Body by Berle Personal Training center. “Many times people say I was shopping in Kmart and I saw your store… I’ll be very disappointed in them closing, because it’s an anchor store.”

Representatives from Kmart’s corporate office did not return phone calls.

Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 229-0300, ext. 155.