Although the Kmart facility is closing in Mattoon, the city may actually see an increase in jobs because of the possible addition of a Home Depot to the same commercial area.

The Big Kmart in Mattoon is one of 284 stores across 40 states that are closing after the Kmart corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.

The Mattoon store is scheduled to close in May and other area Kmarts in central Illinois that are scheduled to close are in Paris, Centralia and Decatur.

Those closings will leave Effingham as the closest Kmart to Charleston.

“I’m very sad about its closing. I prefer Kmart to Wal-Mart. I always shop here over Wal-Mart even with its closing,” Neoga resident Phyliss Kruger said, as she went in to shop at the Mattoon Kmart on Sunday.

“I don’t think (Kmart) should close. They got good deals. It’s the one place in Mattoon to get good deals,” Tyler Cobb of Mattoon said.

Jim Beard, manager of the Mattoon Kmart, refused to comment about the store closing.

Petition Filed

The Mattoon Chamber of Commerce filed a petition containing about 3,500 signatures asking for the store to remain open, Casey Rooney, chamber director, said.

Workers from Kmart called the chamber of commerce, asking them to help in any way they could, he said.

“Kmart is a member of the chamber of commerce,” Rooney said. “It’s our mission to help businesses grow.”

For the most part, Rooney said, once Kmart closes most of its shoppers will go to Wal-Mart. However, the “die-hard” Kmart shoppers might go to a different Kmart store.

The Mattoon Planning Commission, which Rooney is a member of, will meet Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a Home Depot opening a store near the closing Kmart facility.

“Home Depot hasn’t said for sure, but it looks good,” Rooney commented.

Mattoon City Council must first approve an ordinance allowing Home Depot to open a store in the city.

“If it gets approved by city council, sight development (including sewage and road construction) would begin in 90 days,” Rooney said.

The potential site for Home Depot would be east of Kmart, behind Staples. During the past few days, workers have been at the potential site collecting soil samples, Rooney noted.

“They sought us out and it really had nothing to do with Kmart. They did the study and the demographics were right and decided it would be right to build a store here,” Rooney said.

Kmart employees

The Mattoon Wal-Mart has already hired former Kmart employees. Wal-Mart Manager Dave Sauerwein estimates they have already talked to a dozen Kmart employees and encourages more to apply for employment with Wal-Mart.

“They are all welcome to come and talk with us,” Sauerwein said. “I wouldn’t be able to hire everyone, but I could hire quite a few.”

Sauerwein thinks business at the Mattoon Wal-Mart will increase because of Kmart’s closing.

“I think our business will pick up some. (Kmart) wasn’t doing that much business anyway,” he said. “Dollar General and Sears are bound to pick up business.”

“This is what I see happening,” Rooney said. “We’re closing one store of about 65 employees and we’re gaining a store of about 100-120 employees. You’ve got two successful businesses.

“I think someone else will grab the Kmart store and come in, which will generate another 50 to 100 employees.”

However Rooney is concerned about the small businesses being affected by a Home Depot in the area.

“There’s also some other small businesses who won’t be happy about another store going in,” Rooney said. “They could be hurt in the process and we have to help them.”