Kmart’s owners are closing their Lexington and West Columbia stores in December.

The stores at 1500 Charleston Highway in West Columbia and 748 West Main St. Lexington are 2 of 62 other stores financially-troubled Sears Holdings is closing in 28 states.

An assistant manager at the Lexington store said she has been given no exact date but an “everything must go” sale is underway.

A digital billboard at US 1 and Klapman Boulevard and signs on the stores advertise “Closeout” sales.

Earlier this year, former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert struck a last-minute deal to buy Sears assets out of bankruptcy and keep about 400 stores open.

Lampert resigned as CEO when Sears filed for bankruptcy. He was the company’s largest shareholder and creditor at the time.

How will this affect Sears locally-owned stores in Lexington and elsewhere?

The company issued a statement saying, “After careful review, we believe the right course is to accelerate the expansion of our smaller store formats which includes opening more Home & Life stores and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores.”