Up to 1200 store staff employed by US supermarket operator Kmart face redundancy as Home Depot takes over 13 properties following an early summer agreement.


Beleaguered Kmart has been struggling back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, from which it emerged in spring of 2003. The employees affected by the Home Depot buy will not receive severance pay, although Kmart spokesman Steve Pagnani said they will be given benefits to which they are entitled, such as vacation days they have not yet taken.


Home Dept paid US$59m for the stores is has acquired from Kmart, giving Kmart a net gain of $43m, reported the Detroit Free Press.


Kmart has a deal in the pipeline to sell a further 54 stores to Sears, Roebuck and Co. for up to $621m. Sears expects to occupy the stores by April 2005, when roughly 5,000 more Kmart employees will lose their jobs.

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