Kmart in Cullman is seen Friday afternoon surrounded by an almost deserted parking lot.

After surviving a round of cuts earlier this year, the blue light is finally going out for the Kmart location in Cullman.

The company confirmed to The Times that the location at 1731 2nd Ave SW will be closing later this year, with a liquidation sale beginning next week, on September 22. The store will officially close in mid-December.

Nearly 80 Kmart stores were confirmed to shut down in an April round of closures, with locations in Birmingham, Decatur, Homewood, Mobile and Oxford already on the chopping block. Kmart spokesperson Riefs Howard called the decision “difficult, but necessary.”

“We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and have accelerated the closing of unprofitable stores as previously announced,” Howard said. “We often hear from our members who are disappointed when we close a store, but our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors.”

Though the physical location is being shuttered, company officials say they hope to retain some of the sales from this region via online and mobile venues.

Kmart’s owner, Sears Holding Corp., has been ailing for much of the year. The company is working to accelerate the closing of unprofitable stores following a “challenging” holiday season last year.

Sears Holdings has struggled for years with weakening sales, unable to keep up with companies that sell appliances, like Home Depot, or general merchandise, like Wal-Mart, or everything, as is the case with amazon.com, according to the Associated Press. The company has been selling assets to raise cash. In 2011, it operated 4,000 stores. Sears is also shifting away from its focus on running a store network into a member-focused business. Loyal shoppers receive incentives to buy. But those moves haven’t gained much traction with shoppers.

In the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season, revenue at stores opened at least a year fell 6.9 percent at Sears, and 7.2 percent at Kmart. That’s a key indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes the volatility from stores that recently opened or closed. The company saw its fourth-quarter loss widen to $580 million, from a $159 million loss a year ago.