Kmart Cuts More Staff at BlueLight; New MultiCultural Appointment

Kmart Corp. has further reduced the staff at its BlueLight.com Internet division in San Francisco, a BlueLight spokesman said Friday.

He declined to say how many jobs had been cut and Kmart was not immediately available to elaborate. The latest job cuts follow an earlier round of layoffs in May. Kmart recently agreed to buy back the 40% of BlueLight it did not already own, and has gradually been assuming tighter control over the division that was once run as a separate company.

Kmart also indicated last week that it was considering sub-leasing the BlueLight headquarters building in San Francisco.

In other news, Kmart on Friday named Rose Reza to the newly created position of senior vp of multicultural merchandising, effective immediately.

Reza's duties will include developing merchandise appropriate for the diverse cultures of the company's customer base, Kmart said. Reza, who joined the company earlier this year after 15 years with competitor Wal-Mart Stores, previously served as senior vp of Kmart's southeast division.