Between 200 and 300 people at Kmart's headquarters in Troy were laid off on Tuesday, according to Local 4 Business Editor Rod Meloni.

KMART LAYOFFS Kmart Company News

About 2,000 people work at the building on Big Beaver Road. Local 4 learned that 75 employees of the IT department, along with employees from human relations, public relations and video networking were among those affected by the cuts.

"While today's decision was extremely difficult, these changes better align corporate headquarters support with the improved field organization," the retailer said in a statement.

Employees were given boxes to pack up their things and they signed releases that they would not talk to media, Local 4 reported. Many were given severance packages of up to four months pay, depending on how long they were with the company. Kmart said they would also help the employees find work elsewhere.

There are reportedly several offices at the building on Big Beaver that are empty. Many believe the company's next move may be to sell the headquarters and surrounding real estate and relocate to a building that's smaller, the station reported.

Kmart also announced Tuesday that it will sell more of its retail stores to The Home Depot. Kmart and Home Depot initially entered into an agreement that provided for the sale of up to 24 stores for a purchase price of up to $365 million subject to the satisfaction of various conditions. The companies have now revised their transaction to provide for the sale of 32 stores -- 13 stores for $173 million in cash, and up to 19 stores for $288.5 million in cash.

Kmart will announce Second Quarter 2004 earnings on Monday.