40 more Sears and Kmart stores are closing down as the company continues to diminish, according to a report by CBS News.
Sears Holdings decided to close down 40 more locations this week in its ongoing battle against bankruptcy. The once-dominant retail store is shuttering 29 Sears locations and 11 Kmart locations. The locations were reportedly told on Thursday that they would be closed in February.
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In preparation for the closings, those locations will begin liquidation sales at the end of this week. This will include the Sears Auto Stores, which have helped the stores stay afloat in many cases.
The closures are spread out across country, with many in the north-east and midwest, as well as a few in the south. Three Kmart stores in Puerto Rico are also closing. The complete list is in Sears Holdings’ public statement released on Thursday.
These new closures join 142 other “unprofitable stores” that will be closed by the end of this year. In addition to publishing lists of the stores that are closing, Sears’ and Kmart’s store locator functions will show if certain locations are closing.
A spokesperson for Sears Holdings declined to specify how many employees will be losing their jobs in this new batch of closings. The company filed for bankruptcy just a few weeks ago in mid-October. However, it has been closing stores since 2012. At its peek, there were 4,000 Sears and Kmart stores in North America.
Things look bleak for the company, though its highest executives still have hope. At the time of this writing, Sears Holdings Corps’ stock is trading at 33 cents, and Fox News’ financial experts have described the company as “on death watch.” Retail expert Burt Flickinger told the outlet that it will not last much longer.
“Bye, bye—finished,” he said candidly. “Bridgehampton Mall in the Hamptons — the only discount department store out there — Target is taking over. That’s the beginning of the end of the curtain coming down for Sears — that epitomizes everything.”
Still, Sears’ CEO Eddie Lampert hopes to salvage something from the company. He has proposed a massive financial overhaul which would cut off some of the dead weight. He wants to sell $1.5 billion worth of Sears’ real estate, and another $1.75 billion in assets. He also wants to restructure $1.1 billion in company debt, hopefully putting Sears back above water.
Sears is just one of many retail companies to suffer in an age when Amazon rules the shopping world. Toys “R” Us famously underwent similar shrinking pains this year, though it was saved at the last second by wealthy lenders who hope the brand can make a comeback at some point.
