Sears Holdings to Close More Sears, Kmart Stores
In a blog post published Friday afternoon, Eddie Lampert, chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings, announced plans for the retailer to shutter more of its stores. The department store chain, which operates the struggling Sears and Kmart stores, will close eight more Sears locations and 35 Kmart stores, as the company "continue[s] to focus on [its] best stores and return to profitability ... We have fought hard for many years to return unprofitable stores to a competitive position and to preserve jobs," Lampert wrote. The latest stores deemed unprofitable will be shuttered by early October, the company said. Also in his post, Lampert gave an update on Sears’ restructuring program. The company wants to achieve $1.25 billion in annualized cost savings this year, as well as reduce its debt and improve its liquidity.
Total Retail’s Take: Despite the fact that Lampert wrote that Sears is "well on track" to meet its goals, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the department store chain. So far this year, Sears Holdings has closed 260 stores. What’s more, earlier this year, Sears announced in an annual filing with the SEC that there were doubts the company could continue operations. It would seem a drastic shift is necessary for Sears to remain a viable business going forward.
