Sears to Close Another 78 U.S. Stores
April 21 2016 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
Sears Holdings Corp. will close another 78 U.S. stores as it
tries to return to profitability after five consecutive years of
losses.
The Illinois-based retailer, which had already flagged 50 stores
for closing in its push to cut up to $650 million in expenses, on
Thursday said it would close 68 Kmart stores and 10 Sears stores,
with most of those stores slated to close in late July.
The company didn't say how many workers would be laid off but
said eligible workers could apply for open positions at other
stores.
"We're focusing on our best members, our best categories and our
best stores as we work to accelerate our transformation," Chief
Executive Edward S. Lampert said in a news release.
Closing Sears stores will start liquidation sales on April 29
and Kmart stores on May 12.
A Sears spokesman noted that the decision to close the stores
followed an evaluation of their performance and the timing of lease
expirations.
Sears ended the most recent fiscal year with a $1.13 billion net
loss as sales fell 19% to $25.15 billion and has since raised more
than $1.2 billion in new debt to cover operations.
As of Jan. 30, the company had about $3 billion in
borrowings.
Shares of Sears were recently up 8.8% in after-hours trading, to
$19.60.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2016 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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