How Dying Retailers Like Sears Are Trying to Stay Alive

Struggling big-box retailers Sears and Toys"R"Us, which sell merchandise easily bought from a mobile device, are using a surprising tactic to forestall death: turning their vast real estate holdings into cash-generating piggybanks. Toys"R"Us, collectively owned by private equity firms Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado Realty Trust, is the latest to offer a glimpse into how a floundering national retailer is morphing into a landlord. On Sept. 17, Toys"R"Us disclosed that it will open Claire's branded shops in 100 locations scattered across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Austria and Spain.