Sears Owner Gets $250M Lifeline; Plans to Close 96 More Stores
The parent company of Sears and Kmart, Transformco, has secured a $250 million lifeline and announced plans yesterday to close 96 more stores, CNBC reported. This will leave the business with 182 store locations. Owner Eddie Lambert, who bought Sears out of bankruptcy court for $5.2 billion earlier this year, is one of the lenders financing the lifeline. Going-out-of-business sales are set to begin on Dec. 2, and the 96 stores will shutter by February, CNBC reported. Transformco will continue to evaluate the retail and service strategy for both Sears and Kmart, and is still expecting to see a significant return on its portfolio of owned and leased real estate.
Total Retail's Take: When Lampert bought Sears this past February, he acquired 425 Sears and Kmart locations. He believed that his offer was the best option to keep stores open and save jobs. However, yesterday's announcement that Sears needed yet another loan and is announcing more closing stores shows the company is still far from turning things around. At one time one of the biggest retailers in the country, Sears hasn't been profitable since 2010, CNBC reported. The retailer, now under new ownership, although Lampert is still heavily involved, is finding it difficult to lure shoppers back despite its restructuring efforts.
- Companies:
- Sears, Roebuck and Co.
- People:
- Eddie Lampert
Ashley Chiaradio is the Senior Content Strategist at Total Retail. Ashley has been creating content for more than 7 years, and provides a unique insight in covering the retail industry having worked directly for retailers in the past. She’s passionate about profiling women leadership in the space.
