Sears Is Closing a Bunch of Stores (Again)
Sears Holdings (OTC: SHLDQ) closed hundreds of stores during its 2018 fiscal year in a futile attempt to reduce its losses and stave off bankruptcy. The long-suffering retail icon finally filed for bankruptcy last October anyway. At the time, it had a little over 750 stores remaining.
Sears and sister chain Kmart were nearly liquidated entirely, but controlling shareholder Eddie Lampert eventually rescued a fragment of the company. The hope was that Sears and Kmart could survive by focusing just on their most profitable locations. However, Sears is already embarking on another round of mass store closures. This shows that its turnaround plan is not working, and it spells danger for weaker landlords like CBL & Associates (NYSE: CBL).
In the months after it filed for bankruptcy last year, Sears Holdings closed more than 300 stores in several waves. By the time Lampert bought the Sears and Kmart chains in a bankruptcy auction in early February, he did so with the intention of operating just 425 locations -- 223 Sears stores and 202 Kmarts.
Quelle Fool.com
