120 Sears and Kmart stores to close

UNITED STATES - Sears has announced it will close 120 Sears and Kmart stores, the largest closing of its properties after disastrous holiday sales. The closings will effect 1000s of jobs.

The retailer will be closing 120 of its worst performing ("marginal") stores and will focus its resources on its top performing stores.

“Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” says CEO Louis D’Ambrosio. “These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers.”

Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, hopes to generate $170 million in cash from inventory sales and additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate.

Sears, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Land’s End, has seen rival department stores like Macy’s Inc., discounters like Target and electronics stores like Best Buy and Future Shop steal loyal customers away, mostly people in the middle-income bracket.

Sears announced smaller closings earlier this year and had pinned their hopes on upbeat holiday sales. Sears Holdings has more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada.