100 Kmart, Sears Stores to Get the Ax

Same-store sales are down 5.2% for the quarter
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 27, 2011 6:40 AM CST
100 Kmart, Sears Stores to Get the Ax
Sears Holdings Corp. said Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, it plans to close 100 to 120 of its Sears and Kmart stores as its holiday sales disappointed and it looks to reduce costs.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

It seems that the Kardashian Kollection alone wasn't enough to save Sears from a horrible holiday season. Sears Holdings Corp. today announced that it will close between 100 and 120 of its approximately 2,200 Kmart and Sears full-line stores, reports the Wall Street Journal. It expects the sale of those stores' inventory to bring in as much as $170 million; it will likely make more when it unloads or subleases the actual buildings those stores occupy.

Same-store Sears and Kmart sales are down 5.2% for the quarter to date. Kmart has attributed its drop to fewer layaways and a decline in clothing and consumer electronics sales; Sears pointed to disappointing consumer electronics and home appliance sales, reports the AP. The Journal notes that some have faulted Edward Lampert, the billionaire hedge-fund investor who serves as the chair of Sears Holdings Corp., for shuttering stores rather than renovating tired locations. (More Sears stories.)

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