100 Kmart, Sears Stores to Get the Ax

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.)