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Sears Stores Closing

February 24, 2012 by · Comments Off on Sears Stores Closing 

Sears Stores Closing, Sears Holdings says it is closing six stores in Illinois, including the Sears store at Alton Square, after posting disappointing earnings.

The announcement is part of a plan to close a total of 15 Sears and Kmart stores, including nine of its Great Indoors stores.

In Illinois, the company plans to close Kmart stores in Peru, McHenry, Oak Lawn and Zion and a Great Indoors store in Lombard. A seventh store, a Sears store in Champaign, is being sold off. The list does not mention any of the other Kmart stores in the Alton area.

There is no immediate indication of when stores would close.

The closures will mean the loss of some 560 jobs as well as another 100 layoffs from Sears’ corporate headquarters.

According to a report in the Peoria Journal Star, Sears officials have not said exactly how many employees will be affected by the closings. But a typical store employs between 40 and 80 workers, according to Sears.

Last year, state lawmakers approved a package of tax incentives to entice the multinational corporation to keep its headquarters in suburban Hoffman Estates.

Under the deal, Sears will get a $15 million break on its taxes over the next decade as well as an extension on its property tax break.

Less than a month after that incentive package, Sears Holding Corp. announced it would close up to 120 Sears and Kmart locations because of poor sales. The initial list of 79 stores, released in late December, did not include any Illinois locations. But with no guarantees that Illinois stores would be spared, some lawmakers said at the time they felt betrayed.

Sears Closing Stores

December 27, 2011 by · Comments Off on Sears Closing Stores 

Sears Closing StoresSears Closing Stores, Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will be closed, the retailer said Tuesday, after terrible holiday sales during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers.

Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources.

The company is moving away from its practice of propping up “marginally performing” stores in hopes of improving their performance. Sears said it will now concentrate on cash-generating 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,” said CEO Louis D’Ambrosio. “These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers.”

Sears (SHLD) would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.

Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.

The company, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Land’s End, has seen rival department stores like Macy’s Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. steal customers away. But the economy is put a sustained financial squeeze on its most loyal customers, those in the middle-income bracket.

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