HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (WJW) — Fifty-one Sears stores and another 45 Kmart locations will soon be closing across the country, according to Transformco, the company that acquired the beleaguered retailers out of bankruptcy.
Sears Holdings Corporation was purchased by Transformco in February 2019. Since then, Transformco has faced a difficult retail environment, along with other challenges, the company said in a press release Thursday.
In an effort to “position Transformco for success” by focusing on their competitive strengths and reducing operations that are struggling, the company has made the “difficult but necessary” decision to close 96 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide.
The stores are expected to close by February 2020. Going out of business sales will begin on December 2, 2019 at many locations.
***Click here for a list of nationwide closures.***
Following the closures, Transformco will operate 182 stores across the country.
“We will endeavor to create and deliver value through a strategic combination of our better performing retail stores and our service businesses, brands and other assets, and expect to realize a significant return on our extensive portfolio of owned and leased real estate. These assets include Innovel, which provides logistics solutions to businesses and consumers, Sears Home Services as well as Shop Your Way® and financial services, and our Kenmore® and DieHard brands. These businesses will also benefit from the recent acquisition by an affiliate of Transformco of Sears Hometown – a network of more than 400 independently-owned and operated, dealer-managed smaller-format stores that are known for offering customers a range of home products, including appliances, lawn & garden, tools and sporting goods,” Transformco officials said in a statement.
The company encourages shoppers to use the store locator function on their websites to find the closest Sears or Kmart location. They also encourage consumers to shop on Sears.com and Kmart.com.