Transform Holdco, the parent company that owns Sears Holdings Corp (TCMKTS:SHLDQ) announced onTuesday that it will close down 26 Sears and Kmart stores in October this year.
The 26 Sears and Kmart stores will be closed as part of the company’s efforts to liquidate some of its properties in the U.S. Sears Holdings has so far shut down thousands of stores over the past few years. The announcement about the closure of the 26 stores comes roughly six months after the company emerged from bankruptcy.
The recent announcement revealed that 26 stores will be shut down in October 2016 which is just two months away. The closure will affect five Kmart stores and 21 Sears stores. The company also announced that Sears Auto Centers in the locations that will be close down will also face closure towards the end of August.
“We have made the difficult but necessary decision to close 26 large-format Sears and Kmart stores in late October,” stated Transform Holdco.
Sears Holdings will shut down the stores to pave way for its new, smaller format stores
The company believes that it has selected the right strategy that will allow it to speed up the expansion of its new small-format stores. All the stores that will be closed are large-format stores and the specific names of the stores have been posted on the Sears corporate website.
Transform Holdco also announced in its statement that the liquidation sales will commence in mid-August. The company also revealed that the Sears Holdings Corporation will be offered severance packages as per the firm’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The new announcement also marks the first time that Sears has announced a shutdown of its stores on its website since December last year.
The closure of the Sears and Kmart stores adds to the growing list of retail companies that are closing down some of their retail locations to pave way for more efficient management. This is in line with the changing business dynamics, as well as changing consumer spending behavior, thus forcing companies to adjust their strategies.
