26 Sears, Kmart stores to close, company ‘cannot rule out’ more

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More Sears and Kmart stores are set to go dark, as the brands’ new parent company, TransformCo, fights to keep the once-bankrupt business afloat.

The company announced on its website Monday evening that 26 additional Sears and Kmart stores will close in late October, ranging from locations in California to Texas to Virginia. (See a complete list of locations below.) Liquidation sales will begin around Aug. 15, the company said. The Sears Auto Centers at certain locations will start closing later this month.

TransformCo added it “cannot rule out additional store closures in the near term.”

“Over the past several months, we have worked hard to strengthen our vendor relationships, return our inventory levels to normal, and improve customer satisfaction and operations; however, we have faced a number of challenges returning our stores to sustainable levels of productivity, including differences with Sears Holdings over our purchase agreement and a generally weak retail environment. These challenges have unfortunately affected our performance and limited our strategic choices.”

Sears Holdings emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year when its CEO at the time, Eddie Lampert, secured a roughly $5 billion deal using his hedge fund ESL to buy the retailer’s assets out of court, keeping about 400 Sears and Kmart locations up and running. The new entity of assets was renamed. And Lampert has since been stripped of his CEO title but still serves as chairman at TransformCo.

As a private company, TransformCo has largely flown under the radar, as it doesn’t have to report quarterly sales reports, which tended to be very dismal for Sears. In May, it opened three “Sears Home & Life” stores — a new format it says it’s testing where it focuses mainly on selling mattresses, appliances and connected home products.

Hundreds of Sears and Kmart locations have gone dark over the years, with more shoppers moving away from the mall and purchasing goods like appliances, apparel and furniture online. And TransformCo still faces those same challenges today.

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