Sears Holdings plans to close another 63 money-losing stores as the beleaguered department-store chain tries to stem the bleeding from its long-running sales crisis.
The closures will be the latest in a flurry of moves by the retailer to restore its revenue and relevance at a time when an increasing number of shoppers bypass it to shop with online, big box and specialized rivals like Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy instead.
The company, whose stores include Sears and Kmart, has been engaging in a virtually nonstop campaign of downsizing as it seeks a turnaround that has proven so far to be elusive. The latest round of closures will occur in early September, with liquidation sales starting as soon as June 14.
The list of closures was revealed Thursday afternoon and said liquidation sales will begin as early as June 14 at the closing stores.
Sears Holdings has closed roughly 530 struggling locations over the last year, and the next wave is believed to represent about 8% of the company's roughly 899 remaining stores, according to Susquehanna International Group retail stock analyst Bill Dreher.
Facing declining mall traffic, heightened online competition and strategic missteps, Sears sales have plummeted.
“Sears continues to struggle to bring its business to profitability,'' Moody’s Vice President Christina Boni said in a note. "Its continued efforts to enhance liquidity will be necessary to fund its ongoing operating losses.”
The company signaled that there may be more closures to come. It initially said that it would be shuttering 72 locations, out of roughly 100 nonprofitable stores that had been identified overall. But when it later provided the list of locations that would be shuttered, the company said that "a small group of stores was pulled from the closing list . .. as they are being evaluated further.''
The company did not say what would happen to the 28 other nonprofitable locations.
Sears swung to a net loss of $424 million in the first quarter, from net income of $245 million in the year-ago period, when the company had a temporary gain from the sale of its Craftsman brand.
The company said its sales at stores open at least a year -- a key measure for retail companies -- fell 11.9% overall during the latest quarter, including declines of 13.4% at Sears locations and 9.5% at Kmart stores.
In the wake of the bleak news, the price of Sears shares plunged 11.37% to $2.85 in afternoon trading.
The retailer said one bright spot was that same-store stores in the apparel, footwear and jewelry categories increased at both Kmart and Sears locations.
Sears reports its earnings as it still considers an offer by its largest shareholder and CEO Eddie Lampert to purchase the company's Kenmore appliance brand and other assets.
Lampert said in a statement that Sears would "continue to explore opportunities to unlock the full potential of our assets for our shareholders."
List of closures:
Arizona
Sears*: 10001 N Metro Parkway West, Phoenix
California
Kmart: 910 North China Lake Blvd, Ridgecrest,
Sears: 100 S Puente Hills Mall, City Industry
Colorado
Kmart: 9881 W 58Th Avenue, Arvada
Florida
Kmart: 5400 E Busch Blvd, Tampa
Sears*: 7902 Citrus Park Town Center, Tampa
Sears: 320 Towne Center Circle, Sanford
Georgia
Sears+: 2201 Henderson Mill Road N.E., Atlanta
Sears+: 1300 Southlake Mall, Morrow
Sears+: 2100 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth
Hawaii
Kmart: 4303 Nawiliwili Road, Lihue
Illinois
Kmart: 5909 E State Street, Rockford
Sears+: #2 Hawthorn Center, Vernon Hills
Sears*: 6136 W Grand Avenue, Gurnee
Sears+: #2 Fox Valley Center, Aurora
Sears+: 104 West White Oaks Mall, Springfield
Indiana
Sears+: 2415 Sagamore Pkwy S, Lafayette
Sears+: 40 Muncie Mall, Muncie
Sears+: 6020 E 82Nd Street, Indianapolis
Iowa
Kmart: 2535 Hubbell Avenue, Des Moines
Sears*: 320 W Kimberly Road, Davenport
Kansas
Sears: 1781 Sw Wanamaker Road, Topeka
Louisiana
Kmart: 4070 Ryan Street, Lake Charles
Sears*: Alexandria Mall. Alexandria
Massachusetts
Sears: Hwys 114 & 128, Peabody
Sears*: Eastfield Mall, Springfield
Michigan
Sears*: 3191 S Linden Road, Flint
Sears+: 18900 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn
Sears+: 14100 Lakeside Circle, Sterling Heights
Sears*: 1212 S Airport Road W, Traverse City
Minnesota
Kmart: 215 North Central Avenue, Duluth
Sears*: Shingle Creek Crossing, Brooklyn Ctr
Sears*: Miller Hill Mall, Duluth
Missouri
Sears: 250 S County Center Way, St. Louis
Sears: #1 Chesterfield Mall, Chesterfield
Mississippi
Sears*: 1000 Turtle Creek Drive, Hattiesburg
Montana
Sears*: 1515 Grand Avenue, Billings
New Jersey
Kmart: 24 34 Barbour Avenue, Passaic / Clifton
Sears+: 300 Quaker Bridge Mall, Lawrenceville
Sears*: 2341 Rt 66, Ocean
Sears*: 2501 Mt Holly Road, Burlington
New Mexico
Kmart: 2100 Carlisle Avenue, Albuquerque
Sears*: 10000 Coors Bypass N.W, Albuquerque
New York
Kmart: 1000 Montauk Highway, West Babylon
Kmart: 25301 Rockaway Blvd, Rosedale
Sears+: 3649 Erie Blvd E, Witt / Syracuse
North Dakota
Sears*: 2800 S Columbia Road, Grand Forks
Ohio
Sears*: 2400 Elida Road, Lima
Sears+: 17271 Southpark Center, Strongsville
Oregon
Kmart: 12350 N E Sandy Blvd, Portland
Pennsylvania
Kmart: 1072 Mountain Laurel Plaza, Latrobe
Sears*: 300 S Hills Village, Pittsburgh/South Hills
Sears: 1000 Robinson Center Drive, Pittsburgh
South Carolina
Sears+: 205 W Blackstock Road, Spartanburg
Sears: 3101 N Main Street, Anderson
South Dakota
Sears*: 3400 Empire Mall, Sioux Falls
Tennessee
Sears+: 2931 Knoxville Center Drive, Knoxville
Texas
Sears^: 2401 S Stemmons Freeway, Lewisville
Sears*: 1800 Green Oaks Road, Fort Worth
Sears+: 11200 Lakeline Mall Drive, Cedar Park
Sears^: Golden Triangle Mall, Denton
Kmart: 5000 San Dario, Laredo
Washington
Sears*: 4502 S Steele Street, Tacoma
Sears Auto Center closing
^ Early June 2018
* Late June 2018
+ Late July 2018
