Sears to close another 40 stores
Sears Holdings announced it is closing another 40 Sears and Kmart stores, including two in Illinois.
The iconic retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, said the latest round of stores will close in February.
These are in addition to the 142 locations it previously announced would be closing by the end of this year. The retailer filed for bankruptcy Oct. 15 with roughly 700 Sears and Kmart stores in operation.
Kmart stores in Chicago, at 3443 W. Addison, and in Springfield at 3250 Clear Lake Road are the latest slated to close, the company said.
The latest batch of store closures indicates Sears appears to be trying to achieve its goal to emerge from bankruptcy a much smaller company, industry experts say.
Attorneys for Sears told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court at an initial hearing that the retailer wanted to make a decision about the financial prospects of another group of struggling stores by Nov. 15.
The latest round of liquidation sales at 29 Sears and 11 Kmart locations are slated to start late next week. Sears Auto centers that are connected to the closing stores will be going out of business as well.
The company has 687 stores and roughly 68,000 employees. Locally, Sears continues to operate at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Golf Mill in Niles, Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale and Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook.