Sears and Kmart to Close Over 100 Stores After Slow Holiday Sales

10:38 AM PST 12/27/2011 by THR Staff

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Parent company Sears Holding Corp. announced Tuesday its plans for shuttering many of the chain locations, which carry the Kardashian sisters' and other celebrities' clothing lines, after a 5.3 percent drop in sales.

In a fast reaction to low holiday sales, Sears Holding Corp. announced Tuesday Dec. 27 that it will close 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide.

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In a press release, the company said it has seen a 5.2 percent drop in sales in the last two months due to a large dropoff in electronic and home appliance sales as well as lawaway purchases.

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"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," CEO Lou D'Ambrosio said in a statement. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail - at the store, online and in the home."

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The chain, which has multiple celebrity partnerships, including the Kardashian Kollection with Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, and Audrina Patridge for Bongo, said it hopes to generate $140 to $170 million in cash from the closures and sale of net inventory. It also said it expects to raise additional funds through the sale or leasing of the properties.

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Sears also said it planned to change its past practice of keeping lower performance stores open to give them a chance to improve. "We no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment," said the statement. "We intend to accentuate our focus and resources to our better performing stores with the goal of converting their customer experience into a world-class integrated retail experience."

The store locations set for closure have not yet been announcd.