Sears Holdings To Close Stores To Accelerate Its Transformation And Its Return To Profitability

OREANDA-NEWS. April 22, 2016. Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) announced today that the company will close 68 Kmart and 10 Sears stores this summer. 

In February, the company said that it would accelerate the closing of unprofitable stores. Today's announcement follows a comprehensive evaluation of the company's store portfolio that took into account historical and recent store performance, and the timing of lease expirations. All of the Sears stores and nearly all of the Kmart stores will close in late July; two Kmart stores will close in mid-September. 

"The decision to close stores is a difficult but necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our company, fund our transformation and restore Sears Holdings to profitability," said Edward S. Lampert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holdings. "We're focusing on our best members, our best categories and our best stores as we work to accelerate our transformation."

Sears Holdings expects the store closures to generate a meaningful level of cash from the liquidation of store inventory and from the sale or sublease of some of the related real estate. Together with the over \\$1.2 billion in debt financing that Sears Holdings announced it had raised earlier this month to provide capital to execute its transformation and to meet its financial  obligations, the company believes it has taken important steps toward its primary 2016 objective to restore profitability. 

Eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores. "We are committed to treating these associates with respect and compassion during this process," said Mr. Lampert.

"Sears Holdings will continue to transform as the role of the store evolves to fit the way that members want to shop," Mr. Lampert said. "Through our continued investments in Integrated Retail, our stores are a critical component of our strategy as we provide our members with industry-leading innovations such as Meet with an Expert, In-Vehicle Pickup and Return and Exchange in Five."

Customers can use the store locator function on our web sites to find the location of their nearest Kmart and Sears stores.

The closing Kmart and Sears stores will start their liquidation sales on May 12 and April 29, respectively. Following is a complete list of the impacted stores:

* These stores will close in mid-September. All others will close in late July.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about our transformation and objective of restoring profitability. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this release and those discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We intend the forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time made and do not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Way^®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.