The Oldest American Retailer Starts Bankruptcy

Sears plans to close by the end of the year 142 retail properties in addition to the previously closed 46.

The American company Sears Holdings, one of the oldest retailers on the market, announced the beginning of bankruptcy. The total debt of the group that owns the Sears and Kmart retail chains is estimated at $ 11.3 billion, Kommersant reports. The company notes that despite the initial bankruptcy procedure, only part of the stores will be closed. Sears Holdings hopes to “return to past glory” after taking a series of business optimization measures.

The company was established in 2005 through the merger of Kmart and Sears retailers. The last from 1989 to the beginning of the 2000s, before entering the Wal-Mart and Amazon markets, remained the largest player in the US retail sales market. But since 2011, the retailer has remained unprofitable. The Kmart brand was founded in 1899, and Sears in 1886. Shares of the holding over the past thirteen years have fallen in price from $ 100 to 40 cents apiece.

In the short-term plans to return to the company's profitability, a change of the CEO is called, as well as the closure by the end of the year of an additional 142 retail properties in addition to the previously closed 46. According to the beginning of the third quarter of 2018, the network included about 500 Sears stores and 360 - Kmart.