The Sears/Kmart Great Disappearing Act Will Reduce Store Count To Just 60

Sep 11, 2020

For those of you keeping score, it’s Sears 32 and Kmart 28. No, they are not playing each other (though they may be in competition come to think of it) but that’s the latest count of the number of remaining stores each brand still operates and that are not currently available for lease as of this week. Note it includes stores that may still be open but have been placed on the auction block by parent company Transformco, controlled by long-time Sears owner Eddie Lampert. And if you need a refresher course, this 60 total compares to about 450 stores in February of last year when Lampert bought the former Sears Holding out of bankruptcy and, as a further reminder, it compares to more than 1,000 Sears and Kmart stores as recently as two years ago. Even just a month or two ago, there were believed to still be 95 stores open and not available for lease. At its peak the company operated more than 3,000 stores…and that peak wasn’t all that long ago in retail years. Read more at Forbes.