More Kmart, Sears Stores Slated to Close

Transform Holdco (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), the company that purchased Sears (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) out of bankruptcy, and owned by former Sears CEO and Chairman Eddie Lampert, is planning to shut down 96 Sears and Kmart locations, leaving a total of 182 operating locations, reports The Washington Post.

Sears is receiving $250 million in new capital from Transform Holdco, which is led by Eddie Lampert’s ESL Investments (Greenwich, Conn.). Some of these funds are also coming from a third-party investor.

The Washington Post reported that Burt Flickinger, Managing Director of Strategic Retail Group (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had this to say about the latest news: “This is an acceleration of the death march that Eddie Lampert began when he combined Sears and Kmart over a decade ago … It is a classic illustration of how most Wall Street types have a deficient understanding of what’s required for a Main Street retail company to be effective.”