Headlines

Sears Canada to Close Eaton Centre Flagship

Four other leases will also be terminated in money-saving move

Published

11 years ago

October 31, 2013

steve kaufman

The struggling Sears Canada Inc. (Toronto) has announced it will terminate the leases on its downtown flagship store and four other locations, a move expected to save it $383 million.

Three of the stores are in the Toronto area, including one that shares space in the Eaton Centre with the retailer’s corporate offices. The company said it will hold on to four floors of the building for its offices.

The two other stores are in London, Ont., and Richmond, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver.

Sears will vacate three of the stores by the end of February 2014, and the other two a year later. The move frees up real estate for U.S. companies looking to expand in Canada, like Nordstrom Inc. (Seattle) or Target Corp. (Minneapolis).

Sears, controlled by Sears Holdings Corp. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), has suffered steep sales and market share declines amid tough competition in its home country from Walmart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) and now from Target, which opened its first Canadian stores in March.

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