Sears Canada Willing to Sell Toronto Flagship

Douglas Campbell, ceo of Sears Canada Inc. (Toronto), has said he will consider selling any of the chain’s retail locations, including the flagship store in the Toronto Eaton Centre, if an offer will help shore up the retailer’s ailing retailer's business.

Campbell’s predecessor Calvin McDonald, who unexpectedly resigned in September, had always expressed his reluctance to part with the flagship store because of its symbolic importance.

“Every store is different and every deal will be different,” Campbell told the Toronto Globe & Mail. “On a case-by-case basis, Eaton Centre would be no different than any other store we would look at.”

The Eaton Centre lease is reportedly coveted by other retailers, including Nordstrom Inc. (Seattle), which is opening its first store in Canada next year.

The Eaton Centre’s landlord, Cadillac Fairview Corp., has been trying to buy back Sears' lease to sell it to a retailer that can draw more shoppers to the mall. It also would like to buy out the lease because Sears pays just $1 per square foot for the store.

In the just the month McDonald has been at the helm, Sears Canada has sold a handful of leases back to their landlords, including those at key stores in downtown Vancouver and Toronto, raising almost $400 million.