As customers experience the final days of liquidation sales at two Ó£ÌÒÊÓÆµ-area Sears stores, the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer announced another wave of store closures across the country.
Sears Holdings said it would close an additional 46 stores —13 Kmarts and 33 Sears stores — including a Kmart on South Kingshighway Street in Cape Girardeau and a Sears store the Eastland Mall in Bloomington, Ill. Liquidation sales for those stores will start Aug. 30 and the stores will close in November.
A full list of closings can be found .
Sears announced in June that it would close locations in Chesterfield Mall and South County Center as part of a broader plan to close more than 70 stores that were no longer profitable. Those stores are expected to close sometime in September.
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Local developer Michael Staenberg’s real estate development firm, The Staenberg Group, acquired the Sears building attached to Chesterfield Mall in April in an attempt to buy and redevelop the struggling mall.
However, Hull Property Group, an Atlanta-area real estate developer that also owns the Alton Square Mall, emerged as the Chesterfield Mall buyer, acquiring the property for $13 million in an auction over the summer.
The South County Center Sears location was put up for auction in April, though it’s unclear if a buyer was selected. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based mall operator CBL Properties owns South County Center.
Sears has for years been selling off some of its real estate under sale-leaseback agreements. The retailer put up for auction the property its stores occupy at Mid Rivers Mall and South County Center.
As of May, the retailer had about 800 stores, down from about 1,000 at the end of last year and far below the 2012 peak of 4,000 stores.
The closures come as Sears is considering a bid from CEO Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund ESL Investments to acquire its jewel Kenmore appliances from the company for $400 million.