Sears, Kmart Closings to Continue With Over 70 More Announced This Week

More Sears and Kmart closings were announced Thursday by Sears Holdings as the company continues to shed itself of unprofitable stores.

The closure of 68 Kmart stores and 10 Sears stores this summer come on top of the company's previous announcement earlier this year that it was shutting down 50 stores after poor holiday sales, reported USA Today.

Liquidation sales for the closing Kmart and Sears stores will start May 12 and April 29, respectively. The newspaper stated that all of the targeted Sears stores and most of the Kmart stores will be closed by late July.

"The decision to close stores is a difficult but necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our company, fund our transformation and restore Sears Holdings to profitability," said Edward S. Lampert, chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings, said in a company statement. "We're focusing on our best members, our best categories and our best stores as we work to accelerate our transformation."

Sears Holdings said in a statement that it believed the money made from the liquidation sales, property sales and subleasing, along with $1.2 billion in debt financing, will help the company "meet its financial obligations" and take "important steps toward its primary 2016 objective to restore profitability."

"Sears Holdings will continue to transform as the role of the store evolves to fit the way that members want to shop," Lampert continued. "Through our continued investments in Integrated Retail, our stores are a critical component of our strategy as we provide our members with industry-leading innovations such as Meet with an Expert, In-Vehicle Pickup and Return and Exchange in Five."

Three states will lose six Kmart stores each. Illinois will lose stores in Chicago, Danville, Galesburg, Lansing, Pekin, and Rock Island, noted the Sears Holding statement. Ohio will also lose six Kmart stores, located in Ashtabula, Eaton, Fremont, Lima, Lorain, and Springboro. Ohio will also lose a Sears store in Marion.

In Pennsylvania, Kmart will close stores in Beaver Falls, Philadelphia, Reading, Uniontown, as well as two in Pittsburgh.

Related Stories:

• Sears Closing 50 Stores – Mostly Kmarts – Even Sooner After Loss
• Kohl's Closing 18 Stores: Retailer to Shutter Underperforming Locations