Sears Holdings Corp announces closings of Ind. locations

Sears Holdings Corp will close as many as 120 of its Kmart and Sears discount and department stores after its holiday sales slumped, sending its shares sliding more than 27 percent to their lowest level in three years.

Three locations in Indiana will be affected.  Sears Holdings Corp announced they will close the Kmart located at 7201 Pendleton Pike in the Pendlton Plaza and their St. John location at 9550 Wicker.  Additionally, the Sears in Anderson, which is located at 2109 South Scatterfield Road, will close its doors.


The retailer, which is controlled by its chairman, the hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, has seen sales decline every year since the $11 billion merger of the two chains in 2005, and likely faces further closings to cut expenses, preserve cash and push back against rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Amazon.com Inc, analysts said.

Sears also disclosed on Tuesday that it tapped its credit line to borrow cash and forecast that fourth-quarter earnings would fall by more than half.

In a memo to staff obtained by Reuters, Chief Executive Lou D'Ambrosio, who took the job in February, blamed the economy for some of Sears' problems but acknowledged "we also did not execute with the consistency or speed necessary" in areas under Sears' control. "We will do better," he continued.

A list of stores affected is available on the Sears Media website.  

Reuters/Fox59