About 100 Sears Hometown stores are closing | CNN Business (2024)

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About 100 Sears Hometown stores are closing | CNN Business? ›

Roughly 100 Sears Hometown locations are permanently closing in the coming weeks, representing roughly half of its remaining retail footprint. The closures were announced on each individual store's Facebook page rather than a single press release.

Increased competition with other big-box retailers and the rise of Amazon and online shopping took a bite out of Sears' profits. Within the company, tensions were brewing between lower-level management, employees, and Eddie Lampert.

Transformco, the owner of Sears and Kmart, purchased Sears Hometown in June 2019. There were 491 Sears Hometown stores at that time. Sears Hometown, was previously spun off from Sears Holdings Corporation, the former parent company of Sears and Kmart, in 2012.

How many Sears stores are there in the United States? As of May, 2024, there are 13 Sears stores in the United States. These stores are located in 7 states and territories and 11 cities. The state with the most Sears locations is California, with 4 stores.

While the future of Sears remains uncertain, Simeon Siegel, a retail analyst at BMO Capital Markets, believes in the potential for a powerful brand like Sears to bounce back, even in the digital age. According to Siegel, big stores offering a wide array of curated products can still thrive.

Key Takeaways. Sears Holding Company, owned by the parent company Transformco, has a storied past dating back to 1886.

Summary: – Sears Holdings emerged from bankruptcy after a 4-year stay and more than 10,000 court filings. – Its store network shrunk from almost 700 to fewer than two dozen. – The remaining 20+ Sears stores are not expected to survive by Syracuse University professor Ray Wimer.

History. Sears Holdings spun off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores in 2012 to attempt to restore profitability and raise shareholder confidence. Sears Holdings spun off more than 1,100 Hometown and 122 outlet stores.

Suddenly, the struggling, bankrupted brick-and-mortar portion of the Sears business was back. “I'm just really happy they reopened. It feels like the Sears I remember, which is good,” Katherine Sage, a shopper who stopped into Sears to pick up a polo shirt for her son, told a reporter with CNN Business.

But as the 20th century faded, so did Sears—its brick-and-mortar businesses were replaced, ironically, by companies like Amazon, a convenient mail-order enterprise. On January 25, 1993, Sears ceased production of its famous Big Book catalog. In 2009, its famous Chicago skyscraper was renamed the Willis Tower.

Why did Sears fall off? ›

Walmart began to challenge Sears for the U.S. retail crown as early as the late 1980s, and after hitting its peak stock price in 2007, Sears started rapidly losing market share. The company moved to shutter stores and save cash, but the plan negatively affected its public perception and took a toll on its brand.

The result of the merger was Kmart and parent Kmart Holding Corporation and Sears became subsidiaries of the new Sears Holdings Corporation. Sears Holdings now operates Sears and Kmart stores. The company continues to market products under brands held by both companies.

Hoffman Estates, IL

Sears / Headquarters

Kmart announced recently that they are joining forces with the Sears department store chain in a $11 billion contract in order to better compete with Wal-Mart and other mainstream retailers.

Sears' key failure was a lack of innovation. Without a replacement for their catalogue, Sears gave up their edge and lost their advertising and consumer data advantage. This resulted in the downfall of sears.

Today, the brand's portfolio is sold across Amazon, Lowe's, The Home Depot, Target, and many other online retailers.

Sears' inability to execute on delivering these omnichannel experiences is just one of the many ways this former retail hero let down its once-booming customer base. Sears ultimately failed because of its reluctance to fully believe in the consequences of a rapidly changing retail landscape.

"While Bed Bath & Beyond had been on the leading edge of many brick-and-mortar critical retail trends, the company's reluctance to compete in the e-commerce space was one of the consequential, early decisions that ultimately led to this day," Etlin said, referring to the bankruptcy filing.

In February 2020, Franchise Group acquired Sears Outlet Group and merged the brands together under the American Freight name. Four years and one pandemic later, the leadership team shared plans for 2024 with Digital Commerce 360.