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A steep decline in holiday sales at both Kmart and Sears stores led the company to announce that it will close 100 to 120 stores.
Although the Sears Holding Corporation has yet to announce which stores will close, they made the announcement Tuesday, after their eight-week and year-to-date periods ending on Christmas Day. Sears has several stores throughout Westchester County, including Yorktown and White Plains.
Kmart's quarter-to-date comparable store sales decline reflects decreases in the consumer electronics and apparel categories and lower layaway sales, read a press release announcing the closings. Sears Domestic's quarter-to-date sales decline was primarily driven by the consumer electronics and home appliance categories, with more than half of the decline in Sears Domestic occurring in consumer electronics. Sears apparel sales were flat and Lands' End in Sears stores was up mid-single digits.
Company Chief Executive Officer Lou DAmbrosio outlined a list of actions the company will take to reduce expenses and keep the company going. DAmbrosio said this includes closing 100-120 Kmart and Sears Full-line stores, reduce 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million in 2011 to $10.2 billion by the end of the third quarter and reduce fixed costs by $100 to $200 million.
"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model, DAmbrosio said. These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail - at the store, online and in the home.
Stay with The Daily Yorktown and The Daily White Plains for a complete list of the Sears and Kmart stores expected to close.
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