Transform Holdco, the company formed in January to buy the remaining assets of bankrupt retailer Sears Holdings Corp., said it will begin “liquidation sales” next week in 26 stores that will close in late October.
The large-format store closures include 21 Sears stores in 15 states and 5 Kmart stores in 3 states and Puerto Rico.
“After careful review of where we are today, we believe the right course for the company is to accelerate the expansion of our smaller store formats which includes opening additional Home & Life stores and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores after the Sears Hometown and Outlet transaction closes,” Transform Holdco said in a statement. “Following these steps, we will continue to evaluate our network of Sears and Kmart stores and cannot rule out additional store closures in the near term.”
Transform Holdco had made a bid to buy all of the Sears Hometown & Outlet Store stock that wasn’t already owned by former Sears Chief Executive Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments Inc. and its affiliates.
Shares of Sears SHLDQ, -2.01%, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2018, have tumbled 36.6% year to date through Thursday and 68.2% over the past 12 months. In comparison, the SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund XRT, -1.95% has gained 0.3% this year and the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.56% has advanced 17.2%.
Here’s where the stores that are closing are located:
| Store | Street address | City | State |
| Kmart | 1625 W. Redlands | Redlands | California |
| Kmart | 14011 Palm Dr. | Desert Hot Springs | California |
| Kmart | 159 Wilbraham Rd. | Palmer | Massachusetts |
| Kmart | 975 Fairmount Ave. | Jamestown | New York |
| Kmart | Puerto Rico Hwy 3 Plaza Guayama | Guayama | Puerto Rico |
| Sears* | 2500 Riverchase Galleria | Birmingham | Alabama |
| Sears* | Somersville Rd. | Antioch | California |
| Sears* | 8501 W. Bowles Ave. | Littleton | Colorado |
| Sears* | 6200 20th St. | Vero Beach | Florida |
| Sears* | 901 U.S. 27N | Sebring | Florida |
| Sears* | 3700 Atlanta Hwy Ste 270 | Athens | Georgia |
| Sears* | 5 Stratford Square | Bloomingdale | Illinois |
| Sears* | 2300 Southlake Mall | Merrillville | Indiana |
| Sears* | 6501 Grape Rd. U.S. 23 | Mishawaka | Indiana |
| Sears* | 6901 Security Sq. Blvd. | Baltimore | Maryland |
| Sears* | 6780 S. Westnedge Ave. | Portage | Michigan |
| Sears* | 4900 Fashion Square Mall | Saginaw | Michigan |
| Sears* | 18777 E. 39th St. S | Independence | Missouri |
| Sears* | 3 Mid Rivers Mall Drive | St. Peters | Missouri |
| Sears | 330 Siemers Dr. | Cape Girardeau | Missouri |
| Sears* | 600 Richland Mall | Mansfield | Ohio |
| Sears* | 1101 Melbourne Rd. | Hurst | Texas |
| Sears* | 10000 Emmet F. Lowry Expy | Texas City | Texas |
| Sears* | 4812 Valley View Blvd NE | Roanoke | Virginia |
| Sears* | 4700 N. Division St. | Spokane | Washington |
| Sears* | 100 Huntington Mall Rd. | Barboursville | West Virginia |
| Transform Co. | |||
| *The Sears Auto Centers at these stores will close in late August | |||