Sears Details $443M in Expenses to Close 142 Stores
Sears Holdings Corp. detailed the hefty cost of closing 142 stores in a regulatory filing Tuesday. The store closures were revealed on Oct. 15 when the company filed its voluntary Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy court protection.
Sears said it expects to “incur charges of $443 million” in total costs to shutter the stores. That includes $81 million in markdowns, $9 million in severance costs, $335 million in lease termination costs, $12 million in other charges and $6 million in depreciation in the third and fourth quarters.
Since the bankruptcy filing, Sears has tagged an additional 40 doors for closure.
The retailer, which operates under the Sears and Kmart nameplates, is trying to find a buyer for the company as a going concern. So far its chairman Edward S. Lampert, through his hedge fund ESL Investments, has offered a nonbinding bid of $4.6 billion for the assets. If accepted, that offer would in effect constitute Sears’s exit plan from bankruptcy. It is not clear any other party will submit a going-concern offer for the company. Liquidators are expected to submit offers, but those are geared toward winding the business down.
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