Sears is considering separating its Lands' End and Sears Auto Center businesses from the rest of the company. The retailer also plans to continue closing some of its unprofitable stores as it moves ahead on its turnaround efforts.
Sears Holdings has been working for some time to cut costs and lower its debt. The company said Tuesday that it would likely pursue a spinoff of Lands' End and not a sale. The retailer also said that it has already started repositioning Sears Auto Center around services other than tires and is evaluating strategic options for the business.
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Sears anticipates closing unprofitable stores, including those locations whose leases are set to expire soon. The retailer said that it would take the capital from the unprofitable locations and redeploy it elsewhere.
In addition, Sears Canada is selling five store leases to Cadillac Fairview Corp. for 400 million Canadian dollars. ($383.5 million). The deal is expected to close in the next 10 business days.
The Hoffman Estates, Ill. company also announced that its third-quarter sales at stores open at least a year fell 3.7 percent. The figure dropped 4.8 percent for Sears locations and declined 2.6 percent for Kmart stores.
Sales at stores open at least a year is a key gauge of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
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Sears, which has nearly 2,500 stores in the U.S. and Canada, expects to report its quarterly financial results on Nov. 21.
Its shares finished at $55.56 on Monday. (See what the stock is doing now.)
—By The Associated Press