Sears Closing 80 More Stores In March, Faces Possible Liquidation

Bankrupt U.S. retailer Sears Holdings Corp. is closing 80 more stores as it teeters on the brink of liquidation.

The 130-year old retailer set a deadline of Friday for bids for its remaining stores to avert closing down completely, the Associated Press reported.

The department store operator told employees Thursday that it plans to shut another round of Kmart and Sears stores next year, CNBC reported.

Sears told workers this week it expects to begin liquidation sales at the 80 stores in two weeks. The accompanying Sears Auto Centers will also be shut.

For a list of the 80 stores to be closed, click here now.

The retailer that began out as a mail order catalog in the 1880s has been in a slow death spiral, hobbled by the Great Recession and then overwhelmed by rivals both down the street and across the internet, the Associated Press explained.

The 80 stores are due to close by March. That's in addition to 182 stores already slated for closure. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. At the time of the filing, it operated about 700 Sears and Kmart stores.

Earlier this month, Sears said it would take a charge of about $443 million arising from store closures, Reuters reported, citing a regulatory filing.

The company said some of the charges have already been incurred in the third quarter, while the remaining charges will be booked in the fourth quarter.

Total costs related to closing 73 Sears stores and 28 Kmart stores in the third quarter ended Nov. 3 amounted to $229 million, the company said earlier this month.

The charges entail markdowns, severance costs and lease termination costs arising from store closures, which the company announced in October, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert made a $4.6 billion offer to buy the U.S. retailer earlier this month, which called for about 500 Sears stores to remain open.

Sears clinched a $350 million loan from creditor Cyrus Capital Partners LP in November to help it stay in business through the holidays.