Sears Adds 10 More Stores to Closings List; 78 Set to Shut in September

Ten more Sears and Kmart stores have been added to the quickly expanding list of closures for the two once-iconic retail brands.

Sears Holdings, which owns both chains, said it told employees last Thursday that it would be shuttering nine Sears stores and one Kmart in late September, USA Today reported. Liquidation is scheduled to begin as early as July 13, the company said in a statement.

A total of 78 stores – 62 Sears and 16 Kmart locations – will close in September.

Sears Holdings has closed more than 500 stores over 15 months through the end of its fiscal quarter on May 5. At the time, it had about 900 stores left, according to Susquehanna International Group retail stock analyst Bill Dreher.

Sears said Monday that the closures were part of the company's “ongoing efforts to streamline the company's operations and focus on our best stores,” USA Today reported.

The most recent closures:

• The Long, Hard, Unprecedented Fall of Sears
• Sears Obtains More Financing from Eddie Lampert