Illinois-based Sears Holding Corp. will close up to 120 Kmart and Sears Full-line stores nationwide, and the company is still making a final determination whether any Connecticut locations will get the axe, the company announced Tuesday.
Kmart and Sears have more than a dozen locations in Connecticut, including in Vernon, Enfield, Cromwell, Waterbury, Watertown and Torrington. When the final closings are determined, Sears will post the list at http://www.searsmedia.com.
The list was not posted by noon Tuesday.
Sears made the decision to close between 100 and 120 stores after its store sales for the eight weeks leading up to Christmas were down 5.2 percent over the same period 2010, according to its fourth-quarter filing posted on the Sears Web site. These lower sales and increased pressure from competitors to offer slimmer margins on products left the company to take the drastic action.
The company expects to generate up to $170 million in cash as the net inventory of these stores is sold, plus addition revenue from the sale or sublease of the real estate.
To further offset its declining revenues, Sears also will reduce its 2012 peak inventory to $9.9 billion from $10.2 billion; reduce fixed costs by up to $200 million; and improve profits through better inventory management and more targeted pricing and promotion.
