BURBANK (CNS) - A Kmart store in Burbank is one of 80 locations that will be shuttered by Sears Holdings as the company teeters on the brink of bankruptcy liquidation, the retailer announced today.
The store at 1000 San Fernando Road is expected to be closed by late March 2019, along with 79 other locations across the country. The other affected California stores are in Stockton, Apple Valley, Santa Maria and Auburn.
The closures announced Friday are in addition to more than 180 that were previously announced by Sears.
“Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin in two weeks,” according to Sears Holdings. The closures are part of the company's effort “to accelerate its strategic transformation and facilitate its financial restructuring.”
The company filed for bankruptcy in October. The company's chairman, Eddie Lampert, is believed to be attempting to purchase the company through the hedge fund he manages, ESL Investments. According to CNBC, Lampert has been trying to engineer a $4.6 billion proposal to buy the company out of bankruptcy, but he had not yet submitted a formal purchase offer ahead of a 1 p.m. Friday deadline.
Failing a successful purchase bid, Sears is facing the possibility of liquidation, ending the company's 125-year run as one of the country's best- known retailers.
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