Sears to close 59 stores in fight for survival

2,900 layoffs

For decades, Sears Canada was a quintessential part of the Canadian shopping experience, its catalogues adorning coffee tables and its Kenmore-branded appliances the staples in homes for generations.

But on Thursday, after piling up losses over several years and seeing its stock dive, the struggling retailer filed for a court-supervised restructuring. Under the move, Sears says it plans to close 59 locations across the country and cut approximately 2,900 jobs. The retailer said it will use the court protection to continue its “reinvention,” and vows to remain a major player in Canada. But trends in retail and Sears’ own struggles suggest that department store chains are fighting an uphill battle.

“General merchandise is a category from the last century,” said David Lewis, an assistant professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. “If people want inexpensive they go online, and if they want expertise they go to an expert.”

TORONTO • Sid Mohan, 29, had a job interview at 3 p.m. Thursday, so he popped into a nearby Sears Canada store at lunch time and bought a blue and white plaid cotton dress shirt for $39.99.

“I could get something like this for $25 at Winner’s or Wal-Mart,” he said in the checkout line at the Sears in the Fairview Mall, in suburban Toronto. “But I didn’t have time.

“This is the closest to my house. Plus I wanted to get some food and look around.”

Like many Canadians, Mohan and his family have depended on Sears for basics, such clothing and appliances. But that relationship may be in jeopardy. On Thursday, lawyers for Sears appeared in bankruptcy court in Toronto, where a judge granted the venerable retailer protection from its creditors. The TSX and Nasdaq suspended trading in Sears shares.