Sears to close 20 more stores

Sears is closing another 20 stores as the ailing retailer tries to turn around its business.

Real estate investment trust Seritage, which owns the 20 real estate properties, confirmed the closings— 18 Sears stores and two Kmart stores — in a government filing yesterday. In 2015, Sears Holdings Corp. sold 235 Sears and Kmart store locations to Seritage as part of an agreement in which Sears leases the stores back from the real estate company. Under the agreement with Seritage, if a store is unprofitable, Sears Holdings has the option to exit the lease by making a payment equal to one year's rent.

Sears said the stores will close in mid-September. Liquidation sales will begin by the end of June.

The closures come after the closing of 226 stores — 164 Kmart stores and 62 Sears stores— announced earlier this year.