In Arizona:
Five Arizona Sears stores, including three at malls in the Phoenix area, will be closing as part of Sears’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Five Arizona Sears stores, including three at malls in the Phoenix area, will be closing as part of the troubled retailer’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Another seven mainline stores owned by parent Sears Holdings will remain open, while various other stores operating under the Sears nameplate — and owned by independent operators — are unaffected by the announcement.
The three stores owned by Sears Holdings that are closing in the Phoenix area are at Chandler Fashion Center, Superstition Springs Center in Mesa, and Desert Sky Mall in Phoenix.
Liquidation sales were expected to begin within two weeks, according to a court filing.
Sears, once the largest retailer in America, has seen sales decrease over the years in the face ofonline competitionand changing consumer shopping behaviors.
Sears Holdings in August announced 46 other closures of Sears and Kmart locations, including one in Flagstaff.
The five locations closing down in Arizona in the latest round are at:
❚ Superstition Springs Center, 6515 E. Southern Ave., Mesa
❚ Desert Sky Mall, 7611 W. Thomas
Road, Phoenix
❚ Chandler Fashion Center, 3177 Chandler Village Drive, Chandler
❚ 2250 El Mercado Loop, Sierra Vista ❚ 3150 S. Fourth Ave., Yuma While these locations are set to close down, other Sears locations will remain open for the foreseeable future.
The bankruptcy announcement doesn’t affect various other Arizona stores with Sears in their name.
Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores is a separate company not affected by the bankruptcy filing, operating under license, with locations independently owned and operated.
These stores are smaller than Sears’ mainline stores and focus on appliances, hardware, tools and garden equipment — not clothing, housewares and other products.
“There are two Sears companies,” said Keith Edquist, a Valley resident who owns and operates nine Sears Ap-
pliance Outlets and Home Appliance Showrooms. “For us, it remains business as usual.”
In fact, Edquist emphasized that business for his stores has been good, with rising market share and higher yearly revenue totals — and product warranties that are unaffected by the bankruptcy announcement.
Edquist and his business partners currently own four Sears Appliance Outlet Stores — one each in Gilbert, Glendale, Phoenix and Tempe. They also own five Sears Home Appliance Showrooms — in Chandler, Goodyear, Scottsdale, Surprise and Tucson.
Other franchisees own 10 other Sears Home Appliance Showrooms around the state, mostly in smaller cities and towns.
Former Sears CEO, Eddie Lampert, who kept the company alive but faced criticism for lacking a clear-cut turnaround strategy, resigned as CEO but remains chairman and the company’s largest investor.
Bankruptcy will allow Sears to “strengthen its balance sheet, enabling the Company to accelerate its strategic transformation, continue right-sizing its operating model, and return to profitability,” Lampert said in a statement. “Our goal is to achieve a comprehensive restructuring as efficiently as possible, working closely with our creditors and other debtholders, and be better positioned to execute on our strategy and key priorities.”
Arizona has already seen closures in Flagstaff and Phoenix so far in 2018.
“As we look toward the holiday season, Sears and Kmart stores remain open for business and our dedicated associates look forward to serving our members and customers,” Lampert said in a statement.