Sears closing stores in Monroe, Berks

Sears Holding Corp., the oncepopular department store chain that filed for bankruptcy protection last month, is closing another 40 stores.

The company made the announcement Thursday, via a list posted on its website that includes four Pennsylvania locations slated for closure in February.

The chain will close Sears locations at Stroud Mall in Stroud Township, Monroe County, and at Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Berks County. Both shopping centers also will lose their Sears Auto Centers. In addition, the Kmart at 7101 Roosevelt Blvd. in Philadelphia and the Kmart at 1901 Lincoln Highway in North Versailles, Allegheny County, are on the list. Liquidation sales at the stores are expected to start late next week.

No Lehigh Valley locations were included on the list. But the Kmart at 1502 S. Fourth St. in Allentown already is in the process of closing, one of 142 unprofitable stores that Sears announced on Oct. 15 would shutter as part of its restructuring.

After the Allentown Kmart closes near the end of the year, three Kmarts will remain in the Lehigh Valley — one each in Wilson, Walnutport and Wind Gap. The area's last remaining Sears is an anchor tenant at Whitehall Mall, and shopping center owner Washington Prime Group Inc. already is making plans to transform the Sears space if and when the location closes in the busy retail hub of Whitehall Township.

Sears filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 15 was hardly a shock. The company, which listed $11.3 billion in debt when it filed, has survived on an unhealthy diet of asset sales and store closures. Analysts have said Sears struggled with antiquated stores and customer service complaints, lagging far behind its peers and taking on huge losses as it slowly crawled toward bankruptcy.

Now, it remains unclear whether a smaller version of the company — which once dominated American retail — can emerge from bankruptcy as a viable business. Sears, which had 4,000 stores in 2012, will be left with less than 500 after the closures announced Thursday are completed early next year.

For the 414,331-square-foot Stroud Mall, which does $277 in sales per square foot, the loss of Sears means shopping center owner CBL Properties of Chattanooga, Tenn., will have to replace another anchor.

The shopping center earlier this year lost its Bon-Ton, space that CBL announced will be redeveloped to include an 87,000-square-foot ShopRite, slated to open next year.

Similarly, the Bon-Ton at Berkshire Mall closed near the end of August as the department store chain wrapped up its liquidation.

jon.harris@mcall.com Twitter @ByJonHarris 610-820-6779