Sears stores to be put up for sale

Sears is looking to sell as many as 50 properties to help generate cash flow and build up other properties and stores they own. Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust that was a product of the Sears bankruptcy, has plans to sell up to 50 sites that were described as “less interesting in terms of uses of our capital” by CEO Andrea Olshan. She described the sites as “not strategic for us to own” to Bloomberg.

In 2018, Sears filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in store closures and terminated leases. Seritage owns 154 sites and has stake in another 25. Sears has a debt load of 1.6 billion, which is double its 800 million dollar market value. Sears’ 1.6 billion dollar loan from Berkshire Hathaway matures in 2 years.

Sears had been struggling for years, but COVID-19 lockdown further worsened the company’s situation and accelerated their decline. Former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, who at one time was the company’s biggest shareholder, is the current chairman of Seritage and another holding company that owns the remnants of Sears’ retail operations.

Selling sites is only a short-term goal to help Sears generate cash as the company hopes to recruit tenants and restructure its real estate portfolio. Olshan is hoping to draw grocery store and retail tenants to some of its sites, and convert some of the land for residential buildings.

Bloomberg has reported that Seritage has generated 1.2 billion from sales of its property since 2015. The retail landscape will be looking quite different after these sales as many pockets of America lose their Sears stores.