Sears are now closing 64 Kmart and 39 Sears stores Sears Hol

Sears are now closing: 64 Kmart and 39 Sears stores

Sears Holdings (SHLD), which owns both Sears and Kmart, made the announcement Thursday, building on months of similar closings aimed at getting the company on solid financial footing.

Closeout sales at the affected locations will begin next week, the company said in a press release, and all 103 locations will be shuttered by May.

The company said in a press release that \"eligible associates impacted by these store closures will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at area Kmart or Sears stores.\"

A spokesperson for Sears Holdings declined to say how many employees will be affected by the closings.

The decline of Sears Holdings has been swift in recent years.

In 2006, the company operated more than 3,000 locations in U.S. and a few hundred in Canada.

But with the rise of e-commerce, Sears and other traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have struggled to keep pace with digital darlings like Amazon (AMZN).

Sears Canada filed for bankruptcy last year, and is in the process of shuttering its business entirely. And by the end of October 2017, Sears Holdings had just over 1,000 stores left in the U.S.

The company said the closures are part of an ongoing effort to \"right size\" its store footprint.

\"[A]s previously announced, we will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members,\" Sears Holdings said in a statement Thursday.

Would you be able to do a brief summary regarding this article that will include:

1. A very brief review of the key facts of the story.
2. Identification and explanation of the key course concepts, tools, topics that this report relates to.
3. Your analysis/evaluation of the effectiveness of this firm’s strategy and actions with respect to this topic!

Solution

1: Some of the key factors are:

Sears Holding were unable to adapt with the changing requirement from the market point of view. They are still in the brick and mortar store with the old concept of retail shopping but the market has evolved and refined alot where their competitors have mix of brick and mortar which provice unique shopping experience and e-commerce model . With their retail outlets Sear and Kmart the company were incapable to change with the dynamics of retail business.Close to 103 stores were shut down because of less sales and less footprints of customers.

2:Some of the key concepts are :

> Change of retail business : Retail business has changed a lot in the past decade with the help of advanced technology and more optimised supplychain network. Advanced brick and mortar stores plus e-commerce kind of hybrid models are the current trend for all major retail palyers in market.

> Inability to adapt with the change:Sears Holding couldnt move ahead with the changing business trend and requirement of customers.

> Lack of business forecasting and strategy development: The present situation of Sears clearly showcased their pitfall in not forecasting the business change and lack of proper strategy in place for their business.

3: Sears holding is one of the famous retail chanin in Northern America region and they have years of experince in the same sector. They can definetely come back to their business platfrom with more strategy in innoviation and retail business context. Cut down of stores is only one such solution where they can concetrate on demand based sotre location and can reduce their overall operational cost. At the same time enhance their supply chain network by reducing the transportation and storage cost. Optimise their storage space in retail shops and create unique shopping experience for customers through technology and store design. Retail store cards, gift vouchers andcustomer loyalty program can create mark of the stores on customers shopping interest. They can also focus on building collopborative environment that helps in controlling their stores better and with enhanced analytical features they can monitor the health / performance of each stores which can help in further decision making. Sustinability practise is also necessary which ensure long run. Lean initiatives like store space optimisation, delivery option for customers, online platforms , hybrid e-commerce and store business model pon proper value positioning platform can definetely bring back their brand name in the retail market.