The first big item of bad news has hit the retail real estate world. Sears Holdings is closing about 100 to 120 stores after rough holiday sales.
The company hasn't publicly identified yet which ones it will close. But the company sure seemed to know pretty quickly that it is shutting locations.
This isn't going to make much of a dent in a retailer with a store count of 4,000 units. But most shopping-center owners probably aren't happy that they are losing a large tenant in their centers.
The store closings also aren't surprising, as Sears and Kmart stores aren't what comes to mind when one thinks of well-performing retailers. What might be most surprising is that the stores have taken so long to close.
Same-store sales at Kmart fell 4.4% during the holiday season, while Sears saw a 6% slide. However, we did pop into a Kmart store the weekend before Christmas and noticed that it was packed. However, it probably wasn't indicative of most Kmart stores across the country, since it was in Manhattan.
Will these store closures be welcome to landlords because there are other more stable tenants that need the space, or is it still tough to lease large vacancies in this climate? We imagine it will all depend on the location.
Are there other retailers on your watch list that you think will close a good deal of stores over the holidays?
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