Sears Holdings Co. announced that it will close another 18 Sears stores and 45 Kmart locations in late January 2018. This round of closures brings the total number of Sears and Kmart stores shutting down this year to 243. After the locations shutter, about 680 Sears stores will remain operating in the United States, down from 3,500 locations in 2010. Currently, 610 Kmart locations are operating in the United States.
Market professionals believe the company is likely to file for bankruptcy after the Christmas 2017 selling season. The iconic store chain, whose goods once filled U.S. households from the garage to the living room, has struggled to remain relevant as shoppers increasingly bypass it to head to big box giants like Walmart or specialty retailers like Best Buy and Home Depot.
There are continuing signs that Sears is no longer the dominant player it once was. Last month, Sears announced that for the first time in more than 100 years, it would no longer sell Whirlpool appliances because the two companies could not reach an agreement on price.