Fate Of Sears, With 70 Florida Stores, May Come Monday

MIAMI, FL — The future of Sears and its Kmart brand were expected to be decided Monday in Manhattan. The iconic retail giant was given another shot for survival by a bankruptcy judge following news reports that the company was very close to liquidating.

Sears, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, announced more than 250 store closings in 2018. Last week, the 126-year-old Sears, which has 70 Florida locations, was given another week to survive amid last-ditch negotiations. Eddie Lampert, the company’s chairman, was given the chance to improve upon his $4.4 billion bid to acquire the company and keep it’s roughly 400 stores operating. His initial bid was deemed “insufficient.”

On Monday, a bankruptcy court was to hold an auction where the people owed money by Sears will weigh his latest plan to keep the stores open and its roughly 50,000 workers employed. In other words, they’ll have to decide whether they’ll recover more money by allowing Lampert to keep the company going or by systematically selling the chain off.

Lampert was the only person to put forth a proposal to save the struggling chain in its entirety, according to The Associated Press. He sweetened his bid for Sears to more than $5 billion and added a $120 million cash deposit through an affiliate of his ESL hedge fund.

Lampert, who took control of Sears in 2005, has said publicly he wants to rescue the company because he thinks it can still succeed.

“For as long as I have been involved with Sears, I have cared deeply about the company, its associates and the people they serve,” Lampert said in a statement sent through ESL to AP. “While the opportunity I saw from the start for Sears to benefit from the disruptive changes in retail and technology has not worked out so far, it is still there to be taken. Every transformation involves perseverance and risk, but I am hopeful that we can execute better and faster on the smaller platform we are bidding on ... There is every reason to fight for its future.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what will happen to Florida's stores if the company liquidates, though some could already be slated to close. Here are the Sears and Kmart locations in Florida that were announced for closing in November:

• Boynton Beach Sears, 801 N Congress Ave
• Jensen Beach Sears, 3342 Nw Federal Hwy Us#1

Here are the Sears and Kmart locations in Florida that were announced for closing in December:

• Fort Walton Beach Kmart, 200 Irwin Ne
• Ellenton Kmart, 6126 Hwy 301
• Daytona Beach Sears, 1700 W Intl Speedway Blvd.
• Tallahassee Sears, 1500 Apalachee Pkwy
• Tampa Sears, 347 Westshore Plaza
• Pt Charlotte Sears, 1441 Tamiami Trail
• Port Richey Sears, 9409 Us Highway 19 N Ste 101

Sears’ most recent store closures were announced on Dec. 28, the same day Lampert made his bid for the company. The 80 stores announced for closure that day will terminate business in March 2019. An additional 40 store closures announced in November will close in February 2019.

The Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, announcing the closure of 142 unprofitable locations at the time.

Patch national staffers Feroze Dhanoa and Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Check back for updates as we learn more about the liquidation proceedings. Patch will update this report if any store closings are announced.

Photo credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images