Sears is closing 103 stores

Struggling US department store chain Sears will close another 103 stores, as the retailer looks to “right size” the business.

Part of its strategic assessment of productivity throughout its store portfolio, Sears said 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores will close between early March and early April 2018.

“As 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,” the company said in a statement.

The announcement comes after the department store chain’s last financial results, where it posted another loss, although narrower, for the quarter, making it the seventh straight year posting declines.

The parent company of Sears and Kmart has not reported a profit since 2010, although it has been pushing to return to profitability by closing its stores.

On its seventh straight money-losing year, Sears posted a net loss of $558 million, or $5.19 a share, during the fiscal third quarter, compared with a loss of $748 million, or $6.99, during the same period last year. The department store chain’s total same-store sales tumbled 15.3 per cent during the latest period.