Sears Canada Inc. plans to close 59 locations across the country and cut approximately 2,900 jobs under a court-supervised restructuring.
The struggling retailer said it will close 20 full-line locations, plus 15 Sears Home stores, 10 Sears Outlet stores and 14 Sears Hometown locations.
List of Sears branded stores to close from official company release. pic.twitter.com/ll8BWLxYzJ
— mike eppel (@eppman) June 22, 2017
The announcement came after the company was granted temporary court protection from creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) on Thursday morning.
Under the plan, Sears Canada has been authorized by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to obtain up to $450 million in financing to maintain operations throughout the restructuring.
The CCAA is a federal law that gives businesses a chance to operate under court supervision while working out a plan with bond holders, landlords, suppliers and other creditors.
“The brand reinvention work Sears Canada has begun requires a long-term effort,” Sears Canada said in a statement.
“But the continued liquidity pressures facing the company as well as legacy components of its business are preventing it from making further progress and from restructuring its legacy assets and businesses outside of a CCAA proceeding.”
Sears Canada said it hopes to exit court protection as soon as possible in 2017.
The struggling retailer has piled up losses over several years and seen its stock dive, losing more than 80 per cent of its value in the last year, despite efforts to reinvent itself at a time.
The company, which was founded as a mail-order business in 1952, has also gone through several leadership changes in recent years.
Headquartered in Toronto, Sears Canada had 94 department stores, 23 Sears Home stores and 10 outlets prior to the CCAA restructuring.
