The Cold Lake Sears Hometown store is one of 59 the struggling retail company will be closing down.
The move comes after Sears was granted an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice under the Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act (CCAA) to protect it from it’s creditors. The company says the closures will allow them to keep operating for the time being while it tries to reinvent itself by selling cheaper clothing lines and introduce a new, low cost private label. The company’s current ownership is also looking to sell it off.
The closures will see Sears lay off 2,900 of its 17,000 employees across the country and a quarter of its 225 locations shut down. Lakelanders who really want to shop at Sears won’t have any nearby options anymore, as the Lloydminster location is set to close as well. The closures break down to 20 department stores, 15 home stores, 10 outlet stores and 14 Hometown locations. No timeline for exactly when the stores will close has been set yet.
Despite many years of bad news and net losses since 2014, Sears says there may yet be hope. The retailer says its same-store sales have increased in each of the last two quarters with their new strategy.
“Sears Canada believes this indicates that the new brand positioning is starting to resonate with consumers,” it said in a statement.
Last week, Sears reported a first-quarter loss of 144.4-million dollars, representing more than double the previous loss of 63.6. Sales dropped 15.2 per cent to 505.5-million.