CHICAGO _ Sears Holdings will close another 100 unprofitable stores after another quarter of losses and slowing sales.
Hoffman Estates-based Sears said it would provide a list by midday Thursday of 72 stores which will start closing sales "in the near future." Other store closing will be announced later.
The stores are expected to close by the end of the third quarter, Sears Chief Financial Officer Rob Riecker said in a recorded statement on the company's first quarter results on Thursday.
He called it a "difficult, but necessary" action as Sears works to turn around years of losses.
"Continuing to evaluate our store network and other initiatives will allow us to optimize our cost structure and enhance our liquidity, while staying focused on our best members, best categories and best stores," Riecker said in the statement.
The latest round of store cuts comes on top of 303 Kmart and 123 Sears stores that closed in the year leading up to Feb. 3, a year in which the company also shed more than 50,000 jobs.
"Our top priority is successfully executing our transformation to return to profitability and remain a competitive retailer for years to come," said Riecker, despite a "challenging" first quarter.
Sales at Sears and Kmart stores open at least a year fell 13.4 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2018, compared with the same period in 2017, though sales of apparel, footwear and jewelry grew at both chains, Sears said.
Overall, Sears reported a $424 million loss in the first quarter of 2018 compared with a $245 million profit during the year-ago period. Last year's gain included $492 million from the sale of Sears' Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker, a deal valued at roughly $900 million overall.
