New York – Sears Closes Another 20 Stores

New York – Sears is closing another 20 stores as the ailing retailer tries to turn around its business.

Real estate investment trust Seritage, which owns the 20 real estate properties, confirmed the closings— 18 Sears stores and two Kmart stores — in a government filing Friday.

In 2015, Sears Holdings Corp. sold 235 Sears and Kmart store locations to Seritage as part of an agreement in which Sears leases the stores back from the real estate company.

A Sears spokesman says the stores will close in mid-September; liquidation sales will begin by the end of June.

This is an addition to the closing of a total of 226 stores — 164 Kmart stores and 62 Sears stores— announced so far this year, according to research firm Fung Global & Retail Technology, which tracks retailers’ closings.