Sears Offloading More Real Estate?
An industry source tells us not to be surprised at the news that Sears Canada is open to more real estate sales. The company is in the process of a major restructuring. Up to now, with disappointing operating results, they’ve been dumping both valuable real estate and prime leases—seven in the past year, generating millions in revenue. Based on these recent sales, it appears they are going down the chain, starting with the most valuable assets, targeting (to date at least) the major landlords that both know the assets and potential demand and have the resource capability to add the greatest value, we're told. They also are reaching out to other retailers interested in taking some of the available space, as well as resizing and restructuring stores they want to keep. There are no Targets on the doorstep, to take all or a majority of the spaces, sources say. The impact of Target’s troubles in the Canadian market means that big US retailers in particular are more cautious about expanding north of the border. (Sears is the only place that has pants in our unusual size, too, so that's a bummer.)
