Sears Abruptly Lays Off 250 at Corporate Headquarters

Sears abruptly terminated 250 employees at its corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the last week of August. Employees were laid off soon after the retailer’s parent company, Transform Holdco, announced that it intended to shut down a number of Sears and Kmart stores across the country by the year’s end. 

On August 29, Transform filed a note with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, announcing that a headcount reduction would take effect in October. But the company laid off 250 employees almost immediately.

In interviews, Sears spokesperson Larry Costello has said no further workforce reductions are planned for October.

The layoffs are part of the ongoing saga of Sears’s bankruptcy.

In early August, Transform announced that it would shut down at least 26 Sears and Kmart locations by November 2019, part of an attempt to return the company to sustainable levels of cash flow.

The liquidation process has started. If everything goes according to schedule, the stores will be locked shut by December 2019. 

Costello has declined to specify how many stores are slated for shutdown in the second round. Media reports suggest the company is targeting at least 60 stores.

Sears and Kmart became property of Transform Holdco holding company in February 2019 after filing for bankruptcy. At that point, Sears and Kmart operated more than 400 stores.

Transform says it intends to focus on smaller stores by opening more Sears Hometown and Sears Home & Life stores.