Troubled department store chain Sears Canada plans to close remaining stores and liquidate all assets, the company announced October 10.
The company will apply to Ontario Superior Court for approval for the sale.
The news follows weeks of Sears Canada creditors negotiating with a group of senior executives, including executive chairman Brandon Stranzl, to buy the company .
“It is expected that liquidation sales at retail locations would commence no earlier than October 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks,” the company said in a statement.
The news today affects 64 full-line stores, seven Sears Home stores and 49 Hometown stores.
The company on September 30 announced plans to close an additional 10 full department stores and a Sears Home store. In June, Sears announced that it would close 59 stores.
Sears sent Business in Vancouver an email to say that about 12,000 people will lose jobs as a result of the dissolution and that this includes those who work at the 11 stores in the September 30 announcement. About 75% of those employees are part-time workers, Sears said.
“The company deeply regrets this pending outcome and the resulting loss of jobs and store closures,” Sears said in a statement.
