Sears To Shave $1B Off Its Bottom Line By Monetizing Real Estate Portfolio

Sears Holdings Corp. wants to cut $1B from the books this year, with store closures playing a big part in reaching that goal.

The retailer announced a restructuring plan last week and has hired real estate investment company Eastdil Secured to market and sell real estate assets amounting to $1B. Sears is also looking to monetize its real estate assets by entering in-store partnerships where it will subdivide space or lease in-store space to smaller formats, CoStar reports. The company's cost-saving initiative also includes the previously announced 150 stores (108 Kmarts and 42 Sears) that it plans to close this year, though Eastdil's efforts are not tied to these specific locations.

The department store chain reported another quarter of declining comparable-store sales in Q4, with Kmart same-store sales falling by 8% and Sears dropping 12.3%. Sears is but one of a long string of retailers struggling to maintain sales amidst the ever-changing competitive e-commerce landscape.