The owners of successful malls are undaunted by the prospect of losing Sears stores. On the contrary, they view it as a major opportunity to reuse the space more profitably.
Sears Holdings Corp., which owns nearly 400 full-line Sears stores and about 360 Kmarts, has hired an advisory firm to prepare a bankruptcy filing. Many of these stores might be paying rents as low as $4 per square foot for spaces that could fetch six times that amount, according to analysts quoted in The Wall Street Journal.
About 380 full-line Sears stores remain open, and some 360 Kmarts
“The top 50 mall owners in the country were dying to get Sears out of the mall, so they’re thrilled,” said Corey Bialow, CEO of consulting firm Bialow Real Estate, as reported in the newspaper. “Where it’s going to hurt most [is] at malls that are already struggling.”
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
