Eddie Lampert’s Transform Holdco will shutter another 26 shops as Sears’ demise accelerates.

The death of Sears will continue at a slow, steady pace well into the fall.

Next week, Transform Holdco, the company created by Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert to purchase the retailer’s assets out of bankruptcy, will start “liquidation sales” at locations it plans to shutter.

“After careful review of where we are today, we believe the right course for the company is to accelerate the expansion of our smaller store formats which includes opening additional Home & Life stores and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores after the Sears Hometown and Outlet transaction closes,” Transform Holdco announced. “Following these steps, we will continue to evaluate our network of Sears and Kmart stores and cannot rule out additional store closures in the near term.”

Transform Holdco and the Death of Sears

Transform Holdco is owned by Edward Lampert’s hedge fund ESL Investments.

The liquidation sales will occur in 26 store locations that will shutter in October. “Everything must go” in 21 Sears stores in 15 states and 5 Kmart stores in 3 states and Puerto Rico.

The liquidation is part of a broader series of problems for Sears, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2018. Transform Holdco, also known as New Sears, emerged to purchase the firm’s assets and attempt to stabilize the ongoing downturn. However, the ongoing efforts to by the assets were mired in controversy and board room battles.

Meanwhile, Sears’ stock has plunged roughly 70% over the last 12 months. Many analysts view Sears as the poster child of failing brick-and-mortar retailers. For example, the firm failed to adapt to the rise of Amazon.com. Rivals Wal-Mart Stores and Target Corporation have largely survived, while many other firms have gone bankrupt. 

Eddie Lampert vs. Elizabeth Warren

The decline of brick-and-mortar retail has been a touchy subject on the 2020 campaign trail. Democratic contender Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts.) has lambasted Eddie Lampert for his efforts to avoid $43 million in worker severance. 

Warren regularly questioned Lampert’s commitment to saving the Sears organizations and its employees’ jobs. Warren has centered her Presidential campaign around the private equity and hedge fund industry. She therefore argues that both sectors have played a major role in the decline of retail jobs over the last decade.

Left-leaning advocacy groups agree with Warren and argue that PE shops and hedge funds are responsible for the loss of 1.3 million jobs in the retail and related sectors since 2008.