In April Sears Holdings announced plans to shutter 68 Kmart stores — which was followed on Monday by a report that an additional 64 stores have been added to the list of outlets closing by Christmas. This adds up to 14 percent of Kmart stores nationwide slated to close this year. Parent company Sears Holdings wrapped up the last quarter that ended July 30 with about $276 million in cash and about $3.4 billion in long-term debt.
With the closing of retail spaces, should the underlying real estate be sold, new owners will emerge to potentially develop vacated properties. Billionaire Warren Buffett knows this, which is why in December he invested more than $70 million of his money in Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate company that Sears Holdings spun off last year in a bid to raise much-needed cash.