Sears could follow a similar path, particularly after Christmas when its stores have finished selling out their holiday inventory and will be less productive. The one wild card is Mr. Lampert, who has continued to sink money into the company despite long odds. In bankruptcy documents, Sears said Mr. Lampert’s hedge fund was willing to make the opening bid to essentially buy the company’s 400 most viable stores and keep them going. He is the chairman of and a large investor in Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate company that owns 230 former Sears properties. Sears pays rent to Seritage and a liquidation could imperil that revenue.

Source: New York Times October 15, 2018 20:56 UTC