Sears Files for Chapter 11

NEW YORK – Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. They plan to close 142 unprofitable stores in the hopes that it can stay in business. At its peak, the operator of Sears and Kmart had 4,000 stores. Now, it will be left with a little more than 500. In September it was announced the Sears store in Tyler’s Broadway Square Mall will close its doors in December. In May, the mall received zoning approval from the city of Tyler to tear down the Sears building and replace it with new retail space. The store’s liquidation sale is now under way. With Monday’s filing, the company has secured $300 million in financing from banks to keep the operations going through bankruptcy. It’s also negotiating an additional $300 million loan from Lampert’s ESL Hedge fund.