After challenging holiday, Sears to speed up store closings

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) — Following a “challenging” holiday season, Sears will accelerate the closure of some of its stores.
Comparable-store sales in the fourth quarter dropped 6.9 percent at Sears, and 7.2 percent at Kmart, which the also company owns.
While the quarter that contains the critical shopping season was better compared with the previous three quarters, overall same-store sales fell 9.2 percent in 2015, with Sears stores leading the decline.
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