{"id":122807,"date":"2017-10-10T23:28:29","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T03:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=122807"},"modified":"2017-10-10T23:28:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T03:28:29","slug":"sears-canada-seeks-court-approval-to-liquidate-all-stores-12000-to-lose-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/10\/sears-canada-seeks-court-approval-to-liquidate-all-stores-12000-to-lose-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Sears Canada seeks court approval to liquidate all stores, 12,000 to lose jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Sears store in Fairview Mall, Toronto, one of the stores acquired from Simpsons in 1991 (Photo by Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler \/ Grid Engine – Own work, CC0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO \u2014 Sears Canada Inc. has decided to shut its doors and is seeking approval to liquidate its roughly 130 remaining stores \u2014 leaving another 12,000 employees across the country without a job.<\/p>\n

The embattled retailer, which sought protection from its creditors in June, said Tuesday it had failed to find a buyer that would allow it to continue as a going concern.<\/p>\n

The court overseeing Sears Canada’s operations is set to hear a motion Friday seeking approval for the liquidation and wind down of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company deeply regrets this pending outcome and the resulting loss of jobs and store closures,\u201d Sears Canada said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Last week, Sears received a revised bid from a buyer group led by its executive chairman Brandon Stranzl to buy the business and keep it operating. It was the latest move in a weeks-long discussion process after Stranzl stepped away from his role to launch the bid.<\/p>\n

However, on Tuesday, the retailer said that \u201cfollowing exhaustive efforts, no viable transaction\u201d was received.<\/p>\n

A lawyer for Stranzl did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mark Caiger, managing director of mergers and acquisitions at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., says in his affidavit that he understands Stranzl \u201ccontinues to have communications with certain stakeholders regarding a potential going concern transaction,\u201d according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Sears Canada’s court-appointed monitor FTI Consulting Canada told the court last week it would consider the revised bid but the company was running out of money and time.<\/p>\n

Sears Canada currently has 74 full department store locations, eight Sears Home Stores, and roughly 49 Sears Hometown stores, facing closure, according to company spokesman Joel Shaffer.<\/p>\n

The retailer currently has approximately 12,000 employees, three-quarters of which are part-time, Shaffer added. Of the roughly 800 employees in Sears Canada’s head office, the vast majority will leave next week, he said.<\/p>\n

That tally doesn’t include the 2,900 job cuts Sears Canada previously announced in June, when it announced the closure of 20 department store locations, 15 Sears Home stores, 10 Sears Outlet and 14 Sears Hometown locations.<\/p>\n

Sears Canada plans to start the liquidation sales no later than Oct. 19, a process which is expected to continue for 10 to 14 weeks.<\/p>\n

However, Susan Ursel, a lawyer representing current and former Sears Canada employees, says a liquidation would be \u201cextremely detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are dismayed to say the least that this is going in this direction,\u201d Ursel said in an interview. \u201cBut we are working, along … with pension representative council, to pursue all avenues possible as an alternative to liquidation. So, it ain’t over yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

She would say only that they are looking at \u201cdifferent forms of a going concern operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Litigators for a group of lenders who have provided debtor-in-possession financing to Sears Canada to keep it afloat pushed for a liquidation agreement to be entered into by Oct. 7 at the latest. The lenders pushed for approval no later than Oct. 13, in order to liquidate before the crucial holiday season and maximize value.<\/p>\n

Sears Canada has been operating under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act since June, but had been struggling for years as consumers gravitated towards e-commerce and away from big department stores.<\/p>\n

Jean Rickli, a senior adviser with retail and marketing consulting firm J.C. Williams Group, said the retailer had taken some positive steps to revitalize the brand in recent years, such as a new logo and utilizing pop-up shops.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, it was all a little, too little, too late,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sears Canada has faced a \u201cslow and steady demise over the last 20 years,\u201d said retail analyst Bruce Winder, the co-founder and partner of Retail Advisors Network. He pointed to sales declines, dusty shelves and a lack of investment in technology.<\/p>\n

The move towards liquidation is the latest evidence that the Canadian retail industry is in \u201cmajor flux\u201d and that companies that were safe decades ago are now \u201cin jeopardy\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

Winder added that the Canadian retail landscape is much smaller now, making it tougher for the thousands of Sears Canada employees to find new jobs of similar calibre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a sad day for us in retail, in many ways,\u201d he said. \u201c(For) the employees, as well as losing an icon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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