A bankruptcy judge yesterday approved $300 million in financing to keep department store chain Sears Holdings Corp. open through the holiday season, giving the century-old retailer that once dominated U.S. shopping malls a chance to remain in business, Reuters reported. Sears filed for chapter 11 protection in White Plains, New York yesterday with a plan to close about 142 of its 700 stores by year-end and sell its best-performing stores in an auction in January to a buyer that will keep them operational. The bankruptcy filing by the parent of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corp. follows a decade of revenue declines, hundreds of store closures, and years of deals by billionaire Eddie Lampert in an attempt to turn around the company he acquired in 2005 for $11 billion.
