Edward Lampert has a plan for Sears after its trip through bankruptcy: smaller stores and less apparel, the Wall Street Journal reported. The hedge-fund manager, who steered Sears into bankruptcy and kept it alive with a $5.2 billion offer for its assets, said that he will sell or sublease some of the 425 remaining stores. He plans to devote more of the retail space to tools and appliances. He also wants to open more smaller stores, similar to one in Oak Brook, Ill., which at 62,000 square feet is about one-third its original size. “Our goal is to continue to shrink the size of our stores,” Lampert said. The restructured company, which doesn’t yet have a new corporate name, will be composed of 223 Sears stores and 202 Kmart locations, as well as the Kenmore and DieHard brands. Sears sold its Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker in 2017 but retains a license to sell products under the name. Lampert said he would remain the company’s chairman but would hire a new CEO to carry out his vision. The billionaire, who rescued Kmart from bankruptcy and merged it with Sears in 2005, had served as chief executive since 2013, but he relinquished that role when the company filed for bankruptcy in October.
