Dozens of Sears vendors are calling for a bankruptcy judge to convert the retailer’s chapter 11 into a liquidation, the New York Post reported. Sears Holdings — the former parent of Sears and Kmart, which has unloaded the company’s remaining stores to billionaire Eddie Lampert — is looking for a judge to approve a reorganization plan this week that would settle debts and distribute the 125-year-old company’s assets. A group of vendors, however, are demanding that Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain convert the case to a chapter 7 liquidation and appoint an independent trustee to mediate their gripes. These vendors, who have not been paid in more than a year for the goods they shipped to Sears, are demanding that Sears’ lawyers not “bill one more hour to this estate,” according to a court filing on Monday. The filing is among dozens representing up to 70 vendors who have asked the court not to allow Sears to exit bankruptcy at a hearing scheduled for Oct. 3.
