Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018 after more than a century in business.
Sears Holdings, which also owned Kmart, filed on October 15, 2018. The company reported billions of dollars in debt and announced plans to close hundreds of stores while seeking a restructuring or sale.
Sears had once been America’s dominant retailer, famous for its mail-order catalogs, appliances and broad national store network. It struggled with declining store traffic, competition from Walmart and online retailers, and financial pressure after the Kmart merger.
The company was later acquired by Transformco, controlled by former Sears chairman Eddie Lampert. The 2018 filing concerned Sears Holdings, not the original Sears, Roebuck and Company founded in 1899.