Sears Canada to liquidate all of its remaining stores

An Ontario Superior Court has approved a request by Sears Canada to liquidate all of its remaining stores.

Sears, which has been in business in Canada for more than six decades, has been trying to restructure itself under court supervision since earlier this summer.The chain was waylaid by growing debt loads, and a major consumer shift toward online sales — a world in which it couldn't keep up.

Company chairman Brandon Stranzl had been trying to put together a bid to keep the company going while it restructured itself, but those efforts did not materialize into a formal bid that would have allowed the chain to continue, in the judge's estimation.

More than 12,000 people still work at the chain's remaining 74 stores across Canada, including eight Sears Home stores, and roughly 49 Sears Hometown stores.

-