Sears To Close Two More Houston Stores

The company was once the king of retail, and the contents of it wildly popular catalog the stuff of dreams for millions of Americans. Those days are long gone, and today it got worse for Sears, which announced it would close 20 more stores across the U.S., including two in the Houston area.

The locations will, according to a release from the company, begin liquidating sales by June 30 and close by mid-September.

The stores in the Houston area slated for closure are at 9570 Southwest Freeway and in the Baybrook Mall.

"We are making the difficult, but necessary decisions," a Sears spokesman said in a release. "We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and have accelerated the closing of unprofitable stores as previously announced."

The company, like many other once-powerful brands, including Macy's and J.C. Penney, has been caught up in the demise of department stores nationwide — hundreds of them have closed in the past several years or are scheduled to close in the near future.

"We understand that members may be disappointed when we close a store, but our Shop Your Way membership platform, websites and mobile apps allow us to maintain these valued relationships long after a store closes its doors," the company said.

Just last month, Sears H0ldings CEO Eddie Lampert put the blame for Sears' demise on the media, which he said was exacerbating the problems at the brand.

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