Sears to close seven more stores

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Sears Holdings Corp. added seven more U.S. stores to its list of closings for early 2009, citing poor performance.

The retailer now has 19 stores scheduled for closing early next year, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

Scheduled for closing on Feb. 4 are four Great Indoors stores -- one each in Schaumburg, Ill.; Woodbridge, N.J.; Chino Hills, Calif., and Las Vegas.

Sears will also close Sears Essentials stores in American Fork, Utah; Clearwater, Fla., and Menomonee Falls, Wis., the Tribune said.

The closings will reduce the number of Great Indoors stores to 12, a far cry from the 100 Great Indoors stores it had plans for in the 1990s.

The upscale home appliance and decorating stores proved to be too expensive to build and operate, the Tribune said.