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Sears announces it is closing all of its Canadian stores

Sears Canada expects to close all of its Canadian retail locations. — iStock photo Sears Canada plans to close all of its stores across the country. In a press release on Tuesday, Oct.

 Sears Canada expects to close all of its Canadian retail locations. — iStock photoSears Canada expects to close all of its Canadian retail locations. — iStock photo

Sears Canada plans to close all of its stores across the country. In a press release on Tuesday, Oct. 10, the iconic mid-priced department store, which filed for bankruptcy in June, announced that it plans to liquidate all of its remaining goods and assets, pending court approval.

“It is expected that liquidation sales at retail locations would commence no earlier than Oct. 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks,” reads the press release.

Affectionately remembered for its extensive mail-order catalogue, many middle-class Canadians will recall receiving Sears catalogue birthday gifts from far-away family members. First opened under the name Simpsons-Sears, the American company offered its mail-order catalogue in 1952, and, in the following year, opened its first store in Stratford Ont.

This latest news follows an announcement in June that said 59 Sears locations would be closing. In the intervening months, the lawyers of employees who were told they would not be receiving severance payments reached an agreement to create a $500,000 hardship fund.

In what appears to be another indicator of the death of the town centre, and traditional retail, 130 remaining Canadian locations will be closed. According to CTV News, this will leave 12,000 people without a job.

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