Hazelwood Sears Outlet Makes the Cut

The store location has escaped another bought of Sears Holdings Corp. closures.

There are 24 stores set to close in 2012, along with 11 others that the corporation is selling, but the location will remain in operation. The closest being the Alton, Ill., Sears.

Along with Sears store locations, the company is closing some of its other businesses including a Grand Essentials location; nine The Great Indoors home decorating and remodeling stores; and 12 Kmart stores across the country, its website said.

Besides the 24 closings, Sears also announced it has an agreement to sell 11 other full-line, owned and leased stores to General Growth Properties for $270 million. The deal should close in the next 45 to 60 days. The company will announce their closure dates later this year, a corporate press release said.

The earnings report said sales dropped 3 percent last year, and 4.1 percent during the fourth quarter, in Sears stores in the United States. It also said sales at Kmarts dropped 1.4 percent last fiscal year, and 2.7 percent the last quarter of 2011.

"We are taking immediate actions to address our fourth-quarter performance, including cost and inventory reductions, honed and targeted marketing, margin actions and bringing in new talent to strengthen our merchandising and leadership team," said Lou D'Ambrosio, Sears Holdings' chief executive officer and president. "It's also important to distinguish between our earnings issue and the strength of our balance sheet, where we have significant assets and liquidity."

The and also made the cut.