Sears on N. Military Hwy. to close

NORFOLK, Va. (AP/WAVY) - A Sears location in Norfolk is one of over 100 stores slated to close its doors.

Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores to raise cash after a weak holiday shopping season for the retailer.

Three Sears locations in Virginia are getting the ax, only one is in Hampton Roads. Sears Holdings Corp. says on average stores, like the 880 N. Military Highway location, employ between 40 and 80 associates.

The company said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. It expects the sale or sublease of real estate holdings to add more cash.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill., company has more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Its stock dropped $10.66, or 23.3 percent, to $35.19 in midday trading. The shares dipped to their lowest point in more than three years at $35.13 earlier in the session.

Aside from the planned store closings, Sears is altering the way it handles stores that are not performing as well as others. The company says it will no longer prop up marginally performing stores in hopes of improving their performance and will now concentrate on cash-generating stores.

Sears Holdings said it also plans to lower its fixed costs by $100 million to $200 million and trim its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million from 2011's $10.2 billion at the third quarter's end.