Sears Closing 8 Home Stores in Canada, 4 in B.C.

Sears is getting rid of a few of its home stores after being freed from multiple leases across Canada.

Sears Canada Inc. announced Wednesday that it has been that it has transferred eight Sears Home banner store leases to Leon's Furniture Ltd.

According to Sears, their strategy is to make their original store stronger.

"We are working on rationalizing our store network to ensure our core store physical footprint is highly productive," said Brandon G. Stranzl, Executive Chairman, Sears Canada Inc, in a statement. "Our focus is on converting each and every customer at stores with less efficient footprints into customers of our more efficient and best performing stores.

“These actions will drive more business over less square footage, and will make Sears Canada a stronger company.”

Still, they seem to think things won’t change much for dedicated customers.

"In the case of these eight stores, we have communication plans in place to invite all Sears Home customers to our nearest full-line department store where they can continue to shop for major appliances, mattresses, furniture, home décor, and outdoor seasonal products,” continued Stranzl.

He said that when they make this change, the “full-line stores” pick up more of the sales, and customers still have the chance to shop from the same sales associates from Sears Home locations, many of whom, he said, will be brought over to the main stores.

Sears Home stores in Abbotsford, Langley, Richmond and Victoria, British Columbia and Brampton, Etobicoke and Mississauga, Ontario will be assigned to the Leon's banner.

The Sears Home store in Moncton, New Brunswick, will become The Brick.

The leases will be assigned effective June 1st, 2016, except in Brampton, which won’t see the change until July 1, 2016.

Sears Canada has 162 corporate stores, 144 Hometown stores, over 1,200 catalogue and online merchandise pick-up locations, 84 Sears Travel offices in the country.