Many retailers are expecting a BIG holiday season due to the strong economy. That's countering stories of a "retail apocalypse" bring brought on by the Internet. However, certain iconic stores are struggling to keep up with the times.
Another iconic store may be close to extinction.
Sears Holdings could be filing for bankruptcy this week. Reports say that the company is preparing a bankruptcy bid to deal with its debt. The company has a 134-million payment due on Monday. CEO Eddie Lampert is working on a proposal to restructure the department store chain's debt by selling off its Kenmore appliance brand and other assets.
Sears needs to generate more than a billion-dollars a year in sales to remain open in an age where people now shop online and don't go to many of the malls where Sears stores are located. Shares in Sears have fallen more than 80 percent this year to trade at 57 cents per share.
Analysts blame the company’s problems on not investing in its stores or employees over the years, making it unable to compete with the likes of Walmart or Amazon. In it’s glory years, Sears was the “go to” store for everything you can imagine.
If this story breaks later this week, all eyes will be on the Sears stores across Iowa.