Sears Holding Company, the nation's top seller of fitness equipment, said that it has identified eight more underperforming stores it will close on top of 14 it closed in the third quarter.


The company said its expects to record a pre-tax charge of up to $21 million related to the new store closings on top of $101 million charge it took in the third quarter for closing the 14 stores. The charge included a charge to cost of goods sold of $10 million for inventory reserves recorded in connection with store closings.


“We expect that these store closings will be additive to earnings, given that the closure of these stores eliminates negative cash flows incurred from their operations, and will generate cash from the liquidation of inventory and from other proceeds,” said  Bruce Johnson, Sears Holdings interim CEO and president. “Given the current economic and retail environment, we will carefully evaluate alternatives that provide financial flexibility in the near-term, while enhancing shareholder value in the long-term. These actions may include additional store closings or divestitures, remodels or repositioning of existing stores, acquisitions, and repurchases of our debt and common stock.”


Sears reported a net loss of $146 million for the third quarter ended Nov. 1, compared to a profit of $4 million in the same quarter a year ago. The loss came on sales of $10.66 billion, down 8.3% from a year earlier. Comp stores sales declined 9% year to year. The company said it reduced its domestic inventory by $575 million, or 5.2%, in the third quarter, to $10.5 billion.