STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR's business news starts with Sears closing stores.
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INSKEEP: The holiday shopping season has gone well for some retailers, but apparently not for Sears Holdings, the company that owns Sears and Kmart. It plans to shut down up to 120 stores. Sears operates 4,000 outlets in the U.S. and Canada right now. The company says Kmart sales of clothing and consumer electronics fell, and at Sears there was not much demand for home appliances.
The company has not said yet where it will close the stores or how many jobs will be lost. But Sears did say it's making these cuts to reduce costs and, quote, "revitalize its business." Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.