Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores

Sears Holdings spun off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores in 2012 to attempt to restore profitability and raise shareholder confidence. Sears Holdings spun off more than 1,100 Hometown and 122 outlet stores. Hometown stores are small hardware and appliance stores operated by independent retailers. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council in November 2013 to raise money for local fire departments. The objective of the campaign was to provide firehouses with funds to improve resources for training, equipment, and financial support. In April 2019, it was announced that Transform Holdco would acquire the company as a result of its subsidiary Sears opening up 3 Sears Home & Life stores by May 2019. However it was reported a few days later that Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores acquisition offer was rejected, as a result, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores might face liquidation, having a similar fate to Sears Holdings but which got acquired by ESL Investments a few months ago, but its biggest shareholder Eddie Lampert is trying to save the company from liquidation and hopefully continue the acquisition process. In June 2019, it was finally announced that Transform Holdco will acquire the remaining shares in the company. As per deal, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores might need to divest its Sears Outlet division to gain approval. At the time announcement, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores had 491 Hometown stores and 126 Outlet stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. In August 2019, Franchise Group, the parent of Liberty Tax, announced plans to acquire Sears Outlet division from Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores to help fulfill Transform Holdco's requirement in Transform Holdco's acquisition of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores. On October 23, 2019, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores completed its sale of Sears Outlet and Buddy's Home Furnishing businesses to Franchise Group. Transform Holdco completed the acquisition of the remainder of Sears Hometown at the end of the same business day. Stores that were acquired by Franchise Group were re-branded into American Freight stores. On December 13, 2022, Sears Hometown filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was later revealed that all remaining Sears Hometown stores would be liquidated and permanently closed. Sears Hometown converted its Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in February 2023 after losing cash access from PNC Bank that would have helped the company throughout its reorganization. Finances ==Subsidiaries==

Sears Hometown Stores Sears Hometown stores were independently owned stores that sell Sears merchandise. In 2013, 70–80% of Hometown stores were independently owned. In May 2022, it was announced that roughly 100 more Sears Hometown stores would close permanently, This came shortly after the company announced plans to close 70 Hometown stores. By September 2022 the number of remaining stores was less than 150. On December 13, 2022, Sears Hometown filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Each store, on average, is larger than 18,000 square feet in size. In 1968, Sears opened a surplus store in Kansas City. In 1994, the surplus stores were renamed to Sears Outlet. In 1995, Sears Outlet restructured in order to manage repairs and product distribution from a centralized location. To do this, they established a series of facilities known as Outlet Repair and Distribution Centers. In 2015, there were 22 of these centers in operation. In 2008, apparel was introduced to Sears Outlet stores and served as a liquidation outlet for Lands' End. In 2009, SearsOutlet.com was launched as an e-commerce platform allowing customers to purchase items online and in 2011, nationwide delivery was offered. In 2012, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores was spun off from Sears Holdings. At the time of the separation, there were 122 Sears Outlet Stores in operation. By February 2014, Sears Outlet stores had expanded its operations to 143 locations. The majority of Sears Outlet stores are company-operated (115) and 28 Sears Outlet stores are locally owned and operated by franchisees. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores initiated a program to franchise Sears Outlet stores in 2012. In 2013, home appliances made up 78% of Sears Outlet's sales revenue and total revenue from Sears Outlet stores was $610 million. By August 2019, 127 Outlet Stores were in operation. In 2019, it was reported that this division might need to be divested as per acquisition by Transform Holdco. and later rebranded its Sears Outlet stores as American Freight by April 2020. Sears Home Appliance Showroom Home appliance showrooms display merchandise in-stores. The stores have an internet kiosk where customers are able to view similar products, price match, and order products not available in the store. Averaging 5,000 square feet with a primarily appliance showroom design As of October 2019, there are currently 15 locations in operation. Sears Appliance and Hardware Store Sears appliance and hardware stores were hardware stores that carry the entire line of Sears hardware and appliances. averaging nearly 28,000 square feet in size, are primarily located in suburban markets. All locations were closed by June 2019. ==Awards==

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores received the Customer Engagement award from the online publication Retail TouchPoints for their interactive in-store campaign. ==References==