Retail Giants With Peninsula Footprints to Downsize

The parent company of two retail giants with Peninsula footprints plans to close at least a hundred stores, Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Citing dismal holiday season sales at its Sears and Kmart stores, Sears Holding Corp. CEO and President Lou D'Ambrosio said in an internal memo that the underperforming stores hadn't "generated the results we were seeking during the holiday."

Sears has stores at the Hillsdale and Tanforan malls in San Mateo and San Bruno.

Kmart has stores on 1700 South Delaware Street in San Mateo and 1155 Veterans Boulevard in Redwood City.

Sears Holding Corp. told Associated Press it hadn’t yet decided which of its more than 4,000 stores will get axed, and that it will announce such closures on http://www.searsmedia.com.

Sears officials wouldn’t say how many layoffs (if any) are in the works.

D’Ambrosio put a rosy spin on the planned closures, saying in the memo that "these actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers."

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter, however, warned that the moves indicate "deepening problems at this struggling chain and renewed worries about Sears survivability."

The parent company’s stock shed more than a quarter of its value on Tuesday, with shares falling from $45.85 to $33.38.