The Prince George Sears store in Pine Centre Mall survived the first round of downsizing for the retail chain earlier this year. However, it won’t survive the second one.
Sears Canada Inc. today announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries, the Sears Canada Group, will be applying to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for approval to liquidate all of its remaining stores and assets. It is expected the court will hear the motion on October 13. Pending approval of the court, it is expected that liquidation sales at retail locations would commence no earlier than October 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks.
According to a Global News report, the liquidation will affect 12,000 jobs across the country, about three-quarters of those part time.
Sears Canada was granted an initial order and protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act on June 22, 2017. It subsequently received the court’s approval of a sale and investment solicitation process to seek out proposals for the acquisition of, or investment in, the Sears Canada Group’s business, assets and/or leases, and to implement one or a combination of proposals.
Sears Canada received and implemented going concern transactions for various lines of business, but following exhaustive efforts, no viable transaction for the company to continue as a going concern was received. Accordingly, Sears Canada, with the recommendation of its advisors and approval of the Monitor, FTI Consulting Inc., is seeking an order to commence a liquidation that would result in a wind-down of its business following court approval.
