The american giant of the distribution, Sears Holdings, the sentence, the face of online commerce, was declared bankrupt on Monday, he announced in a press release. The group, Sears Holdings, created in 1886, and the pioneer of department stores, filed for protection under chapter 11 of the u.s. bankruptcy code. This provision allows a business to continue to operate and recover without the pressure of his creditors. The group reports that it ” plans to proceed as quickly as possible in the restructuring process and is committed to pursue a plan of reorganization in the very short term “.

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Sears Holdings, which owns Sears department Store and Kmart, has also announced the closure of 142 stores by the end of the year. They are in addition to the 46 closures planned for the month of November, in the spring of 2018, 103 stores in the group had already pulled the curtain. Edward S. Lampert, who held the post of CEO, becomes chairman of the board of directors, while the management will be ensured by a “bureau of the CEO” is newly created. This chain of stores, an institution across the Atlantic, is heavily in debt and facing the competition of online commerce, including the giant Amazon.

Change of consumption pattern

The bankruptcy of Sears is emblematic of a change of model of consumption and goes hand-in-hand with the disaffection of the shopping centres. The group had established a vast empire in North America. It could, on Monday, not be able to repay a term to maturity of $ 134 million. In march, another american giant of the trade, toysrus, teaches specialized in the sale of toys, announced that it was seeking a buyer, following the announcement of the winding-up of the 735 stores in the United States. The French company Jellej was chosen on 8 October to resume the French subsidiary.