Sears shares tumbled to record lows on reports that the iconic retailer may be headed for bankruptcy as soon as this week.

Shares of the 125-year-old department-store chain plunged 35 percent on Wednesday morning to an all-time low of 38 cents after the Wall Street Journal reported that the embattled retailer has hired boutique restructuring firm M-III Partners to explore a possible Chapter 11 filing.

On Tuesday, Sears added veteran restructuring expert Alan Carr to its board of directors.

Eddie Lampert, the retailer’s largest shareholder and chief executive, said last month that “Sears now faces significant near-term liquidity constraints” that can only be avoided if the company’s board approves a restructuring plan Lampert is proposing, the company said in a regulatory filing.

At the time, Lampert cited a $134 million debt payment that is due on Oct. 15. It was not clear whether Sears, which also owns Kmart, had the cash to make that payment.

Meanwhile, the special committee vetting Lampert’s restructuring plan for past several weeks has rejected it, according to Reuters.

The directors may be concerned, according to industry experts, that approving the plan could open them up to litigation for failure to fulfill their fiduciary duties.

“That group’s biggest concern is liability,” said a source with knowledge of the situation. “They need to make sure that whatever they do doesn’t open the board of directors to lawsuits.”

Others questioned whether Lampert might be “posturing” in an attempt to pressure the board to approve his plan.

But distressed debt experts also questioned why Sears did not hire one of the top restructuring firms, speculating that M-III Partners could have been retained by Lampert to pressure the board over the looming debt payment.