Nathan Bomey and Charisse Jones | USA TODAY

USA TODAY

The parent company of Sears and Kmart plans to close another 63 underperforming stores as the beleaguered department-store chains try to stem bleeding from its long-running decline.

Sears Holdings will shutter 15 Kmart and 48 Sears locations, the latest in a flurry of moves to restore the retailer's revenue and relevance at a time when an increasing number of shoppers bypass the store chains to shop with online rivals and discounters like Amazon and Walmart.

Sears has been engaging in a virtually non-stop campaign of downsizing as it seeks a turnaround that has proved so far to be elusive. The latest round of closures will occur in early September, with liquidation sales starting as soon as June 14.

Sears Holdings has closed roughly 530 struggling locations over the 15 months through the end of its fiscal quarter on May 5. The next wave is believed to represent about 8% of the company's roughly 899 remaining stores, according to Susquehanna International Group retail stock analyst Bill Dreher.

Facing declining mall traffic, heightened online competition and strategic missteps, Sears sales and earnings have plummeted. Sears said Thursday that it swung to a net loss of $424 million in its first fiscal quarter compared to net income of $245 million in the year-ago period when the company had a temporary gain from the sale of its Craftsman brand.

“Sears continues to struggle to bring its business to profitability,'' Moody’s Vice President Christina Boni said in a note. "Its continued efforts to enhance liquidity will be necessary to fund its ongoing operating losses.”

The company signaled that there may be more closures to come. It initially said that it would be shuttering 72 locations out of roughly 100 non-profitable stores, but when it later provided the list of locations that would be shuttered, the number had shrunk to 63. The company said that "a small group of stores was pulled from the closing list ... as they are being evaluated further.''

The company did not say what would happen to the other non-profitable locations.

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The company said its sales at stores open at least a year — a key measure for retail companies that takes change in the number of stores into account — fell 11.9% overall during the latest quarter, including declines of 13.4% at Sears locations and 9.5% at Kmart stores. One bright spot was sales of apparel, footwear and jewelry categories, which increased at both Kmart and Sears locations.

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In the wake of the bleak news, the price of Sears shares plunged 12.46% to $2.81 at the end of the trading day.

Sears reports its earnings as it still considers an offer by its largest shareholder and CEO Eddie Lampert to purchase the company's Kenmore appliance brand and other assets.

Lampert said in a statement that Sears would "continue to explore opportunities to unlock the full potential of our assets for our shareholders."

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The company will also seek third-party partnerships and additional momentum with a new form of small-format locations.

Sears has inspired some hope in investors in recent months through a deal with Amazon to provide services for tires sold online and with a credit card deal with Citi.

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