Retailer is opening a new Sears Hometown and Outlet store at University Parkway and Lockwood Ridge Road.

Sears is returning to Manatee County — but it's not what you think.

The troubled department store retailer, which has bounced back — kind of — from last year's bankruptcy filing, plans to open a new Sears Hometown and Outlet store at 8333 Lockwood Ridge Road in southern Manatee County, permit applications show. The property in the northeast corner of Lockwood Ridge Road and University Parkway is owned by Sarabara Corp. of Clearwater, according to state records.

Sears Hometown and Outlet primarily sells home appliances, hardware, tools and lawn and garden equipment. It was spun out from under Sears Holdings Corporation in 2012, the former parent company of Sears and Kmart, but on June 3, Transform Holdco LLC, also known as "the new Sears," announced that it would acquire the outstanding shares of Sears Hometown not owned by ESL Investments, Inc. for $2.25 per share in cash.

The transaction would reunite Sears Hometown with Sears and Kmart, according to a press release put out at the time. ESL Investments, a hedge fund run by former Sears CEO and Chairman Eddie Lampert, held 58% of outstanding shares of Sears Hometown as of June 3. The fund and its affiliates are also the majority owners of Transform.

"We believe that reuniting our Sears Hometown segment stores with Transform's Sears full-line stores will result in a more consistent customer experience across Sears branded storefronts, generate higher total revenues and leverage efficiencies of scale to improve costs and margins, all of which could lead to improved profitability for Sears Hometown's dealers and franchisees," Will Powell, CEO and president of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, said in a press release last month.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company has until Aug. 24 to sell Sears Outlet and Buddy's Home Furnishing Stores together to a third party, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of June 3, Sears Hometown had 491 Hometown stores and 126 Outlet stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The company generated $1.4 billion in net sales in 2018.

Sears left Manatee County a few months ago when the store at Bradenton's DeSoto Square Mall closed over the holiday season. The DeSoto Square Sears building was sold in March for $6.75 million to entities tied to Madison Capital Group, a North Carolina investment group that focuses primarily on self-storage and multi-family developments.

Kmart in Ellenton also closed earlier this year as part of the Sears bankruptcy filing. An At Home superstore is moving into the former Kmart space and expected to open this fall.

Englewood has its own Sears Hometown store at 455 South Indiana Ave.