Sears Canada Chairman Steps Down In Order To Buy Retailer

Sears Canada’s executive chairman has stepped down with a specific end goal to head up a bid to purchase the company.

Sears Canada declared it would be restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and close very nearly 60 stores and lay off right around 3,000 workers all the while in June.

As a feature of those CCAA proceedings, there’s an up and coming due date of Aug. 31 for parties keen on purchasing any or the majority of the company’s assets to come forward.

Stranzl had been focusing his efforts on finding a turnaround plan for the company after that process ends, and “the intention is to formulate these plans into a bid that can be submitted,” the memo reads. “The goal of any such proposal is to facilitate a path for Sears Canada to emerge from CCAA and so that all of us can continue with the company’s reinvention plans.”

This week, the company consented to make an alleged hardship fund for workers who were denied severance payments when they lost their jobs with the retailer.

The $500,000 fund will come out of cash that had been put aside to pay rewards under a key employee retention plan.

The hardship fund requires approval by the court overseeing Sears restructuring at a hearing set for Friday.