Report: Sears pushes to lease space to outside retailers

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A Friday report by Wall Street Journal said that Sears Holdings Corp. is in an active push to lease surplus space to other retailers. Its real estate division has listed on its website some 4,000 of its namesake and Kmart stores that have space for other merchants or retail operations to lease.



According to Thursday’s report, Sears has secured two lease deals, one with Western Athletic Clubs for 69,000 sq. ft. of a 273,000-sq.-ft. Sears store in Cupertino, Calif. The health club is expected to open in December 2012.



In the second deal, a specialty grocer – Gonzalez Grocery – has leased 41,000 sq. ft. of a 104,000-sq.-ft. Kmart store in San Diego, with plans to open in November.



Last year, Sears leased about 15% of the space in its Costa Mesa, Calif., store to Forever 21.