Initial Sears Closings Include 3 Indiana Stores, None in Illinois

None of the 79 Sears and Kmart stores that Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close are in Illinois.

The Hoffman Estates-based retailer announced the specific stores it would close on Thursday. It said earlier this week that it would close up to 120 stores nationally after poor holiday sales.

The Indiana stores slated to close include Kmarts in Indianapolis' Pendleton Plaza and St. John, as well as a Sears store in Anderson. A Sears location in St. Louis, Missouri's Crestwood Plaza is also closing. The dates of the closures haven't been announced, and the company says it can't yet verify the number of impacted employees.

The retailer had reached an agreement with Illinois officials to keep its headquarters in Illinois. Gov. Pat Quinn had said the store closings don't affect that agreement.

Quinn signed legislation guaranteeing the company $15 million in tax breaks during the next decade. The company had threatened to move its headquarters from the state before securing the tax incentives.

The tax breaks depend on the company's ability to maintain 4,250 jobs at the Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates.