Sears to Lease Retail Space in US Northeast to UK’s Primark

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sears Holding Corp. will lease seven standalone stores in the U.S. to the U.K.'s Primark budget- clothing chain as the department-store owner seeks to better leverage its selling space.

Primark, owned by Associated British Foods Plc, will lease about 520,000 square feet (48,310 square meters) of retail space from Sears, the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company said in a statement today. The British retailer will take delivery of the space in the next 12 to 18 months as it continues to push beyond its home market.

Primark, one of Europe’s fastest-growing clothing chains, has said it would add stores in the northeast of the U.S., the first of which it plans to open at the end of next year. The company will share retail space with Sears at six of the seven outlets, Sears said.

“These lease agreements with Primark illustrate how Sears Holdings is strategically transforming one of the largest retail real estate portfolios in the United States over time while continuing to operate its existing stores in large, but rationalized selling space,” Jeff Stollenwerck, president of real estate for Sears, said in the statement.

By Celeste Perri; editors: Paul Jarvis, Tom Lavell.