NEW YORK - Retailers seeing their profits plummet outlined more strategies on Thursday that they hope will help them weather a desolate year.
Sears Holdings is closing stores and may shut more if things don't improve. Gap and Limited Brands are cutting capital spending and opening fewer stores. Kohl's is emphasizing its budget-conscious prices to appeal to petrified shoppers.
Those moves illustrate how the retail landscape is changing as companies search for ways to cut costs. Several companies also have taken charges due to declines in the value of businesses they own.
Sears Holdings Corp., the operator of Sears and Kmart stores, said fourth-quarter profit fell 55 percent, hurt by charges related to its Orchard Supply Hardware subsidiary and severance charges. However, excluding charges, profit beat expectations. Sales fell 12 percent to $13.28 billion.
The company has been closing unprofitable stores -- 28 in the fiscal year and another 24 announced Thursday -- and Chairman Eddie Lampert said there may be more.
No Sears stores in Minnesota will be closed because of the cutbacks, a spokeswoman said.
Kohl's Inc. is taking the opposite tack, opening 55 locations this year. That's down from the 75 it opened last year, but up from the 50 it had planned. Most openings are in former Mervyns locations that Kohl's bought in December.
Kohl's fourth-quarter profit fell 18 percent to $336 million, or $1.10 per share, from $412 million, or $1.31 per share a year ago. That beat analyst forecasts.
