(Image Source: Flickr/robinsonsmay)

BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Two American staples in danger of becoming obsolete. Sears Holdings Corp. has announced plans to close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores across the country, after seeing bad holiday sales numbers.

CNBC’s Joe Kernen can’t help but feel a little... nostalgic about the announcement, though his co-anchor is less sympathetic.

Joe Kernen: “[sigh].”
Co-anchor: “Have you been in one of these places?”
Joe Kernen: “No... When I say Sears and Kmart it just gives me sort of a sad feeling, I’m not really sure why...”
Co-anchor: “If they could just change the lighting for goodness sakes...”
Joe Kernen: “It’s from my childhood...”

Founded in the late 19th century, Sears was once the largest retailer in the United States. It merged with Kmart in 2005. In its press release, Sears Holdings cites declining holiday sales as the force behind its decision to shut stores. CNN Money has the details.  

“Sears Holdings said sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched retail measure known as same-store sales, tumbled 5.2% in the eight weeks ended on Christmas Day. That came from a 4.4% drop in sales at Kmart stores and a 6% slide in sales at domestic Sears stores.”

But are declining sales the only problem? Fox News talks to one expert who points out another issue: too much property.

“The guy who came in and took over Sears and Kmart was valuing the company on a real estate value. And that was just fine -- up until 2005-2006, he failed to sell off that real estate, leaving Sears with a ton of stores, which people are not using like they used to, and real estate assets which are going down in value... Result: An American icon is very much in retreat this morning.”

And CNBC’s Squawk on the Street points out Sears seems to be an old company struggling to stay relevant, though not for lack of trying.

David: “They’re trying... smaller retail concepts that they’ve gone with. Certain acquisitions they’ve made that they’re incorporating in the stores -- they also seem to be going in a somewhat different direction. I’ll just direct people to their press release from this morning … (2:33-2:46) ‘We intend to accentuate our focus and resources to our better performing stores with the goal of converting their customer experience into a world class integrated retail experience.’”

Along the same lines -- Bloomberg talks to an analyst who says despite good efforts, Sears and Kmart just aren’t competing well with their peers.

Burt Flickinger: “Sears has hired a lot of good people, reconverted the stores to Lands’ End. But got caught in the crossfire between Macy's getting better along with Kohl's. And Target getting in a price war with WalMart... that was tough competitively for Kmart. “

Bloomberg also reports Sears’ current owners have seen more than 18 consecutive quarters of declining sales. Since merging with Kmart in 2005 -- Sears had closed 171 of its large U.S. stores.