<P> On November 17, 2004, Sears announced it was being acquired by the management of Kmart Holding Corporation (company that owns Kmart) for $11 billion after Kmart completed its bankruptcy (USA Today Nov. 17, 2004). As a part of the acquisition, Kmart Holding Corporation along with Kmart was transferred to the new Sears Holdings Corporation and Sears was purchased by the new Sears Holdings . The new company started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange, Sears sold its single letter ticker symbol' S' it had held since 1910 to Sprint . The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands . In 2005, the company began renovating some Kmart stores and converting them to the Sears Essentials format, only to change them later to Sears Grands . </P> <P> The combined company's profits peaked at $1.5 billion in 2006, then dwindled to nearly nothing by 2010 . From 2011 to 2016 the company lost $10.4 billion . In 2014 its total debt ($4.2 billion at the end of January 2017) surpassed its market cap ($974.1 million as of March 21). </P> <P> Sears spent much of 2014 and 2015 selling off portions of its balance sheet; namely Lands' End and its stake in Sears Canada . Sears Canada was one of the biggest e-commerce players in Canada, with CAN $505 million in sales in 2015--more than Walmart and others who have begun pushing aggressively into online sales, such as Canadian Tire . Sears stated that the company was looking to focus on becoming a more tech - driven retailer . Sears' CEO and top shareholder said the sell - off of key assets in the last year had given the retailer the money it needs to speed up its transformation . As of 2015, Sears Holdings had lost a total of US $7 billion in the last four years . In part, the retailer was trying to curb losses by using a loyalty program called Shop Your Way . Sears believed the membership scheme would be a long - term play for the company, and it would enhance repeat business and customer loyalty . </P> <P> Seritage Growth Properties is the REIT spinoff of some of the holding company's Sears and Kmart stores . The REIT announced in October 2016 that it was terminating 17 store leases . All of the locations are associated with Kmart locations . Also in October 2016, Moody's Investor Services downgraded Sears to speculative grade liquidity rating . The speculative grade liquidity means that Sears is expected to have to rely on external financing and monetization of its alternative assets according to Moody's VP Christina Boni . </P>

How many stores did sears have at its peak