Sears Holdings Puts Sears Canada Up For Sale.

Cadillac Fairview-owned Eaton Centre Sears wing as shoppers enjoy its presence before closing
 its doors February 24, 2014.

At its height, Sears was the country’s biggest retailer, but that has not been true for more than two decades and now, the department store chain, struggling to execute on its latest turnaround, is looking to shrink again.

On Wednesday, Sears stated its plan to hire an investment bank to explore options for its 51 percent stake in Sears Canada — including a potential sale of the entire Canadian enterprise.

It would be the latest move by the company, hurt by years of declining sales, to shed non-core operations to focus on its ailing core businesses like Sears and Kmart as well as other high priority ventures. The retailer has said its top priorities now include improving e-commerce sales and bolstering the Shop Your Way rewards program with in-store reward card holding showrooms in select US stores.

Sears Canada has performed better than its parent, reporting $446.5 million in net income last year. Still, its sales have fallen for six consecutive years, and it has lost ground to aggressive competitors like Wal-mart and Target.

To help stanch its own bleeding, Sears Canada has laid off 2,600 employees and sold off leases since the beginning of 2013. But the lease sale could ultimately tamp down what Sears could fetch in a sale of its Canadian counterpart.

In the past, Sears has sold properties including some of the most desirable retail locations in Canada, like the Eaton Centre location to Nordstrom, which will open in the summer of 2016.

There will possibly be many potential buyers to takeover operations if and when deal goes through.