Sears Holdings Corporation · Hoffman Estates, IL United States ·(NASDAQ (GS): SHLD)

Retail or real estate giant? Time will tell for Sears Holdings Corporation, the entity created by the acquisition of troubled department store operator Sears, Roebuck and Co. by Kmart Holding Corp. The megamerger created one of the nation's largest retailers (behind Wal-Mart and Home Depot), with about 3,900 stores in North America. (Sears Holdings owns a majority stake in Sears Canada.) It is the holding company for the varied retail operations of Sears (about 930 Sears department stores) and Kmart (about 1,365 discount outlets), which continue to operate separately under their familiar brand names. ESL Investments, controlled by the company's chairman Edward Lampert, owns a majority stake in Sears Holdings. To read the full description, subscribe now.