Sears Canada filed for court protection from creditors Thursday as the onetime retail giant seeks to adapt to a changed business landscape and tougher online competition.

The company also announced it was shutting 59 stores and laying off 2,900 staff at corporate headquarters in Toronto and across its retail network.

The company's roots in the American mail order business Simpsons-Sears sprouted a chain of department stores across Canada that anchored hundreds of malls.

In 1999, it bought up the assets and locations of failed rival Eaton's.

But moves into Canada by both low- and high-end American stores, and new online competition squeezed its market share.

Sears Canada started to revamp its operations 18 months ago.

Its revenues have dropped significantly in recent years as it cut 3,000 jobs -- not including the latest round of layoffs -- and closed half of its stores.

Thursday's announcement leaves it with fewer than 150 department stores, home stores and smaller retail outlets.

But the company has started to show small signs of a comeback with same store sales up in the last two quarters.

The company said in a statement that it faces "continued liquidity pressures" and "legacy components of its business are preventing it from making further progress" in its turnaround efforts.

If the court grants its request, Sears Canada said it "will work to complete its restructuring in a timely fashion and hopes to exit CCAA (Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act) protection as soon as possible in 2017, better positioned to capitalize on the opportunities that exist in the Canadian retail marketplace."

Its stock price, meanwhile, has fallen from about Can$4 to Can$0.62 in the past year.

Source: AFP