Sears Hometown Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Monday, court papers show.

The retailer listed assets of no more than $50 million and liabilities of at least $50 million in its bankruptcy court petition, filed in Delaware. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows companies to continue operating while working on a plan to repay creditors.

Sears Hometown is a branch of the retailer that focuses on selling appliances, tools, hardware and lawn and garden equipment. Sears spun off the Hometown business in 2012 to raise cash for its struggling parent company.

Representatives for Sears did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hometown wasn’t part of Sears Holdings Corp.’s 2018 bankruptcy, and Transformco, a company backed by former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, purchased it in 2019 as part of a strategy to focus Sears’ future business on appliances. Instead the company has continued to fade away, with Transformco shuttering stores and selling off signature brands like Craftsman and DieHard.

The now-bankrupt Sears Hometown entity is at least partially owned by Lampert, according to court papers.  The case is Sears Authorized Hometown Stores LLC, 22-11303, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Sears Holdings Corp. ranks No. 62 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s rankings of the largest e-retailers in North America by web sales.

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