Sears Head of Real Estate to leave after 15 years

Jeff Stollenwerck, better known as the Head of Real Estate at US holding company Sears, will be stepping down from his position at the company after more than 15 years of service, CNBC reports.

Stollenwerck play a leading role in the creation of the company’s Seritage real estate investment trust (REIT) whereby Sears spun off approximately 250 properties to create the successful publicly traded REIT.

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According to the company, the Seritage portfolio spans 40mn square feet of property across 49 US states and Puerto Rico.

“We appreciate [Stollenwerck's] service leading the real estate business unit and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Sears said in an emailed statement to CNBC. “Our strong bench of talent for our Real Estate business unit and among the leadership team will ensure a smooth transition.”

Previous to his work with Sears, Stollenwerck worked within Kmart’s real estate team until the two companies merged in 2005.

Stollenwerck leaves the company at a time of major internal cost cutting. This month, the firm is set to complete its closure of another 100 of its retail stores, now operating less than 1,000 facilities when it once had more than 4,000.