Sears Holdings Corp. announced Tuesday that it plans to close 100 to 120 of its Sears and Kmart stores due to poor sales during the holidays. The company said in a notice to investors that it had not yet determined which stores across the county it planned to shutter. There are roughly 30 Sears and Kmart stores in the D.C. region.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," said Chief Executive Officer Lou D'Ambrosio in a memo.

The once-dominant Sears has struggled to revamp its image in the past decade as a stale department store. Not quite a discount store like Target or Walmart but also not a brand name department store like Macy's, Sears has steadily lost customers as it has grappled with its retail identity.

The company said it expects the closures to generate $140 to $170 million in cash from the sale of inventory in those stores and from sale or lease proceeds of the real estate. 

Sears said the list of stores closing will be posted at www.searsmedia.com when a final determination is made.