CHICAGO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sears, American chain of department stores, announced Thursday that it will close more than 100 stores nationwide in U.S. in 2018.

To be shut between early March and April are 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores. Liquidation sales of these stores will start as early as Jan. 12.

"We will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members," the company said in a statement on its website.

The Sears store anchoring Orland Square Mall in Orland Park, and stores in Bourbonnais and Marion, and Kmart stores in West Frankfort, Mount Vernon and Rockford in Illinois are among the stores to be shut down.

Sears, founded in 1892, has kept closing stores in recent years. By Oct. 28, 2016, Sears had 594 Sears stores and 510 Kmarts in the U.S., 399 less than a year ago.

Affected by this, Sears Holding Corporation, the parent company of Sears, has dropped from the 65th place to the 71st place in terms of ranking of the World' s Top 500 Companies released by Fortune.