The holding company that runs Sears is reported to be exploring the idea of shuttering its namesake Auto Center stores and opening commercial data centers. 

Sears Holdings, which oversees all of the company's assets, is reported to be exploring a partnership with Schneider Electric, according to Sean Farney, the Chief Operating Officer of Ubiquity Critical Environments, a subsidiary of the holding company.

"We have a unique asset, which is a lot of real estate that's permitted and zoned so we can move quickly (if we take this beyond the concept stage)," Farney said in a Data Center Knowledge article. The article reported that several Sears Auto locations are standalone buildings and well suited to house hardware.