NILES, Ohio - What's the future hold for retail store icons Sears and K-Mart? 

At this point, the stores are doing all they can to stay afloat but have expressed "substantial doubt" about chances of survival.

There are 11 Sears and Kmart stores in the immediate area. But with a $2.2 Billion loss over the past year, the hope of those stores staying open hinges on a major restructuring program.

Sears or Sears, Roebuck and Company as it was formally known has been a "fixture" in mainstream society for more than 130 years.

At one point you could even order a house or a motorized buggy from the company's catalog.

But times are tough for Sears and Kmart now.  They are operated by Sears Holdings.

Joe Bell with the Cafaro Company said, "The situation with Sears and Kmart is no secret to anybody in the shopping center industry.  It's been probably 10 years that Sears holdings have been struggling in one fashion or another.

Norman Buckley of Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania tells 21 News, "I think it's a dirty shame.  When Walmart first came in and now they put a lot of people out affecting all these other stores.  And it's not right."

Sears was one of the original tenants when the Eastwood Mall in Niles opened in 1969, and the Cafaro Company says they hope the company's restructuring plan that would save $1-million a year can keep them afloat.

"We've been ahead of the ballgame, and we've been fortunate that a lot of Sears in our different shopping centers have not closed.  But where they have. we've lined up other people to come in, other retailers.  Sometimes multiple retailers to take those large spaces," Bell said.

Bell goes on to say that he has not heard anything in particular about the future of the Sears or the Kmart locations in Niles.

The Youngstown-Warren Chamber of Commerce says they are keeping an eye out and are in communications with management at the Kmart Distribution Center in Trumbull County.