NEW YORK -- Struggling department store chain Sears says it's closing even more stores as it tries to turn around its business.

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD.O) CEO Eddie Lampert said in a blog post Friday that the company would close another eight Sears and 35 Kmart stores that are unprofitable by early October. Hundreds of store closings have already been announced this year.

Sears had said in March that there was "substantial doubt" it could continue after years of bleeding money, though it has insisted that its actions to turn around its business should help reduce that risk. With more people shopping online, mall foot traffic has dropped.

Lampert wrote in the blog post that Sears is losing the support of its vendors.

“The level of support we have from our vendors is an important factor in defining the size of our business…. We reached the point in the past 12 months where some of our vendors have reduced their support thereby placing additional pressure on our business,” he wrote.

Lampert noted Friday that Sears has opened smaller stores to attract customers and is on track to cut US$1.25 billion in yearly costs.