I say retail, you say real estate giant. Time will tell for Sears Holdings, the corporation created by the acquisition of troubled department store operator Sears, Roebuck and Co. by Kmart Holding Corp. The megamerger created one of the nation's largest retailers with about 4,000 stores in North America. Though it has since lost ground, the holding company steers the varied retail operations of Sears (about 840 US department stores) and Kmart (about 1,300 discount outlets), which continue to operate separately under their familiar brand names. Sears Holdings also owns a majority stake in Sears Canada. ESL Investments, controlled by the company's chairman Edward Lampert, owns a majority stake in Sears Holdings.