Just last month, Sears Holdings disputed rumors that toy vendor JakksPacific suspended sales of products to its Kmart unit ahead of the holiday shopping season out of concerns that the retailer can’t pay its bills. In a blog post, Sears Chief Financial Officer Jason Hollar countered that Sears has “always paid our vendors for orders we have placed and as part of the normal negotiations between retailers and vendors,” although Hollaralso said that there are “occasionally disputes over prices, allocations of product and other terms.”

Sears’ aggressive leveraging of its formidable real estate portfolio has helped prop it up, though many see it as a slow, painful death rather than a salvation. Conlumino CEO and retail analyst Neil Saunders in an email to Retail Dive Thursday noted that “Sears … has used asset monetization to fund the day to day operations of the business, something that in our view suggests a company circling the drain.”

In addition to defending its ability to pay its bills, Sears has taken to its blog twice this year, in July and then again in October, to assure investors and customers that its Kmart unit — once the envy of retail — is staying open. Another move that garnered the retailer an infusion of cash — a sale of its still-popular Craftsman tool brand that could be valued at $2 billion — was also, unfortunately, a divestment of one of its key attractions.