Confirmation Sears is circling the drain

[URY914]

As a kid I always marveled at the beach ball floating in the air above the vacuum cleaner. And when the item had a sticker on it that said "Sear's Best" you knew you were getting quality. WalMart and warehouse stores changed the way we shop and it killed Sears.

[bri450sl]

Really dislike the idea Sears quality is fading, but have to agree it is.

[rfuerst911sc]

They should go ahead and file Chapter 11. Bring in some retail guru's that have experience in SAVING retailers vs. a track record of liquidating. Unfortunately part of the new strategy would mean some stores/employee's will get whacked but I think it can be saved. Maybe partial employee ownership ? Or stock options to employee's as an incentive to turn around the company ? Just thinking out loud. They need to define their core business and go after it with aggression . Maybe they just become the best of the best with tools and appliances ? I'm thinking they must still have buying clout, maybe it just needs to be redirected to a simple core business. I hate to see anyone lose their job even if it's a man in a skirt . Good luck Sears.

[MBAtarga]

The remaining "Department" stores don't make money selling tools and appliances. Macy's, Dillards, Bloomingdales, etc - make money by selling high mark-up items such as cosmetics and clothing/shoes. These are somewhat consumable items in terms of use and/or fashion.

When was the last time your wife or girlfriend said she was going to go shopping for makeup or a new outfit and went to Sears? There just is no place for this 20th century retailer in the marketplace.

[peppy]

They started the slide when they took all the locally owned catalog showrooms away.

Something will have to be done with Kmart, too.

[sammyg2]

LOL, if the CEO does what it takes to make a company profitable and sustainable, he's a greedy POS and only cares about lining his pockets and the pockets of his cronies.

But if he DOESN'T do what it takes to make a company profitable, he's incompetent and only cares about lining his pockets and the pockets of his cronies.


Karl would be proud.

[M.D. Holloway]

Buy Craftemen tools at ACE hardware

[KNS]

They used to have a little more street cred...

[Por_sha911]

The whole department store idea has been on its way out. They used to be the place to shop to find "everything" and one of the only places where you could get a "charge plate". Society appreciated quality and value as opposed to low price. Now, Wallyworld, Target, KMart are the go to places and credit is everywhere. Montgomery Wards is gone, JC Penney has been on life support for some time. I predict that unless the store is high end or trendy: Needless Markup, Macy's, Proffitts... they will be gone.

[BE911SC]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

LOL, if the CEO does what it takes to make a company profitable and sustainable, he's a greedy POS and only cares about lining his pockets and the pockets of his cronies.

But if he DOESN'T do what it takes to make a company profitable, he's incompetent and only cares about lining his pockets and the pockets of his cronies.


Karl would be proud.

Jump to conclusions much? Plenty of great CEOs out there. Costco comes to mind as does the guy I work for. Sears' CEO is an Ayn Rand fan and thus his corporation is dying. Not a Marxist, just a fan of really good management.

[GWN7]

Sears has offered jobs to the Target Store employees that will be loosing their jobs in the next while up here.

[Jerome74911S]

Originally Posted by GWN7

Sears has offered jobs to the Target Store employees that will be loosing their jobs in the next while up here.

Sears is not just offering jobs to the 17,000 Target employees who will shortly be out of work in Canada, they are very actively courting those Target people by offering discounts to them, as well as recruitment activities of multiple kinds. Does Sears Canada really need all of those people, or are they trying to replace the ones they already have?

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by Jerome74911S

Sears is not just offering jobs to the 17,000 Target employees who will shortly be out of work in Canada, they are very actively courting those Target people by offering discounts to them, as well as recruitment activities of multiple kinds. Does Sears Canada really need all of those people, or are they trying to replace the ones they already have?

Think about it....this is a great PR item for Sears. What becomes of it is anyone's guess but for now it's great free advertising for Sears.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

Wow, I knew things were getting bad but didn't know they hit levels so low.

The icing on the cupcake was one of the young "men" workers at the cashier desk was wearing a dress, sweater vest, knee high stockings, big black Doc Martin shoes and had a nice blue bow in his shoulder length hair. I wish I was making this up. I give Sears less than 2 years before they join Mervyn's and Montgomery Ward.

Oh, c'mon, everyone knows 'Simpson Sears is the store for Pimps and Queers'...

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Hey unclebilly

I had to chuckle a bit there as that's what we used the call the first one on 16th. Ave & 14th. Str. N.W. many, many years ago.

Cheers
JB

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by legion

It has probably reached the point that every day of continued operation just takes value from shareholders. It should probably shut down and be liquidated, returning what it can to shareholders. The company simply has too much baggage to change directions, let a lone innovate.

I have looked a little at the current CEO's plan for reorganizing the company back to profitability. Seems he wants to shut down the unprofitable stores and focus more on online retailing. Sears CEO Eddie Lampert explains why he's closing so many stores - Fortune Lampert has 48.5% of the current Sears stock.

The problem with the online retailing part is their current website. Visit it and see what I mean. Further seems like they want to use the closed store locations for bringing in other retailers through leasing the locations. Is this enough to bring them around? I don't know. The name has been tarnished in the last couple of years. JCPenny tried to change its spots with the JCP re-branding. That didn't go so well. I don't know if Sears can survive the baggage it has taken on in the last few years.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by KNS

They used to have a little more street cred...

HELL NO! Recall that the CEO of Exide (DieHard battery) was convicted and sent away for 10 years defrauding - batteries were sold as new but in fact were just exchanged / rebuilds / de-sulfate the plates and acid change.

Sears also paid a settlement of $62 mil.
Business: Sears settles battery charge

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

The whole department store idea has been on its way out. They used to be the place to shop to find "everything" and one of the only places where you could get a "charge plate". Society appreciated quality and value as opposed to low price. Now, Wallyworld, Target, KMart are the go to places and credit is everywhere. Montgomery Wards is gone, JC Penney has been on life support for some time. I predict that unless the store is high end or trendy: Needless Markup, Macy's, Proffitts... they will be gone.

KEY word - CREDIT
Dept. stores made monster profits on the juice!

Recall Sears also created Discover Card - with the slogan, the card that paid you back. LOL

Anyhow, that was a superb tactic by Sears in that holders could use that Discover card at competitor stores.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

The whole department store idea has been on its way out. They used to be the place to shop to find "everything" and one of the only places where you could get a "charge plate". Society appreciated quality and value as opposed to low price. Now, Wallyworld, Target, KMart are the go to places and credit is everywhere. Montgomery Wards is gone, JC Penney has been on life support for some time. I predict that unless the store is high end or trendy: Needless Markup, Macy's, Proffitts... they will be gone.

Sears, JCPenny, Wallyworld, Target, etc are all anchor stores for most shopping malls. They end up paying the most for shop space per foot, but have the position of being feeders for smaller surrounding stores. When an anchor goes out, the whole chain that feeds on them eventually goes out. Rents slide for major mall tenants - Chicago Tribune This hurts the mall with decreased revenue for things like upkeep and security. Eventually people stop going to the malls and go elsewhere.

Most chain department stores seem to be positioning themselves outside the bounds of the traditional mall/shopping center trend and are looking for locations on their own when they can. Usually the feeder stores are in retail space away from the department store.

With the demise of the large anchor stores, look for the disappearance of malls as we know them. This seems to be more of the trend for department stores in general. Don't know if it is working.

[intakexhaust]

^^True to some point.

Walmart has been boarding up stores and leaves them empty BUT only to build a bigger Super Walmart nearby.

The tactic is to suck the consumers from competitors ie: clothing, automotive, grocery, sporting goods, pharmacy, salon, fast food (Dunkin Donuts to Subway's) etc. and now in one giant Walmart box.

So whats even uglier to small town USA is having Walmart leave the old premises shuttered and sitting. This way no competitor can stake the premium turf. They rarely even try to lease or sell the old empty store!