why is sears on the way to bankruptcy?

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Bottom line....Eddie is mad, and is going to let the company just die because he is not going to get his way and make some money..

Anyone with some decent common sense could fix the companies. Heck, one would be starting with a plan and sticking with it...

It's just sad..two places I knew growing up!


While it's not a known fact yet, the phase out of K marts should start after the holidays. Many companies have already stopped delivering products to stores, for fear they are not going to get paid. This includes many toy brands as well.....

You know it's bad when the 1st K mart store in Garden City, MI-is slated to be on the chopping block now.
frown.gif


Even with all the hate it gets- I'd like to see Sears make it....
 
We have only one Sears store left, and it has been in the same location since BEFORE the only freeway that is anywhere near it was even BUILT...and it's become a run-down area with an increase in gang violence. Meanwhile, we have 4 HD and 4 Lowe's ... most with easy access in areas located where the people are. Not hard to figure this out.

Location...location...location.
 
Stepping into a Sears is like stepping into a time machine to 1982.

Re: Sears real estate value: Last year they spun off 200+ of their most valuable stores into a REIT (SRG). SRG paid Sears $2 billion for the stores and now leases them back to Sears. Sears is using that money to (temporarily) stay afloat. So I wouldn't put too much value into Sears Holding's real estate value. Their only value now is the Kenmore, Diehard and Craftsman brands.

I predict Sears will continue to bleed cash and will gradually close store and after store until they are all gone, and SRG (which owns the valuable real estate) will sell or lease the real estate to new tenants. In a couple of decades when Sears is forgotten, SRG will continue to operate as a REIT of retail space. Sears will be a footnote in retail history, along with Montgomery Ward and Emporium
 
Originally Posted By: Dorian
We walked in, found a product we liked, and not a single person greeted us or asked us if we needed help during the ~20 minutes we were there.


Sounds a perfect retail experience.

I had to exile myself to gain a roughly equivalent level of privacy.

They still hover, but at least they don't speak.
 
I am not a huge fan of their wrenches, ratchets, and sockets anymore, but they do have on occasion some nice deals around the holidays. I recently bought a swivel head Gearwrench set and a US made pry bar set over the summer. Both were what I'd consider great deals.

We have a Sears and a Harbor Freight literally 1 mile from each other. I think people are seeing you can get better tools at HF for a fraction of the cost. Both are made in China.. Heck, even my Gearwrenches were made in China. If they weren't on sale and around the same price as HF, I would have returned them.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: Dorian
We walked in, found a product we liked, and not a single person greeted us or asked us if we needed help during the ~20 minutes we were there.


Sounds a perfect retail experience.

I had to exile myself to gain a roughly equivalent level of privacy.

They still hover, but at least they don't speak.


x2. I love it when that happens.

This is me either at a parts store or hardware store.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFWeoxrhbE8
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Isn't this another re run ? - or do we just need endless pile on's and beat downs on this site ?


Posters here love to beat down on Sears. They actually WANT it to die, and eliminate jobs and competition.

The real reason its hurting is Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Costco.


Nonsense. The incompetence of the CEO is what is causing Sears Holdings (which includes Kmart) to fail. Lampert had no idea how to run a streamlined, teamwork and goal oriented retail operation. He fragmented the company to the point that divisions within a store were trying to compete against each other rather than working as a cohesive unit.

Lampert put shareholders above everything else. During the time that Sears was flush with cash, Lampert took billions of dollars of share repurchases, at the expense of years of underinvestment in the stores, inventory, advertising, and technology. For a time it created the illusion that the company was doing better than it was by driving up per-share earnings. It started a spiral that has been describes as the longest going out of business sale in U.S. history. With the competition improving and Sears stagnant, people took their money elsewhere, and Lampert found he had a sinking ship.

Anyone who has been around retail knows that the industry is predicated on serving the customer, valuing the customer, listening to the customer, and giving the customer what they want. Anything less is a recipe for suicide.

I for one will be happy when Sears Holdings finally rolls over and dies. They've been a drag on the economy, a drag on the market, and should be held up as an example of how to do absolutely everything wrong when running a retail organization. It, in my opinion, is too bad that what Lampert has done doesn't come with criminal penalties. Lampert, at this point, has given up and is working to extract every last bit of value out of the business through financial maneuvers, while still declaring that Sears/Kmart are viable businesses.

Contrary to what a couple guys think, the downfall of Sears Holdings should be discussed, and the real reasons pointed out-greed and incompetence. Sears (and Lampert) deserve "endless pile on's and beat downs". Not only on this site, but everywhere.
 
The Sears in my area is located within a regional flagship mall. Home Depot is 100 yds away. Within 1 mile of Sears are also Lowes, BJ's big box, Harbor Freight, Auto Zone, and AAP. Supposedly, a Costco is set to join in about 4 miles away. From what I can see, all of them are doing pretty well.
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Seems like pre bailout GM days..just keep doing what hasnt worked and hope people change rather than changing to embrace the new generation. Lack of ability to adapt...I wont be sad to see Sears go...wish they would start liquidating already..they are dragging out the inevitable now..


I will be sad to see them go. I can always count on a close in parking spot at Sears at the mall.

Since no one shops at Sears, I can park near the door there and get into the mall without walking too far in the cold and snow
smile.gif
 
Montgomery Ward is gone. Best Products and Service Merchandise are gone. JC Penney isn't too much longer for this world, IMO. We're just in different times and the shopping processes have changed. I am actually surprised Best Buy is still around. It seemed, for a while, that their stores were just showrooms for Amazon. Somehow they managed to combine a pretty decent online experience with the stores. It's possible that they could go online exclusively in the near future, if they desired. Seemed like Sears missed the boat on that one, having started as a catalog only business. They should have been a natural to convert to online.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend what little free time I have fighting traffic (which keeps getting worse), apathetic store personnel, and waiting in line. I have embraced the online shopping model as I'm sure most of us have.

As has been said throughout this thread, it's hanging on to outdated merchant models that are doing it in.
 
I go to JCPenney to try stuff on. I can't do that on line. Been using their line of jeans for 15 years. Best price and value I can find. Got a nice blazer there on clearance 2 years ago for $45. I guess if we all end up wearing yoga pants and sweats there will be no real need to try anything on before buying.
 
Never bought clothes at Sears - and hope they get out of those wasted efforts -
Man, the name selling seems like the latest questionable decision - Kenmore, Craftsman, Diehard, etc are brands that have worked out well for me in the 2 smaller towns I have rooftops ...
 
The other thing people are not considering is that Sears sold credit. Probably more so than merchandise.

I recall getting Sears catalogs as a kid and almost every item had a monthly price. In a day before carrying a credit card was common practice, you could buy stuff on your Sears card and pay the bill.

Now, most everyone has multiple MasterCard, Visa and Discover cards.

So not only has catalog sales gone the way of the Dodo in the internet retailing age, so has the store charge card. Replaced by some branded card that gets the user miles, points or cash back.
 
Yep - dad bought like that.
Sears was my first credit card. Had a good job as a machinist and wanted to buy an International Scout. Bank said no credit - go get a Sears card and come back in 6 months. Went tool shopping- still use some of the tools that card bought in the 70's ...
 
Originally Posted By: double vanos
But what really hurts is that both HF and NT products are slowly getting better and better, to the point of people shirking established name brands for HF and NT.


You forgot to mention how the quality of Craftsman tools has steadily declined over the years, and now that they are made in China, there is no reason to pay a premium for Craftsman when you can got to Harbor Freight and get Chinese tools for less.
 
I ordered a 26mm Craftsman wrench on Nov. 30th for in-store pickup. The original expected arrival date was Dec 8th. Right after I ordered I got an email saying there would be a delay, and the date was changed to Dec 13th. It's a good thing I don't need it right away to finish my project...
 
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone

Personally, I love the local K-Mart (and Sears sometimes).

Their clearance deals are unbeatable if you look for them. I picked up a 20Lb bag of grass seed last moth for $16 at K-Mart.

Cheapest one at Home Depot that size was $42.95


I don't love the Kmarts left open here but I did love the one that is in Hamburg, NY. They built a state-of-the-art Kmart (for them) that was genuinely a nice store in the early 1990's, then shuttered it around 2000 and the place has been a zombie commercial property since then in a fairly hot, nice retail space. Mainly they're still paying rent on the property AFAIK as part of getting out of it. It was a nice clean store and decently organized and actually was far nicer than the ghetto Wal-Mart we had until they closed that one and they built a state-of-the-art store elsewhere...
 
That assumes you have HF ... we don't ...
Last time I went to HF - I witnessed a young contractor shown the door when he tried to bring a fairly new saw back with motor issues ... he might of used it wrong - dunno - but the manager was full on jerk and said he did ...
I bought some wheel chocks and a work platform- and decided no power kit for me ... then bought a small compressor at HD on the way back home
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Yep - dad bought like that.
Sears was my first credit card. Had a good job as a machinist and wanted to buy an International Scout. Bank said no credit - go get a Sears card and come back in 6 months. Went tool shopping- still use some of the tools that card bought in the 70's ...


Pretty much the same with me. In order to obtain credit to purchase you had to have good credit. At that time, the mid 70's, Sears was the one of the few major credit cards a young person could reasonably get. I used it for purchases, paid them on time and was able to get a Visa, used it and paid on time. After a year I was able to purchase the home I still live in. I shopped at Sears a lot from the early 70's though the 2000's. They had almost everything you needed. It's sad to see their demise.

Whimsey
 
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