The buzzards are swarming now for Sears.

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washman

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Sears Holdings says a key sales figure fell sharply in the second quarter, particularly dragged down by weakness at its namesake stores. It's at least the 10th straight quarter that the metric has declined.

The company said that sales at stores open at least a year dropped 10.6 percent for the quarter to date.

This figure is considered an important measurement of a retailer's operating performance because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

At Sears stores, the metric declined 13.9 percent. It fell 6.9 percent for Kmart locations.

The Hoffman Estates-based company said Monday that soft consumer electronics sales hindered its performance. Excluding that business, sales at stores open at least a year fell 9.1 percent, with a 5.4 percent decline at Kmart stores and a 12.5 percent drop at Sears locations.

Sears Holdings also announced the extension of a $3.28 billion credit line. The company said the credit line, along with $2.7 billion in proceeds from the sale of more than 200 properties to a real estate investment trust it spun off, gives it more financial flexibility.

Sears plans to report its second-quarter financial results on Aug. 20.

"more financial flexibility"?

Sounds to me like that is a euphemism saying we're staving off liquidation for a few more months.
 
I am totally surprised they have held on this long.

They closed our West store in December, but have recently opened a Sear's Home center in the same mall.

It may be to just pull the plunger and let them go down the drain.
 
Makes me made.  They have the widest appliance selection and breadth of models.  Home Depot & Lowes all basically carry the same stock.  There are two Maytag dishwashers with front controls and the stores only carry the lower-end of the two.  And KitchenAid models I might want aren't carried by them either.  Sears is the only option and it sucks.  We have one of those little Home Stores.  Pisses me off big time. 
 
So unnecessary

It seems like some b school grad got hold of sears management and wants them to sell the stores... the rest of us wonder why they just quit doing the great job that they were doing years ago...now they open and close stores or stores in other stores and that is costly...meanwhile a lot of merchandise is damaged in transit and there appears to be a lot of employee theft...if they could clean up their act today, would it be enough to turn the company around?
 
In my area Home Depot is goe.Now if Sears closes in my area the only appliance choices would be both Lowes stores in my area,Best Buy,Greenville Appliances,And other appliance stores in Ayden and Kinston(SQ dealer).And of course the swap shops for used appliances-2 of them.These I use the most.
 
Sears  stock symbol SHLD,  sold many of the company owned stores to a real estate investment trust called "Seritage".   The plan was to get the cash for "continued operations" and lease the stores back.  I do not invest in the market.  I do like to watch the money.  I hope the buzzards are not real hungry.  IF Sear's does not go out of business I think they will evolve into a online store.
 
The replacement Sears credit card I received in the mail last month is linked with MasterCard. As with the new JCPenney card, it can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted, not just Sears.

Sears was the big boy on the block when I was growing up, so although it's their own fault for making one misstep after another, it makes me a bit nostalgic seeing the giant fall.

As always, my big question is this: What becomes of Kenmore? I wonder if they'll simply let the brand die or sell the name.

I've always thought it was interesting that Kenmore, for decades the biggest-selling name in appliances, never really existed as a manufacturing entity.

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Something came up in the Vac side that made me think about what Sears is doing. When I was shopping for new W/D I would always compare local prices with Sears. More than one time Sears had better (sometimes much better) prices. But if I tried to order it would say "not available in your area". I figured it was the cost of shipping and blew it off. But one of the Vac guys was talking about a new KM wacuum. I went to check it out, sure enough, "not available in your area". I've had stuff shipped from Sears for years, this ain't kosher.
 
>The replacement Sears credit card I received in the mail last month is linked with MasterCard. As with the new JCPenney card, it can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted, not just Sears.

I wonder if they aren't being influenced by others. It seems to me Target has had a "Target" card that is part of a regular credit card network for years.

>it makes me a bit nostalgic seeing the giant fall.

I know that feeling. Sears didn't really fit into my family shopping growing up, although we did have some Kenmore appliances. But Sears was a major shopping choice of one grandmother. She even talked about holding onto the last catalog they produced because it would be the last ever.

>What becomes of Kenmore? I wonder if they'll simply let the brand die or sell the name.

I have to assume that the name would survive Sears one way or another. The name--even today--would seem to have value. The question is: does Kenmore survive as a brand owned by an appliance company? A house brand for someone else (e.g. big box hardware store)? Or would it end up becoming a name that gets licensed to anyone with the money?
 
>Sometimes you just have to head to the closest independent appliance dealer to get the brands that you really want.

Not just brands, but selection of product types. And probably also--one hopes--knowledge about the products.

One thing that drove me crazy about a local Home Depot was talking to a woman working there, and how limited her knowledge of her wares seemed to be. And her big interest seemed to be the noise level of the appliance. There was some WP DD washer that was hot here years back (Admiral?). I looked at it one day at Home Depot (curious to see it in the real world), and she descended, and told me how much better something else was because it was so much quieter. That was the only reason she had for coughing up the extra $300+.

I also ran into Ms It's Better if It's Quiet when I was doing initial checking on dishwashers for someone. And her selling point was--again--more $$$, more quiet. The person I was shopping for shrugged off that point, and commented that if the dishwasher was loud, well, just turn up the volume on the TV. LOL
 
The last time

Don went to Sears at Hanes Mall in Winston Salem to buy detergent, he said the electronics dept was 1/3 the size it was, he said in the 80s when he worked there it was twice as big.
 
IIRC For Ages Sears Credit Cards

Were from G.E. Capital (one of the worse consumer financing groups on earth). GE is getting shot of their consumer finance business so perhaps that is why Sears moved onto MasterCard.

Had a Sears card for years an all they would offer is a measly $1000 credit limit despite my credit score and record of on time payments. Well actually paying balances off in full to avoid the usury interest rates they charged. Years went by and really never used nor thought of the thing then one day last year got a letter; Sears was closing my account due to "inactivity". Good riddance to bad Rubbish I say. Only time ever really used the thing was for appliances when a decent interest free over was going. But when Sears began playing games with that scheme just put things on any of my other credit cards with interest free offers, or on the Amex and paid in full when the bill came in.

Other than appliances there hasn't been anything one wanted from a Sears in ages. Use my Amex when shopping at the local K-Mart on Astor Place (again to avoid Sears credit cards high interest rates), so that's me for you.

Sears is simply dying death by a thousand cuts. Their business model is out dated and they are too heavily invested/reliant upon mall based stores as that trend is petering out. If Sears is to survive it needs to be more like their main competitors; Target, Lowes, Home Depot, along with other big box retailers with presence where persons actually shop.
 
There is a Radio Shack still hanging in there out my way-in the shopping center where the old downtown Wal-Mart is.Its only a matter of time.Same with the Sears and the Penneys places here.Hate to see the Penneys go-sometimes you can get some good clothes when they are on sale.The only times I use the store.
 
I think since Penny's got rid of the guy who tried to turn Penny's into another Apple Store management has stopped the free fall they were in. But as far as gains go, I think that they are barely breaking even.

But most stock brokerages are rating JCP stock as a sell due to much higher than average debt to equity ratio.
 
They closed the Radio Shack store on the Cape Months ago.

The Capetown Mall is like a Ghost Town now. KMart is barely surviving, Panera Bread, Cardi's Furniture and maybe like 3 others are left.

Across the Street is Sears at the CC Mall. I usually only go into Sears for Vacuum Bags and to look at Appliances when someone asks me what they should buy.

I'm just horrified at the flimsy construction of most appliances these days. I have yet successfully convinced any of my friends to go Vintage.
 
There is a dead mall fairly close to me in Worthington, MN. I believe the only thing still operating is a movie theater---but even that seems to close for a few months, then reopen.

It used to have a K-Mart, JCPenney, Walgreens, Godfather's Pizza, McDonald's, a Chinese restaurant, a CD/music store, a Hy-Vee grocery store, a bank, two clothing stores (whose names escape me), and a couple of other smaller stores like General Nutrition (GNC).

All have either closed (K-Mart; JCP; music store; a clothing store) or moved to other locations in the town.

The place has been vacant, for all intents and purposes, for quite awhile now and it's looking pretty neglected/junky. Weeds are sprouting up all over in the huge cracks in the asphalt; the outside of the complex looks terrible. The owners live down south and have expressed no desire to either try to revive it, maintain it, or tear it down.

Back to topic: I purchase so little at Sears I'd hardly know it was gone, but I buy all my clothing online through JCPenney, so they have to hang on!
 
so sad

I love Laundress's statement, "Sears is dying a death by a 1000 cuts." Nothing could say it better. There is no one specific cause of Sears death but many.

What I have experienced is: poor stocking. Even at a very large Sears Mall store here in Tennessee I could not find a bag nor a belt for a recent Kenmore vac. On the vacuum accessories display rack, many of the spaces were empty. I guess no one cared whether they restocked the rack or not.

Arrogant employees. At the electronics section I was looking for a GPS for my brother-in-law for his birthday. The employee who waited on me was arrogant, rude and condescending. I will NEVER buy anything from that department if I see he is working there. (yes, there are still some very nice people who work there, but there are some real pieces of work as well.)

Often you just can't get help in a department. I often have to hunt an employee down and then they act like its a bother to wait on me.

These are just a few of the many "cuts." Which some of you may or may not have experienced at Sears as well.

When I lived in Ohio, the downtown Dayton store was crowded, literally. The escalators often were near full. Sears was trying to be everything to everyone, (like GE used be) and it sort of worked. You could go to Sears and by underwear, a toaster and then get a swimming pool for your backyard. It was fun and exciting to go to Sears!

Now, I go to large Sears in a large mall, and with no exaggeration, the store feels close to being deserted. I only see a few people and a I feel alone in a vast wilderness.

Sears catalogues were great too. Anyone remember those? I think the last full catalogue was printed about 1993. They were fun and you could lose yourself looking through it. I think a lot of Sears sales were lost when the catalogue went bye. Searching through their stock on the internet is much harder and not near as fun. I personally think they have lost a lot of revenue by getting rid of a catalogue. You can't browse through the internet while you are sitting on the toilet. (well, not as easily) And if you lived in the hills, you could not only make productive use of your time by looking through a catalogue while you were using the outhouse, you could make good use of the pages, when you finished your business (just avoid the slick ones.)

It's so sad. Sears is going through its death throes and I am afraid may soon be joining Montgomery-Ward and Western-Auto.
 
Issue is very simple really:

Massive growth of online retailers.
Specialist clothing retailers, disposable fashion, expectations of shopping experiences rather than utilitarian department stores.
Massive growth of hybrid online/big box warehouse style retailing models for major appliance sales. You don't need glitzy department stores to shift washing machines and fridges - you need big out of town retail space, good websites and efficient logistics.

People don't really shop at department stores anymore. It's becoming a very outmoded way of shopping, except at the very high end where they're more about exclusive lifestyle experiences and curated collections of designer labels.

The same thing is happening here as the only very successful department stores are very upscale and the mid market stuff isn't really surviving.

The days of the big mid priced department stores are over.
It's sad as you'll probably see lots of those stores vanish forever, but that's retail : models of business change.

Those big department stores wiped out Main Street shopping in the early part of the 20th century and they'll face the same fate themselves with the rise of online and specialist retailers.
 
If I had to pick one thing...

... that has encouraged me to shop on-line, it'd be the lack of cashiers.

That is the largest single factor for me. I go into a store and get my stuff, and find that only a quarter of the registers are open and the lines are outrageously long.

What do I do? I put down my stuff on the nearest available space and leave.

If a store can't get enough applicants to fill positions, there's something wrong with the compensation package. Period.

If there's a problem with turnover, there's a problem with either management or the compensation package.
 
I think that the mall method of retail is over with. With crime being what it is today some people just want to avoid large parking lots and garages. Go into the mall on the weekend to find closed up shops and teenie boppers running wild all over the place. And don't even mention the ambient noise levels!

Online shopping is so quick and fast, and a lot of times you are offered a better price on a store's website.

Flash! Texas just started allowing people to renew their license plates online. No more visits to the court house or tax office or even the DMV! It took all of five minutes. Now THAT is a real time saver! You can spend hours doing this renewal in person. Now that's progress.
 
There are still things that I like to shop for in person-clothes,tools,cars,guns,vacuum cleaners,we could go on.And don't forget shipping costs--and WAITING for your order to arrive.Did it get smashed by the baggage-package smashers at the shipper,wrong item?then you have the hassles of sending it back.With personal shopping you buy the thing-and the one you want and take it home.I only buy online if that is the only way to get an item.Yes,the online shopping can be done from your easy chair.That is nice.
Watch the abandoned mall videos -and what is really spooky--the SILENCE in the abandoned mall.
 

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