Posted on 04/05/2019 10:37:34 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
Sears will open three Sears Home & Life stores in May, in Anchorage, Alaska; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Overland Park, Kansas.
Thats after the department store chain has shut hundreds of Sears and Kmart locations over the years and filed for bankruptcy protection in October.
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Sears is opening stores again.
The embattled department store chain, which has shut hundreds of Sears and Kmart locations over the years and recently got another shot at life after filing for bankruptcy protection in October, still sees a chance to be a shopping destination for hard-line goods like appliances, tools and mattresses.
Sears announced this week it will open three Sears Home & Life stores in May, in Anchorage, Alaska; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Overland Park, Kansas.
These shops will be smaller in size spanning only up to 15,000 square feet, while the average Sears store can be larger than 100,000 square feet.
We are here to serve these communities and this is part of our strategy to maintain a presence in markets where we have right-sized our footprint, Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart, said in a statement. Sears Home & Life supports our strategic plan to become a stronger, more profitable business and these test stores will enable us to learn and improve as we move forward.
They wont include apparel, something other department store chains are increasingly struggling with selling today. And clothing hasnt ever been much of a draw for shoppers to Sears locations, though the retailer tried to make a push into that category in the 1990s. Thats when it debuted a marketing campaign called The Softer Side of Sears in an attempt to reach more women with button-down tops and dresses.
Sears also said it will be expanding its DieHard automotive brand into new categories, including lawn and garden equipment, to put in the Home & Life shops.
It will additionally be working more closely with Amazon, Sears said, to make more products from the Kenmore appliance brand available on Amazon Dashs reorder platform. Sears partnered with Amazon in the summer of 2017 to sell Alexa-enabled appliances, and later to offer full-service tire installation for orders from all tire brands on Amazon.
After filing for bankruptcy, Sears is now referred to as Transform Holdco, until it announces a new name for the company, and it has 220 Sears and 205 Kmart stores remaining open. Eddie Lampert no longer holds the CEO role but has remained on as chairman, after his $5.2 billion deal to save Sears using his hedge fund, ESL Investments, was approved.
Earlier this year, Lampert said he thought Sears could one day be a public company again. As the company emerged from bankruptcy protection, he said he wanted to focus on smaller-format locations and the companys Shop Your Way loyalty program. It remains to be seen if his efforts will prove successful.
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Correction: Sears said it will be expanding its DieHard automotive brand into new categories. An earlier version mischaracterized the brand.
Who paid off their debts? Me and you. No thanks, Sears.
There was an ‘Eddie Lambert(sic) of ESL Holdings’ on Epstein’s pedo island plane manifest...
Just sayin’...
Sounds like they are going for items too large to be easily ordered online, shipped to the home and would benefit from professional installation. It’s a smart move. I buy all my major appliances at Best Buy.
We’ve bought all our major appliances from Lowes. LG everything.......................
Power tools maybe. Stanly bought the hand tool line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_%26_Decker
Black & Decker and Stanley is the same company...............
I bought a whole package from Samsung, through Best Buy.
Washer (which had to be upgraded), dryer, dishwasher (which had to have a circuit board replaced), range/microwave, refrigerator/freezer (which required a service all but they had no one in North Florida). I still like Best Buy, but will never buy Samsung again.
We bought LG everything and haven’t had any trouble at all from any of them.
LG and Samsung are both Korean companies. We have a Samsung HDTV 65” that we have had for about three years and no problems.
Our first microwave we ever bought back in the early 80’s was a Samsung and it worked for years and years and still worked when we gave it away, it was huge!....................
I didn’t know that. :)
Stanley and Black & Decker are the same company. And DeWalt and Porter-Cable.
All one big, happy family.
Samsung is great for electronics.
Samsung appliances are as bad as their electronics are good.
Had purchased a Samsung refrigerator and had problems with the ice maker from the beginning. Filed a warranty claim prior to the end of the one year warranty. They didnt get back to me until just after the warranty period. I convinced them that it was their problem.
They sent out repair guys twice, and replaced the ice bucket. Problem didnt go away. I worked my way up the food chain with no agreement to refund our money.
At that point, I informed the person that was at the top of the food chain in customer service to either send us a full refund over night, or I would sue them, and would mound not need an attorney; ask for a jury trial, ask for consumer fraud damages, and that discovery would be a lot of fun. Told this person that they would be paying an outside law firm at least $10,000 just to show up for a case they were sure to lose.
Had the email confirming that the check woul be over-nighted the next day; and it was.
Had a problem with samsung ice maker model came about two years ago.
Have learned to maintain it mussel about every 3 ,moths after 5 service calls. one a good ice maker, don’t count on samsung. Like the right door which opened just the front shelf or into the entire compartment.,
maintain out MYSELF
Sears told me samsung tried to fix the problem at the flory but can’t. Not yet
Ace Hardware sells Craftsman Tools as well.
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