I wish all my stocks "lost their way" the way Sears Holdings has...
Posted on 07/01/2007 3:19:55 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
CHICAGO, June 29 (UPI) -- In a bold move to jump-start years of declining sales, Sears is reportedly placing some free-standing stores inside some K-Mart facilities. The discount chain is renting about 7,000 square feet inside existing Kmarts to Sears dealers in four towns -- Claremont, N.H.; Freedom, Calif.; Pell City, Ala.; and Zephyrhills, Fla. The dealers sell hardware, appliances, lawn equipment and some consumer electronics, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Some observers see it as another step toward an expected merger.
During the past year, Sears Holdings Corp. has been moving its best Sears brands into Kmart in an effort to reach more shoppers and rekindle sales.
Craftsman tools and DieHard batteries are on Kmart shelves and one out of every 10 Kmart stores now sell Kenmore appliances.
Huh? Kmart and Sears have been merged for several years.
Sears lost its way when it decided to compete with Wal-Mart and K-Mart to a lesser degree.
Sears’ strength in the modern era is its profits from credit card financing. In fact, the sale of its Discover Card division was the only thing that kept the retailer afloat at one time.
Merging two bad businesses won’t make a solid new company. Wal-Mart will continue to gain market share at their expense. Idiots.
For years my folks bought every thing in the way of appliances out of the big book.
Then Sears screwed up and got away from selling out of a catalog.
Their appliances used to be the best on the market.
I still have my dads set of Craftsman wrenches and there about 70 years old and I would not trade them.
Craftsman used to mean Made in USA. Then they came out with the Companion tools, which means Made in China. I bought a highly recommended Craftsman compressor a while ago. Made in Mexico.
Yes, Sears called me this week also and wanted to know if they could drop by next week when they were in the neighborhood.
I told the lady, why yes they can.
What exactly do you have in mind for them to see me about.
She said they would be inspecting our roof.
I told her that was fine but that I was only living here temporarily while my wife attended school for the Summer.
She then said you don’t own the home your living in and I said no this is a new apartment complex.
She then hung up.
The last time I went into Sears it was to buy a shop vac filter. $16.99 GOUGING SUGGESTED LIST PRICE (which I hate paying) vs $10.99 regular price in Walmart.
I call them the Comrade tools. I have noticed that the Companion tools are not as polished and refined as the Craftsman tools and I have wondered how durable their cheaper tools are. I thought that was an odd decision to sell cheap tools that compete against their more expensive, American-made tools. Unless they plan on dumping the Craftsman brand or having Craftsman tools made in China. I hope their management is not that stupid.
Their real estate alone is worth a lot, but it’s a shame about the company itself.
Yeah, right. Can you buy a washer and dryer like I did from Walmart?
That didn't come out right.
Can you buy a good washer and dryer from Walmart like I got from Sears?
I can buy ANY washer or dryer from ANYONE at full list price. Unless Sears has a sale, they are ripping you off big time.
Does it matter about their flagging sales? Thanks for Eddie Lampert, SHLD is making 30-40% of its profits from hedge fund activities.
I wish all my stocks "lost their way" the way Sears Holdings has...
At least locally (Southern California) they just don't compete against Macy's and Penny's for the real business that is conducted in the malls of America: selling clothing and cosmetics to the the gals. They cannot compete with Target or Walmart price-wise in the appliance and general goods arena.
Although they have the best hardware selection by far that is just not enough to carry them. Their stores look like ghost towns even at Christmas. I give them 5 years tops.
craftsmen tools are the only reason to shop at sears.
Bingo! K-mart and Sears are two dying dinosaurs, remember Woolworth and Montgomery Ward to name a few ghosts from the past?
I am not sure if it is still the case, but Whirlpool made a lot of appliances under the Kenmore name.
Black & Decker & Emerson make a lot of power tools under the Craftsman name.
Sears does not manufacture anything those "outstanding" brands are just private labels.
I suspect they mean merger of the brands, with a single identity as the result. The question is what will show on the store, Sears or K-Mart?
If by several you mean a couple then you're right.
Thanks for the laugh. I never could watch the whole movie.
Google Sears and Jim Cramer. Sears is run as a semi-hedge fund these days by a very capable fellow
Ha! That's nothing. A month or so ago I went to Office Depot to get one of those weird-size-hard-to-find halogen light bulbs. It cost me something like $11.49 + tax. But since these things last just about forever I bit the bullet and bought it.
Then, on my way home I stopped in at Wal-Mart. There I saw the same bulb -- same brand, same model number, since packaging, same everything -- for $5.25!! You bet I bought it, and returned the first one back to Office Depot.
LOL! O, thanks goodness! For a minute there I thought I needed to clean my glasses. :o)
“Google Sears and Jim Cramer. Sears is run as a semi-hedge fund these days by a very capable fellow” Look again.
http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/?p=3516
Raul Yzaguirre former president of La Raza is on the Sears board. He is also Hillary’s campaign manager.
http://www.nclr.org/content/news/detail/2196/
Sears pandered to the hispanic group which didn’t have the money to support them. Now they are looking elsewhere.
I don't think I did either.
But that is a great scene.
However, buy from Target, Walmart, Lowe's, esp. Best Buys if you want.
But none of them can give you the service or satisfaction you can get from Sears.
Try to return something at Target or Best Buys. They stick to the mfg warranty, period.
Try to get service, it's farmed out.
I worked for Sears for 20+ yrs. I rarely shop there for most things, but often used tools and especially appliances, absolutely.
They will match prices and you can be assured they will stand behind and service what they sell.
I agree. I still buy my appliances from them....always great service. You can’t beat the tools either. Also, for the past few years they’ve been selling “Land’s End” clothing for men, women, and children. Great brand.
Sears lost my biz whey the quit carrying a $20 Craftsman 100’ steel tape. I went through $600 worth of replacements over the years before they wised up and stopped stocking it.
Sears is a “discount chain”?
Craftsmen and Sears’s Kitchenaid appliances.
Sears and Montgomery Wards. We have a Wards "lay down" freezer that we bought in the early 70's (72) and it still works like a dream - looks like he!! but works fine.
Don’t go to Lowe’s looking for American made hand tools. There prize offering is the Komrad Kobalt line of Chineses made hand tools.
Lowe’s even sponsored a NASCAR cup race with the Kobalt brand as the sponsoring name.
Sears owns Land’s End.
Cramer is a flaming liberal so you might be cautious when taking his advice.
Sears sold its credit operation to Citibank. Sears no longer owns the Sears Charge division.
In recent years, I’ve grown to like Sear.
Shopping at Sears even 10 years ago was a pretty awful experience.
But about five or six years ago, I was looking for some lawn furniture. I went this place and that, and found either really good stuff that was really expensive, or stuff that was beyond cr@ppy, but at reasonably priced.
I was googling, and Sears popped up. So I looked. Decent-looking stuff for reasonable prices. Went down to the local Sears, found someone on the floor very knowledgeable who spent about a half hour helping us figure out what suited us best. Spent less than a grand, got it delivered to the house. Six years later, it’s still all like-new, and quite attractive.
When we wanted a grill, we went back, someone else gave us very good assistance. It’s given great service to date.
Then I needed a new riding mower. The fellow who sold us the lawn furniture was there, and very knowledgeably helped us select one that met our needs. I’ve been very happy with it, AND very happy with the fact that for a reasonable price, Sears comes out every spring, changes out the blade, changes the spark plug and the oil, and generally tightens up anything that needs tightening, replaces anything that needs replacing, and making it good for another year of mowing the lawn.
To these, I’ve added a pressure washer, a shop vac, a table saw, a freezer, and a few other odds and ends.
All were reasonably priced, all have given excellent service, all are still in great condition, and Sears has also done a good job of providing both warranty service as well as routine maintenance.
And Sears ruined Lands’ End.
The dropoff in quality and style is shocking. They might as well sell burlap sacks to wear. It was inevitable, but it was rather quick.
In Liberty, Missouri, there is a Sears Grand, which is a cross between a Sears and a K-Mart. Really strange, but my daughter seems to like it.
Yeah ... drat that dastardly Ed Lampert ... he drove SHLD stock down from 20 bucks a share to 170 bucks a share! How irresponsible!
The fact that Raul Yzaguirre, past president of La Raza for 8 years and Hillary Clinton hispanic campaign manager is on the board at Sears seems to have gone over the heads of conservatives. Why am I not surprised?
“Sears owns Land’s End.”
I didn’t know that. What I meant was it sure is better than ordering from a catalog and not having it fit when it arrives. Great quality clothing.
Sears made a huge mistake in my opinion when they closed down their catalog operations in 1993. They could own the internet sales business if they still had their catalog stores, distibution centers and shipping operations in place.
They gave up on catalog too soon even thought it lost money only on paper.
it’ll take more than that to save the 2 kmarts near me.
they are filthy
and overpriced.
When the merger first happened I predicted that they would end up with Craftsman tools, Lands-end clothes and Sears appliances in Kmart stores .
I still think that is the direction they will move
they are also going back to the rural outlet stores. The places where you can walk in and order stuff. Appliances and TVs and batteries and such will also be sold there.
I know because they are actively seeking a place to put one in my small WV hometown.
Amazingly enough, a number of items my parents bought at Montgomery Ward still work flawlessly.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.