Too bad. Time was when they were an outstanding company.
Posted on 11/29/2007 11:24:18 AM PST by Zakeet
Shares of Sears Holdings dropped below the $100 mark on Thursday for the first time in their two-and-a-half year existence after the company reported disastrous third-quarter results that suggest its days as a retailer could be numbered.
Fans of the company's chairman, Greenwich, Conn., hedge fund manager Ed Lampert, say that Sears may be a dying retailer, but it's cash can be invested elsewhere by a value-investing genius. Others say the path to riches at Sears lies in the hidden value of its real estate, which guarantees upside in the stock -- even in the event of a liquidation.
With shares of Sears down nearly 50% from their April all-time highs, such convictions are looking increasingly precarious as the U.S. housing bust threatens to plunge the economy into a recession. The company's cash flow is dwindling as its profitability sinks, and real estate values are mired in a cloud of uncertainty.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestreet.com ...
Too bad. Time was when they were an outstanding company.
What the heck is a “Sears”?
Sears sucks.
Solid as Sears?............not any more........
Sears what you say when you counts.:
Sears 1, sears 2, sears 3 mo.........
Think Vornado, Curtiss Wright corp.
Do they own LL BEAN?
Another icon of my youth about to bite the dust!
I guess merging with that retail icon “Kmart” wasn’t such a good idea.
Sears is a great company.
Sears supports our troops. We support Sears!
A small dip or less than expected profits often equate to 33% drop in share values. Does that really make sense? No.
Sears has had the “reverse Midas touch” for years. Look at what they did to KMart and Sportmart, to name a couple of stores that I can name off the top of my head.
Why is everyone down on Sears? Hell I’m getting ready to buy $3800 worth of appliances from them. I checked prices for what I want, they are the best AND have a greater selection then many others.
This is the reason I stopped shopping at Sears. They started selling cheap Kmart stuff at Sears prices.
Better hurry up and use up my gift cards.
Whenever I go into my local Sears, it’s like walking into a dead zone. I’ve been expecting it to go out of business for the last ten years.
Craftsman Tools really are the best.
Appliances are about the only thing I buy at Sears. When I look at their clothing department, I think that Seinfeld’s Kramer must be their buyer.
I retired from Sears after 31.5 years. I saw the company change from a pro employee, customer caring company to one of it’s our way or the highway. The customer really doesn’t count.
I took my money and ran. They do not care about their retirees. They raised the rates for health ins so high you can get better on the open market. I don’t look back now!
They still are... just american’s care more about cheap crap that funds the military build up of the nation that will kill their sons on the battlefield, than they do paying a little more for a better product and service.
Some stocks get slammed when they make expected profits but Wall Street wanted more.
“Craftsman Tools really are the best.”
90% of all my tools are Craftsman as is my air compressor, my lawn tractor and my work-bench. Good stuff.
That’s the same behavior of EVERY Credit Card...
I’ve had em jack me up, when they’ve never been late, 1 payment late to someone else was the excuse for it.
Lesson isn’t avoid sears..its avoid buying on credit PERIOD.
A practice I no longer do at all.
Yeah, sure thing.
Their tools break so often, one spends half his time taking them back for replacements.
You don't know much about tools I see.
OMG, we’re K-Mart!
Both Sears and K-Mart are horribly managed.
Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart.
“They still are... just american’s care more about cheap crap that funds the military build up of the nation that will kill their sons on the battlefield, than they do paying a little more for a better product and service.”
Shhhhh... there are a lot of people hoping you won’t notice and will just enjoy your cheap crap.
Back when they carried guns in their sporting goods dept.
Then they quit and then they started donating to anti-gun organiations like the Brady Bunch. That’s when I stopped shopping at Sears.
When I found out that Levi went the same way, I started buying Wrangler, fit better and cost less.
I’ve been in a Sears exactly two times in my life.
I have bought one thing. A stove. A stove that they dented when they delivered it.
And then I saw that same stove at Lowe’s for about $50 cheaper.
“Appliances are about the only thing I buy at Sears.”
I bought a super-high-efficiency furnace a/c unit from sears some years ago. The first five years I had it, every winter it would die. It has never worked satisfactorily and I won’t ever buy another appliance from them because of it.
It struck me as insulting to people's intelligence to imply that it's okay to buy such an expensive and important item without consulting the guy it's supposed to be for. A spouse blindly following that commercial could even cause conflict in the household on Christmas day.
Sears was already having problems of it's own as well.
Now the combined companies are back to looking at how much they can make from selling the real estate from their failing stores again.
The thing that kills me about Sears is they sell a “quality” product and then do the strong sale on the extended warrenty.
There is a Sears/KMart near where I work. Anytime I’ve been in there it’s mostly empty. They’ve revamped the store several times. Their latest gimmick is selling “gourmet” food. I noticed a bag of Kettle Chips for $5.69. I can get the same thing at the Trader Joes across the street for $3.69. The only thing “gourmet” is the price.
Amen! Screw the chicoms!!!
LLS
The ‘new’ K-Mart isn’t a retailer, it is a real estate liquidation outfit. After they ran through the cream of the K-Mart inventory, they bought Sears to start liquidating that real estate. Here’s the real problem, “real estate values are mired in a cloud of uncertainty”.
I went into the local store looking for a bed frame. They didn’t have the size in needed in stock but said they could order one for me. I said I wanted to check some other stores first to see if anyone had a frame in stock.
Sear’s employee: “No problem, just give us a call if you want to order one and then pick it up.”
A few days later I called to have one ordered. After being put on terminal hold several times I finally got someone to take my order.
“Do you have a Sears credit card?”
“No, I have a regular credit card.”
“I’m sorry, we can only accept phone orders using a Sears’ credit card. You can order one on-line”
“I checked on-line and they want $65 for shipping a $80 dollar item.”
“If you come to the store you can order one using a regular credit card.”
“So you want me to come to the store (one hour round trip) just to show you my credit card? Then I have to come back (another hour round trip) to pick up the item?”
“I’m sorry, that’s our policy.”
I then asked to speak to the manager, who never called back.
Good riddance to a lousy company. They deserve to go broke.
Not LL Bean, they bought Lands End.
Soon afterward, they did away with my favorite Chino jeans.
This is a damned shame. This is one of the very few companies that whole-heartedly supports the troops called up and their families.
IIRC, when a Sears employee is called up, if his military pay is less than what he makes at Sears, Sears will pay the difference. The employee will continue to get any raises and bonuses he would be entitled to during his or her deployment. And all benefits, including insurance continue. All this for up to TWO YEARS!
I make a point of trying to shop at Sears when I need to buy something.
It may not be the best business sense, but they need to be lauded for their policy.
Mark
Sears where the prices are high, the “service” is surely or non-existent, and the stuff is crap? That Sears? OK, Craftsman tools are still good, but not as good as they once were...
Have you seen the women’s clothes at Sears! They’re horrible, cheap, old-fashioned things. I haven’t been in a Sears for years and then only to buy paint. The stores are ugly, dreary places.
They're not always (or even usually) the best available, but they're the best deal as long as Sears stays solvent. I've probably bought over $50,000.00 worth of hand tools over my lifetime, and over 90% of them are Craftsman, because when one of them breaks it's pretty easy to find a Sears store. They have always replaced any hand tools I have returned on the spot, no questions asked. Even if it's something as simple as a phillips head screwdriver where the tip is getting worn. They replace it. Period.
It's not always so easy to locate a Snap-On truck. :)
Power tools are another matter entirely. Craftsman power tools are usually on the lower end of quality, and they don't have that gorgeous warranty that the hand tools have. I gravitate towards other brands of power tools.
Sears was bailed out once by Discover, they have been just dying a slow death. Maybe if there signs were in English we’d shop there more.
I bought one of their most expensive cloths washers, and also bought a “Lifetime” waranty...well they had a classaction lawsuit ( which i did not need) and they canceled my “lifetime” waranty, but did not refund my money.
screw Sears...Ill never buy another thing from them.
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