Posted on 12/27/2011 6:46:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will be closed, Sears Holdings said Tuesday, after terrible holiday sales during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers.
Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources.
The company is moving away from its practice of propping up "marginally performing" stores in hopes of improving their performance. Sears said it will now concentrate on cash-generating stores.
"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model," said CEO Louis D'Ambrosio. "These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers."
Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.
Sears Holdings, based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.
The company, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Land's End, has seen rival department stores like Macy's and discounters like Target steal customers away. But the economy put a sustained financial squeeze on its most loyal customers, those in the middle-income bracket.
The retailer had announced numerous closings this year, but this is the largest group of closings to date. Hoped for holiday sales did not materialize.
Same-store revenue fell 5.2% to date for the quarter at both Sears and Kmart, the company said Tuesday. That includes the critical holiday shopping period, a time that most retailers depend on for a sales surge that will put them in the black.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Wait this can’t be. The MSM said this was the most profitable Christmas for Retailers since Sanatie Klaus was invented. . . .
As a small retailer, I can affirm that this year’s Christmas was a non-event. Foot traffic and sales were considerably higher in October. Fortunately for us, Christmas has never been our big season, anyway - but the other stores in our shopping center (aside from a few of the very biggest name specialty stores) got crushed.
One of my daughters works in a fortune 100 retailer in N.E. and said she looked at the numbers and they were down a lot from last year nationwide. She had no idea why the media was spouting the tail of the biggest black Friday event ever. The employees outnumbered the customers most of that day.
Part of that may be that the left wing media is shilling for Obama to promote the myth of a “recovery”, but I think there is also the factor of online sales. Brick and mortar stores will be dinosaurs in another 10 or 20 years. All of my shopping was online this year. Less aggravation. No parking hassles.
I came home and checked Amazon for FatWood and it blew me away. I found it cheaper and in much greater selection. I couldn't believe all the products for such a simple thing. I had thought that Walmart would be cheapest. Hmmm,.... BTW, I was shocked at at the cashiers just standing around at registers designated for returns.
I’m not much of a shopper, so I haven’t much to compare. But I rarely ran into any lines, parking, or traffic all season. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
I know it’s always faulty to generalize from anecdotes, but it would not be a stretch to believe the media is bending the truth (again).
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