Posted on 12/27/2011 5:20:29 AM PST by tobyhill
Sears Holdings Corp will close up to 120 stores in its Kmart and namesake chains, blaming poor sales of consumer electronics so far this holiday season and saying it would focus its energy on its better performing stores.
Sales at Sears Holdings, whose chairman and top shareholder is hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, have fallen every year since it was formed through the merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005.
And so far this holiday season, the drop has continued. Same-store sales at Kmart were down 4.4 percent in the current quarter through Christmas Day, and down 6 percent at Sears' U.S. stores. Companywide, they were down 5.2 percent, the company said on Tuesday.
Sears said that typically, it would keep "marginally performing" stores open to give them time to improve, but "we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment."
The store closings follow its announcement last quarter it would shutter 10 stores. Kmart and Sears have a combined 2,177 U.S. full service locations and another 500 in Canada.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Our store will definitely close. It was ghost town this Christmas.
IIRC, before it went belly-up, Circuit City was making 100% of its profits off its credit card. I’m wondering if that’s how Sears has been generating most of whatever money it does manage to make.
No business can stay afloat with shoddy merchandise. If Sears doesn't figure that out soon, it will go the way of the dinosaurs.
“Sears stores aren’t closing. Sears ownes K-Mart, those are the stores that are closing.”
According to the article, both will be closing. >
“Sears Holdings Corp will close up to 120 stores in its Kmart and namesake chains”
Don't trust the reporting -- not because it's necessarily falsified, but because it's an estimate based on surveys. Sort of like exit polling on election day. Employment, unemployment, and GDP are all calculated the same way.
I agree. We value quality products, and it's been very frustrating in the past decades to see many basic products cheapened. My husband loves his old, made-to-last tools. Snap-On tools are probably top of his list, but he can't usually justify the cost. (He just found Craftsman tools selling somewhere new - Ace Hardware I think.)
Sears and K-Mart have both become sad disappointments; they used to be decent stores where you could get inexpensive, not merely cheap, stuff. Now they seem to be the sellers of last resort, hawking the really cheap junk to mostly non-english-speaking immigrants - the last Sears I went into had more store-wide announcements in Spanish than it did in English.
My family chose not to exchange gifts with one another but instead to support the needy with cash and food donations. It’s the best Christmas I personally have ever had! It is so satisfying to see to someone in need, rather than to give material gifts to those who don’t need anything. And being anonymouse makes it fun too.
My family chose not to exchange gifts with one another but instead to support the needy with cash and food donations. It’s the best Christmas I personally have ever had! It is so satisfying to see to someone in need, rather than to give material gifts to those who don’t need anything. And being anonymouse makes it fun too.
The Kmart here is a joke. 2 foot wide aisles and usually only 1 register running. They did bump it up to 3 the other day when I in there.
Powder..patch..ball FIRE!
We went to Sears website to purchase a new roll around toolbox for me.
They had a very nice 7 drawer box for a about $280 on sale (out of stock- couldn’t order) and ship to home only for $76.
Long story short we saved the page and went back 4 times between then and Christmas. The price went up every time we returned and they did not have them available until Christmas for $376 and ship only $76.00
I will never try to do that again.
I did some Land’s End catalog shopping this Christmas. Our Sears store doesn’t sell Land’s End anymore, but you can still return your catalog items there.
I purchased a BMX bike for $50 at ToysRus during their 2-day sale with a $20-off coupon. I’m pleasantly surprised at its build quality and finish (for now).
I was at the Walmart in Prince Frederick yesterday morning, and it was practically deserted.
I thought it would be mobbed with people buying at discopunted prices, I was surprised that it wasn’t doing much.
Millions upon millions of "unemployed" (no job, no longer looking for a job, underemployed, temp, contractor) exist.
Unemployed buy nothing or far less than normal.
Sales drop at retail stores.
Retail stores layoff (or fire, if you prefer) employees.
Unemployment rises.
Unemployed buy nothing or far less than normal.
Sales drop further at retail stores.
Stores close, forcing more layoffs (or firings, if you prefer).
Unemployed buy nothing or far less than normal.
And so it goes....
The other side of "the coin" is this.
Unemployed rely on state/fed monetary support.
Unemployed rely on fed welfare programs.
Unemployed cause govt. to grow to support their increasing numbers.
Govt must collect more money to support growing welfare state.
Govt must either raise taxes or borrow money.
"The Rich" begin to protect their assets (eg: move assets out of the country, or move physically to a lower tax area).
The govt borrows more money to "feed" the welfare system ruining its already damaged credit rating, for lenders know that the US cannot pay what it owes now much less meet its obligations in the future.
Meanwhile.....
The unemployed begin to default on debt (credit card, medical, and housing to name a few).
Lending institutions wind up with worthless "assets" on their books and dwindling cash reserves; they must cut overhead to remain solvent.
They "lay off" (or fire if you prefer) employees.
This increases the unemployed.
The government falsifys the "unemployment" count by saying that 2.5 million jobs that have left the country no longer exist and therefore can no longer be counted.
The unemployed - ever increasing - buy nothing or far less than normal.
Factories manufacture less product causing factory closures; resulting in more unemployed.
The govt mounts a "spin" campaign damning "the rich" and demanding an increasing amount of money from them.
The unions join the campaign screaming for "workers rights" and raising the dues of the few employed members they have left; for they need money to retain their "lifestyles".
"The rich" protect their assets by moving them out of the country; shutting down factories, and physically moving to lower tax areas.
Need more???
Read "Atlas Shrugged" if you've not already. Enjoy the story....but look for the lessons.
Your biggest fear is this - in answer to the question, "Who is John Galt?"
There isn't one - we're on our own.
Same here. Way, way down on spending this year and it was the smallest haul of presents we've ever had. Everything I gave was homemade from materials I already had so my cost was $0. Mr. B did buy son a drill but that was the extent of the cash outflow. The extended family also made homemade gifts, did more regifting and admitted to having scrounged the clearance bins all year which is something they'd never have admitted to in the past. One works at Walmart and they said they haven't been overly buzy and that Christmas Eve day was not buzy at all. I'm not so sure that companies will tell the truth about their bottom line holiday profits fearing their stocks would take a hit.
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