Posted on 12/04/2014 12:42:34 PM PST by Hojczyk
Sears shares fell Thursday, after the struggling department store announced an adjusted net loss of $296 million—in line with the updated guidance it gave in November.
The retailer also said it's accelerating the number of stores it plans to close this year, boosting its list from the 130 underperforming stores it announced in its second-quarter earnings release, to a total of 235 stores.
Analysts called the move a step in the right direction for the company, which has been tapping into its real estate in creative ways to compensate for downward-spiraling sales. Still, they said the haircut won't be enough on its own to turn the tide at Sears, adding that it needs to close even more stores—and figure out how to become profitable.
According to Retail Metrics, Sears hasn't posted a quarterly profit since fourth quarter 2012.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Valued on paper, but no one will pay the book value for those properties sitting on old malls that are going under.
I just got hired last month after 5 months being off. Also, not my first choice of position or salary
really? I didn’t know that.
I’m glad because I didn’t really like Lands end being part of Sears.
I looked it up and apparently it is operating on it’s own again.
When Sears took over, they ditched Chino jeans...... my favorite
You're right - Sears got that 'Gruber' liberal elite feel... (while pushing inferior products). Sizzle - no steak... Attitude - no substance. Same happened to Penny's... corporate culture creeps down to the store level and Americans walk away. Stores that want liberal elite shoppers should open small boutiques and give up on large stores.
No, but the Chinese will lap them up at fire sale prices. They are the ones with money to spend nowadays and they are doing it by buying up huge chunks of America.
In the end, they will not want many or most of the current inhabitants still around to go with their real estate. Many are just too worthless and lazy to work and others will be simply too rebellious. They will know how to handle all of them when the time comes.
I grew up in a small, rural village. The Sears (and Eaton’s — Canadians know what I mean) catalogues were the closest I ever got to window-shopping in a mall. They offered a much wider range of products than we could get locally, at reasonable prices. My siblings and I would spend hours pouring over the Christmas “wish books”, circling the toys we wanted Santa to bring. In elementary school, we were even taught how to write a letter to Sears, to order some items we wanted.
Then the Internet happened, and these venerable old catalogue stores were among the last to get on board. I recall when Amazon was starting out — I kept wondering: “when’s Sears going to make its move?”; surely, they’ll use their century’s worth of experience to demolish that upstart. When it finally arrived late to the party, and still couldn’t compete with Amazon, I knew it was toast. It was just a matter of time.
Don’t forget Radio Shack!
The rise of internet sales such as Amazon and Ebay and many more, has been a big factor. (Sears does internet sales, though, so that’s partly compensatory)
The biggest problem is the mix of merchandise.
It is almost entirely middle-of-the-line stuff.
That was just fine in the 1950’s, 1960’s...etc.
But with today’s economy... NOT!
There is a big (and regrettably growing) market for low priced stuff (since we have more people out of work than anytime in USA history!)
There is a big market, also, in high-end or luxury merchandise (those fewer number of people who do have good incomes still..... will and do spend much of same...)
Inbetween, you have less and less people... and many of them are hanging on for dear life, scared sh*tless they will soon wind up in the sky=high scrapheap of the unemployed (so they tend to hang onto their $ and not spend it much)
AND
Just shifting the market position upscale or downscale will not be easy for Sears. Sears did try to sell mink coats (nice enough merchandise but it feels really odd to walk into a Sears store and see a rack of $3000 fur coats inbewteen the $19 blouses and $12 bras)
Put simply, people with lots of $$$ don’t immediately jump at the opportunity to shop for expensive luxury goods in a Sears store (or, even be seen shopping there — that’s a big part of selling to the rich, too, successfully matching your store and its goods with the rich customers’ self-images and egos).
And going downscale may prove difficult for Sears, too, since many of its stores are in high-rent malls... and there’s a lot of operating overhead to cover.
And will Sears be able to maintain its commendable “no questions asked” Customer Service return/refund policy, if it fills its stores with tons of cheapo merchandise (quality control problems abound when you go downsacle, as makes sense of course)
Anyway, Sears is a classic case of being “caught in the middle” and Obama’s Great Recession ain’t helping the middle, not at all!
We bought a Sears washer, dryer and fridge when we bought our first home in 1971. We schlepped them all over the country, during many transfers, and they were invincible. Collectively they lasted at least 20 years with virtually 0 repairs.
Our Sears is struggling and I think the only thing that keeps it alive is The Land’s End brand. What always bothers me is that their glass doors are always filthy.
I know the Sears “play” by Lampert was expecting big things from their real estate portfolio, but this deal looks like it’s on a glide path to auger in...
Yep. I will now give Sears management some valuable advice for free. Sears, re-brand yourselves as the QUALITY store. Let everyone else race to the bottom with low-priced junk.
I would gladly pay more for a quality microwave or a quality dryer that was well-built, and meant to last. And I think there are many others who feel that way.
I just remembered this.....
Last year I bought a new Craftsman 21” lawn mower for $200 with a Briggs instant start engine.
It was replace a mower that was virtually identical. It was 24 years old and the sears receipt for the old one showed $200 purchase price.
The inflation rate for Sears mowers over 24 years was 0%. If I were an economist, I would say the price for a Craftsman is inelastic
ACE Hardware now carries CRAFTSMAN Tools.
It’s a shame they don’t have a catalog with online sales what they are. Oh that’s right , they had one.
I worked for them for 23 yrs. The ‘golden age’ mid 60s to mid 80s .
Remember above their store doors..’Satisfaction or Your Money Back’.
They threw that away.
Recently I tried to take a pair of slacks back. All tags still on them, had the receipt. I got them for my b’day about 4 months prior to my taking them back. No worry, they came from Sears. WHOA
They informed me they only take returns the first 30 days.
I bitched enough and they grudgingly took them back after calling a mgr.
What a crock !!
Lesson learned... Costco here I come. They have the guarantee Sears gave up.
It’s a shame they don’t have a catalog with online sales what they are. Oh that’s right , they had one.
I worked for them for 23 yrs. The ‘golden age’ mid 60s to mid 80s .
Remember above their store doors..’Satisfaction or Your Money Back’.
They threw that away.
Recently I tried to take a pair of slacks back. All tags still on them, had the receipt. I got them for my b’day about 4 months prior to my taking them back. No worry, they came from Sears. WHOA
They informed me they only take returns the first 30 days.
I bitched enough and they grudgingly took them back after calling a mgr.
What a crock !!
Lesson learned... Costco here I come. They have the guarantee Sears gave up.
That was the argument of the group that assessed their holdings at 4 billion. The group other group noted that the allocation of some of their properties will demantd a premium and valued at 7 billion. Either way not chump change.
They abandoned surprisingly large small-to-medium metropolitan areas, and I think that was a BIG mistake.
One good thing about Sears, is that you could take your grandkids in there and explain that this was how you shopped when you were a little kid. The very fixtures were the same. Not the same design - actually, the same.
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.