Posted on 09/14/2016 2:25:22 PM PDT by PROCON
Moody's analysts say Sears and Kmart don't have enough money — or access to money — to stay in business.
In a note published Wednesday, the analysts downgraded Sears' liquidity rating, saying the company is bleeding cash and will have to continue to rely on outside funding or the sale of assets, such as real estate, to sustain operations.
"We recognize the risks associated with relying on these sources and continued shareholder support to finance its negative operating cash flow which is estimated by Moody's to be approximately $1.5 billion this year," the analysts wrote.
Kmart in particular is at risk of shutting down, according to Moody's.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
The ole TRS-80. I remember writing programs and saving them o tape then reloading them. Dungeons of Daggorath comes to mind. Talk about super sucky graphics but or their time period that was all we had.
I worked for Sears for 20+ years, during their heyday.
Really hate to see them go under, but they brought it on themselves.
When it came time to buy some major appliances recently I turned to Sears. Only to find there was no advantage to buying there as there used to be.
Return policy, warranty, maintenance was no better than any other store.
Sad.
Sears does a Monkey Wards off the high board.
And I remember at Sears they used to have a service department where my husband could pick up parts when the washer, fridge, stove, etc. broke down and do the replacement yourself. Phooooey on that...now you call a serviceman who charges $75 just for showing up portal to portal, and instead of repairs they just remove the whole component/computer thingie which is sautered shut so you can’t get into it, and put in a new one for beau coupe bucks. Sigh. Nowadays, my husband and I just seem to replace the entire item if the item is 5+ years old...it is cheaper to buy a new one which comes with a guarantee.
I had a Sears Craftsman 1/2” socket driver (American made) that failed. Remember when they came up with the button on the back to eject the socket?
Took it back to Sears, a long time ago, and they gave me a new one no questions asked. Do you know if they still do that?
Never understood why they didn’t engrave sizes on sockets clearly so you could you read them easily.
Haven’t been back to Sears in years. Or Pennys, K-mart or Monkey Ward.
I remember the Sears in San Luis Obispo, CA during the late sixties and seventies. Probably built in the 30’s or 40’s. Two story with wood floors in an old-fashioned downtown. They sold it not long after and moved to the edge of town in a much newer shopping center. Completely lacked the atmosphere of the original one.
At least they spun off Craftsman so you can get them at other outlets now. Other than that, I don’t give a fig about Sears.
Sears used to be very busy and spotless packed full of goods to sell. Now the ones around here look like they are in the final days of a "going out of business" sale.
Up here in Canada K Mart is long gone. Sears is barely here due to their closing of many stores in the last few years. They are on their last legs even if Sears does manage to stick around a bit longer.
[[A sad end to a once great “Anything and Everything” store in Sears.]]
Their stuff is not that good anymore.
Even their Craftsman tools are not what they used to be.
Their website is horrible and clunky too
It’s hard to tell the difference between Sears and Kmart now .
Creaking wood floors.
I buy vintage Craftsman tools off Ebay some.
Sears had all the infrastructure in place with their huge catalog operations to be Amazon, but just didn’t capitalize.
Tech-wise, Sears never advanced much past Prodigy.
These days, I shop all the stores for the appliance I want, then get the brand and model # I want, then get a feel for what each store is charging, and then shop online for the cheapest deal. Shopping online it usually offers free shipping, often much cheaper than the store who want to add on a delivery fee, sometimes bigger outfits have coupons for a percentage off online, etc. They deliver it to the door, and if asked they have brought it into the house to where it is going to be installed for a small tip ($10)...much better than a $75 delivery fee.
I was just looking at some Prodigy ads on Youtube, it seems as if there was a 9.95/month “all you can eat plan” at one time.
I started with local BBS, then on to Compuserve, then AOL until I got DSL/canle.
Isn't that the truth.
By 1900 Sears was what Amazon would become, just with catalogs and the mail instead of the internet.
You could even buy a house. The sections were delivered to your lot and assembled on site:
This is a key to the whole problem: people do not have jobs to afford to buy things.
Hey, remember Montgomery Wards, too? And some of the 5&10 cent stores. Happy days.
“Hey, remember Montgomery Wards, too? And some of the 5&10 cent stores.”
==
Yup, Monkey Wards and Ben Franklin 5&dime (I think they might still be around, tho).
Pretty sad. I’ve bought a lot of appliances and tools from Sears; guessing maybe 10 grand of goods.
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