Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by pseudo3d »

reymann wrote:i think cerberus could right the ship with kmart. kmart needs to be spun off to private equity in order to have a prayer at survival
I would love to see that but I can't really see that happening.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by wnetmacman »

reymann wrote:i think cerberus could right the ship with kmart. kmart needs to be spun off to private equity in order to have a prayer at survival
Cerberus' method of 'righting the ship' always includes massive cost cutting measures, including closing stores. I don't think Kmart has much more to close. I think Fast Eddie is using the valuable Kmart and Sears real estate to bolster what's left, and it isn't working. Kmart no longer has the buying power that it once did with 2200 stores. Walmart can outbuy and undercut them every time now.

They need to find something they're good at, and try to win with that. Shop Your Way isn't the solution, it's a band-aid to get folks into the store to get folks to buy higher margin items to subsidize the stuff SYW gives them for free. That strategy only brings you down to zero (or negative) profits.

I would say Kmart doesn't have much left. Sears signs may go up on the more profitable stores (again) before it's over.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by veteran+ »

Maybe Cerberus should try and take Kmart from Lampert and use it to resurrect S.S. Kresge. They could expand into dense urban areas with strong marketing to millennials.

Just kidding, Kmart is not salvageable, it's too late.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by pseudo3d »

veteran+ wrote:Maybe Cerberus should try and take Kmart from Lampert and use it to resurrect S.S. Kresge. They could expand into dense urban areas with strong marketing to millennials.

Just kidding, Kmart is not salvageable, it's too late.
I don't think it's "too late". It would certainly be challenging but no name is truly unrecoverable. Remember that apparently some executives had given up on the ACME name (that's what I read). Of course, the issue if anyone wants to save it is another issue altogether.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:I don't think it's "too late". It would certainly be challenging but no name is truly unrecoverable. Remember that apparently some executives had given up on the ACME name (that's what I read). Of course, the issue if anyone wants to save it is another issue altogether.
It's too late.

In the 60's and 70's, Kmart expanded rapidly. They became the standard for discount stores. But they made a mistake: they became complacent. Management during the Dewar era said they would beat everyone. During the Fauber era, they tried to hide the Kmart complacency by continuing the expansion and underestimating Bentonville's impact. During the Antonini era, they tried to be Walmart. Post-Antonini, they got lost trying to beat Walmart, but it was too late.

On January 22, 2002, too late came. By hiring Walmart insiders to try to right the ship, they instead hired disgruntled former employees who were hell bent on beating Walmart at any cost, when it was far too late to try. After this date, all attempts to right the ship have been moot points; too little, too late. Where Kmart had 2200 stores on this date, today they number less than 800. That's a bold statement: consumers do not trust Kmart. They won't trust Kmart. Walmart and others have what they need, when they need it.

Their best bet would be to try to remake Kmart into some sort of hybrid, or sell what they can of the real estate to others. Short of a miracle, they won't be successful again.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by Super S »

pseudo3d wrote:
veteran+ wrote:Maybe Cerberus should try and take Kmart from Lampert and use it to resurrect S.S. Kresge. They could expand into dense urban areas with strong marketing to millennials.

Just kidding, Kmart is not salvageable, it's too late.
I don't think it's "too late". It would certainly be challenging but no name is truly unrecoverable. Remember that apparently some executives had given up on the ACME name (that's what I read). Of course, the issue if anyone wants to save it is another issue altogether.
Sears MAY be recoverable. Their stores in general are physically in better shape, and at least saw some remodeling taking place before the merger. However, some of the smaller "Hometown" stores are really spotty on the lines they carry and are not always in great locations. Kmart, however, has spent practically zero on store remodeling and new stores, except for the boom during the 1990s and an occasional repaint here and there. Ironically enough, many of the stores from that time period were some of the first to close, and it really does send a mixed signal in towns like Boise where they closed one of those stores while leaving the other store in town, a tired old one from the 1970s, open until this year. I don't see the logic in keeping the older stores open while shutting down the newer ones.

And I already said this, but the Shop Your Way crap needs to end. Now. If it was working there wouldn't be constant store closings.

At this point, I expect JCPenney to have a better chance of survival than either Sears or Kmart. At least JCPenney was willing to admit they made a mistake.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by architect »

Super S wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:
veteran+ wrote:Maybe Cerberus should try and take Kmart from Lampert and use it to resurrect S.S. Kresge. They could expand into dense urban areas with strong marketing to millennials.

Just kidding, Kmart is not salvageable, it's too late.
I don't think it's "too late". It would certainly be challenging but no name is truly unrecoverable. Remember that apparently some executives had given up on the ACME name (that's what I read). Of course, the issue if anyone wants to save it is another issue altogether.
Sears MAY be recoverable. Their stores in general are physically in better shape, and at least saw some remodeling taking place before the merger. However, some of the smaller "Hometown" stores are really spotty on the lines they carry and are not always in great locations. Kmart, however, has spent practically zero on store remodeling and new stores, except for the boom during the 1990s and an occasional repaint here and there. Ironically enough, many of the stores from that time period were some of the first to close, and it really does send a mixed signal in towns like Boise where they closed one of those stores while leaving the other store in town, a tired old one from the 1970s, open until this year. I don't see the logic in keeping the older stores open while shutting down the newer ones.

And I already said this, but the Shop Your Way crap needs to end. Now. If it was working there wouldn't be constant store closings.

At this point, I expect JCPenney to have a better chance of survival than either Sears or Kmart. At least JCPenney was willing to admit they made a mistake.
Although Sears is likely in a better position then Kmart, both brands are simply irrelevant in today's market. Kmart is simply done, as their brand is almost completely unknown in many parts country due to store closures and a lack of younger shoppers (in a segment that is seeing sales at even Target and Walmart flatline). Although Sears still has some valuable stores which could theoretically be salvaged, their key advantages over competitors are being eaten away due to the cheapening of the Craftsman and Kenmore brands, and the lack of identity in clothing. In addition, Sears is heavily leveraged in many older malls which are struggling. On the other hand, JCPenney has been able to regain momentum following their disastrous period in the early 2010's. They still have a long way to go, but sales are definitely in the process of recovering across a good portion of their stores. In particular, they are resonating well with millennials, a demographic that Sears/Kmart has been largely unable to reach. JCP's biggest challenges right now are simply right-sizing their store base and figuring out what their strategy is going to be with their small-town stores. JCP is also heavily leveraged in mall stores; however, they have been more willing to close underperforming locations and open new stores as retail patterns shift (especially during the early 2000's).
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by arizonaguy »

At this point, they should just liquidate everything and call it quits.

Sell Craftsman and Kenmore to someone who can produce quality products and close the stores.

Kmart is a shell of its former self. It has miniscule market share and locations with questionable demographics. It's already non-renewed leases or sold most of its valuable real estate. What's left is a collection of stores that nobody else wants.

Sears seemed to be in the midst of positive momentum before Lampert decided to buy it. Lampert has pretty much destroyed most of Sears. The only positive is that Sears still has a good bit of its valuable real estate (whereas Kmart doesn't).
Last edited by arizonaguy on April 26th, 2016, 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by reymann »

if sears were to fold, i think lowe's would end up with craftsman and kemore
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Re: Sears Holdings to close 78 MORE stores

Post by wnetmacman »

reymann wrote:if sears were to fold, i think lowe's would end up with craftsman and kemore
Why would Lowe's give up Kobalt for Craftsman? They have a long standing agreement to sell that. They wouldn't abandon it.

I see Ace with Craftsman, as many of the Ace stores sell it now. One of the big Auto Parts houses will buy Die Hard, if they see the value in the name. It isn't what it once was.

Kenmore is another story. None of the major retailers beyond Sears has a house brand appliance. Lowe's sticks with name brands; Home Depot doesn't have the volume to support it, and Best Buy doesn't have the space. I believe Kenmore will die if Sears does. I could be wrong.

Sears Holdings (formerly Kmart Holdings, if you remember history pre-merger) has greatly devalued its house brands. Where Sears once made their fortune on them, they no longer do. Toughskins are hard to find, as are the electronics. Everything is name branded now. Even Kmart can't sell the Die Hard batteries, but that's largely because they have no one to install them like Sears once did.
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