This thread will serve as a new area for discussions on the impending death of Sears and Kmart, not necessarily tied to store closings themselves listed in other threads.
First, Sears has officially sold Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker:
Sears will get $525 million from Stanley Black & Decker once the deal closes, another $250 million at the end of the third year and a percentage of annual payments of new Craftsman sales for the next 15 years.
I don't know what they'll do with Kenmore, the brand doesn't really have unique items, they've mostly been rebranded items from a bevy of manufacturers from Whirlpool to LG.
One thing I have seen today in all the sale discussions is that the Craftsman Lifetime Guarantee will stay, for the time being. No telling how long that will last, or where the tools will go for this once Sears goes away.
Stanley Black and Decker would not have bought them unless they thought they could get it in to Home Depot and Lowes. If you can't sell them there, you will not get a decent return on the investment. My guess is that it will be marketing as a low end consumer line. There may be room below the Black and Decker line.
Who will buy Kenmore?
My best guess is that Whirlpool is the best bet to buy them. A lot of people don't know it is a rebadged brand. Perfect for places like JC Penney.
submariner wrote:This thread will serve as a new area for discussions on the impending death of Sears and Kmart, not necessarily tied to store closings themselves listed in other threads.
First, Sears has officially sold Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker:
Sears will get $525 million from Stanley Black & Decker once the deal closes, another $250 million at the end of the third year and a percentage of annual payments of new Craftsman sales for the next 15 years.
I don't know what they'll do with Kenmore, the brand doesn't really have unique items, they've mostly been rebranded items from a bevy of manufacturers from Whirlpool to LG.
Kenmore is still a strong brand label (even with the death of Sears going on for quite some time now, appliances are/were still a top category). With JCPenney toying around with appliances, maybe they would want it, or I have read elsewhere a possibility/prediction that Haier, which just acquired GE's appliance division this year, may want to buy it out and use that brand instead of paying royalties to GE.
DieHard is still presumably up for grabs too, but that is probably the weakest brand out of the three and the brand was never used much outside of car batteries except in the later Sears years when they (and still are) slapped it on everything from Alkaline batteries to workboots.
The weird thing is that Sears Canada, which also has not been doing great, is at least trying something new. It's like staring into an alternate-reality universe where Sears Holdings wasn't trying to strangle itself. (The sad thing is part of what's holding Sears Canada back IS Sears Holdings).
Sears Canada may be on to some good ideas. If Sears Canada can get their stores profitable enough, Sears may sell off the Canadian division. In a way, the Canadian division might be the only surviving Sears company. The Sears Outlet stores are not doing well. They cannot survive long once all of the main Sears stores are gone. The Outlet stores would have nothing to sell.
The US division is clearly selling off the brands, real estate, and anything else it owns to make a quick profit. The end is near and Sears has no intention of continuing on as a serious retail chain. There is a chance that someone may swoop in and buy the trademarks, but ultimately this company is approaching the end. The Kmart stores that are in bad condition and falling apart will probably meet their demise in a matter of weeks.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on January 19th, 2017, 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Alpha8472 wrote:The Sears Outlet stores are not doing well. They cannot survive long once all of the main Sears stores are gone. The Outlet stores would have nothing to sell.
Perhaps they could convert into something more like a Big Lots or similar, where they get merchandise from multiple sources? Possibly also a deal with whoever buys the various Sears brands to continue to be a source for those companies if they need to get rid of odds & ends, leftovers or whatever?
pseudo3d wrote:I read the Outlet stores apparently sell Home Depot merchandise as well, so it's not all Sears/Kmart stuff exclusively.
A good deal of the Outlet stores are franchised, thus they can carry what they like. I know that at my local one, it's Sears merchandise and some low end dollar-type stuff only. There are rarely any customers there, and you can't use SYW points.