Is the end near at Sears?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Is the end near at Sears?

Post by cathandler »

The rumor mill is abuzz about massive store closures and a huge RIF at corporate headquarters. A list of 80 Kmart and 14 Sears stores to close by December is circulating online at The Layoff and on social media, and a Forbes article today citing vendors and buyers inside the company states that most of the remaining corporate staff at headquarters have been laid off. Make of all this what you will, but given the lack of evidence of any kind of a turnaround post-bankruptcy, these accounts have the ring of truth to them. Here's a link to the Forbes article.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshou ... s-reported
Last edited by cathandler on August 30th, 2019, 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by Super S »

It's not an official list, but I expect this Christmas season to be Kmart's last. Sears will not be far behind. Keep in mind the Wards liquidation began with similar layoffs at headquarters.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by cjd »

Just read in another thread the Sears Outlet stores are being sold to Liberty Tax. When our local Sears closes in October there will be none left in the area aside from the small hometown style stores. Really think the end is near this time.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by storewanderer »

I heard the Sears in Aberdeen, WA is finally closing. Should have been put out of its misery years ago.

Also some curious Kmart closures, again. Well maybe it isn't so curious when there are about 200 Kmarts left and 80 appear to be slated for closure, 40% of the chain closing doesn't give a store great odds for staying. Oakdale, CA, which my understanding was a pretty strong Kmart due to lack of competition and one they kept stocked during the bankruptcy... Lakeport, CA same situation lack of competition yet also closing this time.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by cjd »

storewanderer wrote: August 30th, 2019, 11:08 pm I heard the Sears in Aberdeen, WA is finally closing. Should have been put out of its misery years ago.

Also some curious Kmart closures, again. Well maybe it isn't so curious when there are about 200 Kmarts left and 80 appear to be slated for closure, 40% of the chain closing doesn't give a store great odds for staying. Oakdale, CA, which my understanding was a pretty strong Kmart due to lack of competition and one they kept stocked during the bankruptcy... Lakeport, CA same situation lack of competition yet also closing this time.

How old were those stores? It seems to me their MO has been to ride out leases and close the stores as they run out. Our Kmart was supposedly the highest volume store in the region, but it closed at 25 years. Another Sears closed right at 20 years old, and ours is closing at 20 as well.

I'm thinking at one time Kmart probably signed 30 or 40 year leases on buildings which would put stores in the 1978-79 era up for closure. And during the 90s they had shortened to 20 year leases, while Sears was at 20 years on their stores opening in the 1990s.

This doesn't explain everything of course, since there are still older Kmart and Sears stores open, and it doesn't explain the 80 Kmarts closing at once either.

It's obvious to me there really was no intention to change the direction of things after bankruptcy as promised, but just to give that illusion in order to buy more time to use up leases, hence squeeze as much money out of remaining operations as possible.

I'd be interested to know what Sears providers for their hard lines such as Kenmore are thinking about this. LG, Whirlpool, etc would have to have blinders on to not see where things are going. Do you think a Kenmore, DieHard and other brands sale is still possible, like Craftsman?
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: August 30th, 2019, 11:08 pm I heard the Sears in Aberdeen, WA is finally closing. Should have been put out of its misery years ago.

Also some curious Kmart closures, again. Well maybe it isn't so curious when there are about 200 Kmarts left and 80 appear to be slated for closure, 40% of the chain closing doesn't give a store great odds for staying. Oakdale, CA, which my understanding was a pretty strong Kmart due to lack of competition and one they kept stocked during the bankruptcy... Lakeport, CA same situation lack of competition yet also closing this time.
I found an article confirming the Aberdeen Sears closing:
https://kbkw.com/aberdeen-sears-store-t ... d-of-2019/
And, yes, the Times New Roman sign in the article is a picture of the store which still has the sign. The mall is now under local ownership but Sears was the only major anchor store left.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by Super S »

Here is an article that has an unofficial list, although it is incomplete as Aberdeen is not there.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 168435001/

Sears has been known to not always release official closing lists.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by storewanderer »

I decided to go into a Sears Dealer and a Sears Outlet today.

The Sears Dealer seemed to be pretty much the same as they've been lately. Had some appliances and tools, orderly and little shelving but what space they had appeared to be pretty in-stock (one or two pieces of everything). Shelf tags, sale signs, etc. all Sears signs but possibly a slightly different font than regular Sears use. Only one employee on duty and signs posted they will start closing Sunday effective next week. Also signs all over the checkout that they no longer take American Express. I actually bought something at this place and though the cash register is different hardware than Sears, it is still the same old Sears register system. Receipt even says for card payment "CVM: VERIFIED BY SHC" which I am sure stands for Sears Holdings Company since the Kmart receipts have the same exact line. Also odd the receipt says to see Sears.com for return policy. I thought this was a separate company from the main Sears? No mention of Shop Your Way rewards but it is possible the employee bypassed it.

Next was Sears Outlet. This was interesting. This store is in an industrial part of Sparks, NV which is not active at night or on weekends, and is open until 9 PM Monday-Saturday; longer store hours than Sears itself had when the full line store here closed. The store has a ton of appliances, then it also has random home products and hardware products as well. Not sure where the items come from but none of it is Sears merchandise. There were three employees on duty. I asked one of them a question about if they had something, and got a pretty rude response and total disinterest. Nothing about Shop Your Way Rewards in this store but since I did not buy anything, it is not clear if maybe the register prompts for it. Also next to this store used to be a small space where you could go in and buy parts for appliances; that space is now closed, but it is not clear when it closed. There were still a dozen or so A&E Service Vans in a fenced lot beside this space, so it appears the service operation is still running out of there.
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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by storewanderer »

Today, went to Kmart. So far this store is not on any closing list I've seen. There were some changes in this store since I was last in it probably two months ago and I suspect it has new management. For starters, there was a "greeter" at the door wearing a red vest that said "KMART SECURITY" and he looked pretty bored. Given this is a rural location I am not really sure why this is necessary; no other retailers in this area have security like this. Also, pantry area has been reset (more details below). Also they made some changes to clothing shifting mens over to where electronics was and then in the extra space created from that they moved women's socks and such into space where mens clothing was. So, more clothing to replace the space that electronics gave them.

The store is a total wreck from a merchandising and pricing perspective, but it is neat and orderly. Merchandising is beyond words bad and they are clearly having trouble getting product. Still no quarts of motor oil, just big 5 gallon drums and only in a couple brands. Toy area is a disaster and missing numerous items, but they are trying to make it look full. Sporting goods area again a disaster, one aisle full of odd plain black suitcases which previously had a large assortment of other items. Kitchen department has the same odd cheap pans spread across almost an entire aisle, and hangers also spread down much of an aisle that should have closet organizers and various other things besides hangers. Clothing area, I am not even going to comment how bad this looked.

Consumables areas were interesting. As shown in the photos below they seem to be trying some new strategies for moving consumable goods involving the "bluelight special" signs. They have also done a lot of resetting and new product plans in the pantry area. Pet area has been reset and I noticed a number of new items, some of which on toys/litter bags/litter scoops were in a Kmart private label (Cat Co. or something). What is odd is I saw both Essential Everyday/Super Chill and Best Yet/Exceptional Value items. It looks like perhaps BY is replacing EE but it is not clear what exactly is going on. I say this because I looked at a shelf plan strip on dry groceries dated 7/29/19 and it had BY items but then I looked at a shelf plan strip for packaged cookies dated 8/5/19 and it had EE items. So not sure what is going on. Paper products also had a more recent shelf plan and had BY items. There are also still some Kmart brand items (Smart Sense) scattered around. Also, the store has no Coke products but has Pepsi, 7-up, and SuperChill (Supervalu).

Tons of items obviously mispriced in grocery with the supply transition; 64 oz BY Cranberry Juice at 5.28 with the Ocean Spray equal right next to it at 3.69. 12 oz BY Pure Honey at 2.29. They also still had a big assortment of Pampa food items (Made in China) selling at more than the $1 these items usually sell at.

Actually bought something and when paying noticed the cashier was keeping a tally sheet of "SYR, No SYR, Sears Card, No Sears Card" he filled out before he started helping me and filled out again after he finished up my transaction. Never seen this before either. Noticed when paying a new photo on the "manager" box on the refund policy sign hanging above the service desk, previously this was blank.


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Re: Is the end near at Sears?

Post by Groceteria »

Clemmons NC (which is on the closing list) yesterday. I hadn't been in this store in about ten years. My favorite is the "patient consultation area" in the pharmacy, which is closed on evenings weekends, of course. But hey, they're still hiring...
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