Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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storewanderer
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: April 1st, 2021, 5:48 am
I wish they both would just die already!

:lol:
Maybe when the last 20 year old cash register or scanner breaks, when the last 20 year old inventory scanning device breaks, that 30 year old shelf tag system finally bites the dust, the last sign paper with a red K logo is used, when the last store printed logo shopping bag is used- they will finally call it quits.

Not to mention those 20+ year old price scanners on the sales floor with a little green two line screen attached - those actually work quite well. Better than most of the modern fancy price scanners at Wal Mart, Macys, Target, etc. that are often broken and slow to load all the graphics, etc.

I am amazed these cash registers, inventory guns, shelf label systems, etc. even still work. I don't think they work too well but they do work... they even managed to do something with their system that it can take orders from the website and fulfill in the store using all this old equipment.

Sears technology has been updated a bit more over the years than Kmart but still not much in the past decade.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by veteran+ »

storewanderer wrote: April 1st, 2021, 11:54 pm
veteran+ wrote: April 1st, 2021, 5:48 am
I wish they both would just die already!

:lol:
Maybe when the last 20 year old cash register or scanner breaks, when the last 20 year old inventory scanning device breaks, that 30 year old shelf tag system finally bites the dust, the last sign paper with a red K logo is used, when the last store printed logo shopping bag is used- they will finally call it quits.

Not to mention those 20+ year old price scanners on the sales floor with a little green two line screen attached - those actually work quite well. Better than most of the modern fancy price scanners at Wal Mart, Macys, Target, etc. that are often broken and slow to load all the graphics, etc.

I am amazed these cash registers, inventory guns, shelf label systems, etc. even still work. I don't think they work too well but they do work... they even managed to do something with their system that it can take orders from the website and fulfill in the store using all this old equipment.

Sears technology has been updated a bit more over the years than Kmart but still not much in the past decade.
Somebody should write a tell all book on Lampert detailing his incompetence, greed and how he murdered Sears and Kmart.

That dude is worse than what Perelman did to Pantry Pride - Revlon (Food Fair).
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Romr123 »

Darn it...we drove by about a month ago--thought "oh, we'll catch that one next time when we're out in RC....alas not to be.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: April 1st, 2021, 11:54 pm
veteran+ wrote: April 1st, 2021, 5:48 am
I wish they both would just die already!

:lol:
Maybe when the last 20 year old cash register or scanner breaks, when the last 20 year old inventory scanning device breaks, that 30 year old shelf tag system finally bites the dust, the last sign paper with a red K logo is used, when the last store printed logo shopping bag is used- they will finally call it quits.

Not to mention those 20+ year old price scanners on the sales floor with a little green two line screen attached - those actually work quite well. Better than most of the modern fancy price scanners at Wal Mart, Macys, Target, etc. that are often broken and slow to load all the graphics, etc.

I am amazed these cash registers, inventory guns, shelf label systems, etc. even still work. I don't think they work too well but they do work... they even managed to do something with their system that it can take orders from the website and fulfill in the store using all this old equipment.

Sears technology has been updated a bit more over the years than Kmart but still not much in the past decade.
Why are people surprised that Kmart/Sears POS systems still work? They are IBM systems which are still widely used by several other major retailers, including some of the same hardware. When you think about it, these have actually served them quite well. I would be more surprised if Kmart were still using 1970s era NCR electronic registers.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by klkla »

I went to the Sears Grand in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday. A lot of sections have been closed off with empty shelving, such as the Electronic Department. They had a few appliances out but that area was mostly empty space. They also had a lot of mattress store samples. The only crowding I saw was was in the Craftsman tool section and there wasn't much merchandise left.

The had a huge inventory of Levi jeans market at $60. Even with 40% off you could find them cheaper online.

There were only about 20 customers in the store at around 3:00 Saturday.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by babs »

veteran+ wrote: April 2nd, 2021, 5:26 am
Somebody should write a tell all book on Lampert detailing his incompetence, greed and how he murdered Sears and Kmart.

That dude is worse than what Perelman did to Pantry Pride - Revlon (Food Fair).
I wouldn't call Lampert incompetent. Greedy yes. His ideas in retail are clearly flawed. But I've never seen anyone be able to get as much money out of dying assets as he has. There's nothing to compare it to. He is a financial genius. But yeah, he was never going to be the guy who was going to figure out how to turn around the chain.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: April 4th, 2021, 2:01 pm
veteran+ wrote: April 2nd, 2021, 5:26 am
Somebody should write a tell all book on Lampert detailing his incompetence, greed and how he murdered Sears and Kmart.

That dude is worse than what Perelman did to Pantry Pride - Revlon (Food Fair).
I wouldn't call Lampert incompetent. Greedy yes. His ideas in retail are clearly flawed. But I've never seen anyone be able to get as much money out of dying assets as he has. There's nothing to compare it to. He is a financial genius. But yeah, he was never going to be the guy who was going to figure out how to turn around the chain.
Lampert and friends clearly had a lot of strategies going to string this along. From the mattresses, to the random liquidator items even being put into non-liquidating at present time stores, to the real estate spin offs this has been quite a playbook. Remaining Sears that are staying open are going to start selling large rugs to fill space. I think there are about 30 Sears Stores currently not in liquidation.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: April 4th, 2021, 7:34 pm I think there are about 30 Sears Stores currently not in liquidation.
There are about 20 Kmarts not in liquidation, hell maybe 15 or so as of this post.
Once Kmart runs out of the remaining warehouse inventory to sell and supplies, they will probably shut down.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: April 4th, 2021, 9:17 pm
storewanderer wrote: April 4th, 2021, 7:34 pm I think there are about 30 Sears Stores currently not in liquidation.
There are about 20 Kmarts not in liquidation, hell maybe 15 or so as of this post.
Once Kmart runs out of the remaining warehouse inventory to sell and supplies, they will probably shut down.
Not much is coming out of Kmart warehouses at this point in time. The seasonal items at the South Lake Tahoe Store are all from last year, I guess it was packed up, BBQs, some patio sets, etc. The only part of the store that follows any planogram anymore is the grocery, school supply, and drug area supplied by C&S.

Many items in the Kmart are currently from liquidators. This is a Kmart not currently in liquidation sale but operating as a going concern at this time. The items they have are odd brands, heck, they even have some George Men's Shirts in there (Wal Mart brand).

Some limited items appeared to be showing up from Kmart's warehouse early this year but very limited.

Also I forgot to post but they had some signs up last time I was there on some Basic Edition's shirts that are an "everyday great price" or something at 6.98. The sign said something to the effect of "as of" some date in April the items would be leaving "everyday great price" and moving to a pricing model with a higher regular price and periodic sale prices... I found that somewhat curious they were doing anything at this point.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by veteran+ »

babs wrote: April 4th, 2021, 2:01 pm
veteran+ wrote: April 2nd, 2021, 5:26 am
Somebody should write a tell all book on Lampert detailing his incompetence, greed and how he murdered Sears and Kmart.

That dude is worse than what Perelman did to Pantry Pride - Revlon (Food Fair).
I wouldn't call Lampert incompetent. Greedy yes. His ideas in retail are clearly flawed. But I've never seen anyone be able to get as much money out of dying assets as he has. There's nothing to compare it to. He is a financial genius. But yeah, he was never going to be the guy who was going to figure out how to turn around the chain.

Perhaps I should have said Incompetent Retailer. He deserves no acknowledgment for his skills of low brow profit by desiccation. A vampire capitalist comes to mind.

;-)
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