Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by Super S »

Things continue to look bad for Sears:

https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject. ... o_CvcVwhII

In all honesty, I hope that this year Lampert realizes that this year, it's time to finally let the stores die instead of throwing more money at a rapidly sinking ship. It's not often that I hope a chain shuts down, but Sears and Kmart are too far gone. Lampert is an idiot if he thinks it's salvageable at this point.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by Alpha8472 »

His goal is to sell off Sears in bits and pieces in order to maximize profits for himself. He has a plan to liquidate or write this off somehow. Right now, Kmart is giving out coupons at the register as you exit. These coupons on the receipts make you come back and buy more. They just want to clear all the remaining merchandise out of the stores.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by cjd »

Alpha8472 wrote: December 4th, 2019, 5:28 pm His goal is to sell off Sears in bits and pieces in order to maximize profits for himself. He has a plan to liquidate or write this off somehow. Right now, Kmart is giving out coupons at the register as you exit. These coupons on the receipts make you come back and buy more. They just want to clear all the remaining merchandise out of the stores.
Exactly, the M.O. is to keep the stores open as long as possible to get out as much money as possible to make Eddie money. It's probably been going on much, much longer than we thought, it just was in the last 5 or 8 years that it became so apparent what he's doing.

At this point it seems to me they are working off existing leases, and closing the stores as the leases come up for renewal.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by cjd »

Super S wrote: December 4th, 2019, 6:49 am Things continue to look bad for Sears:

https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject. ... o_CvcVwhII

In all honesty, I hope that this year Lampert realizes that this year, it's time to finally let the stores die instead of throwing more money at a rapidly sinking ship. It's not often that I hope a chain shuts down, but Sears and Kmart are too far gone. Lampert is an idiot if he thinks it's salvageable at this point.
He knew it wasn't salvageable. Transform, LLC was just a way of making it look like they were going to turn things around. I think everyone knew that wasn't a possibility. But keeping people thinking that is the best way to make them keep coming to the stores. But who really wants to at this point?
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by BillyGr »

cjd wrote: December 7th, 2019, 9:30 am He knew it wasn't salvageable. Transform, LLC was just a way of making it look like they were going to turn things around. I think everyone knew that wasn't a possibility. But keeping people thinking that is the best way to make them keep coming to the stores. But who really wants to at this point?
Probably only those who like to get good deals (based on what has been posted about the points and coupons, it seems that there are ways to get items for little, or even no money out of your pocket).

Not sure that those sales do much for the stores, but they are good for those shopping.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by Super S »

BillyGr wrote: December 7th, 2019, 11:14 am
cjd wrote: December 7th, 2019, 9:30 am He knew it wasn't salvageable. Transform, LLC was just a way of making it look like they were going to turn things around. I think everyone knew that wasn't a possibility. But keeping people thinking that is the best way to make them keep coming to the stores. But who really wants to at this point?
Probably only those who like to get good deals (based on what has been posted about the points and coupons, it seems that there are ways to get items for little, or even no money out of your pocket).

Not sure that those sales do much for the stores, but they are good for those shopping.
There are probably people who are holding off visiting a Sears or Kmart because they know that a store closing sale is likely in the near future. So people aren't coming to the stores as much, and this plan is backfiring for those stores not closing (yet).
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by storewanderer »

Heard the Temple City, CA Kmart was notified of closure a couple days ago.

Amazing to me that I am still within 90 miles of two Kmarts: Grass Valley, CA and South Lake Tahoe, CA. Not that it really matters at this point it is purely symbolic because the stores are beyond gone.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by kr.abs.swy »

For what it's worth, the newspaper in Jackson, Wyoming, quoted the landlord of the Jackson Kmart as saying that there were still "several" years on that store's lease. https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/bus ... 0a7d5.html

This is a town with high tourist traffic and limited alternatives (the closest Walmart is about 75 miles away in Rexburg, Idaho; the nearest regional shopping is 90 miles away in Idaho Falls, Idaho). The logistics of running this store are more challenging than normal due to the need to get creative in staffing (most likely providing housing and hiring seasonal international employees during the summer) and high seasonality. However, I would be shocked if this store wasn't in the top 5 percent of Kmart stores nationwide even with the extra expenses. Walmart fought to locate in Jackson for years but was fought off. Smith's navigated permitting for years and years before being allowed to build a standard grocery store that, I was told by a manager, outsells some of the Smith's Marketplace (former Fred Meyer) stores in Utah. The town's Albertsons is one of the best performers in the chain (in the past, they have sent managers from other Albertsons stores to help staff this store over the 4th of July weekend). The bottom line is that this Kmart should have been one of the last 20 Kmart stores to close. The fact that it is closing now with years left on the lease suggests that Kmart is totally throwing in the towel. This store is in town, along the highway, has good access, is reasonably new (built in late 1980s or early 1990s), and fills a niche in a community otherwise full of art galleries and boutique stores.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by Super S »

kr.abs.swy wrote: December 8th, 2019, 11:53 am For what it's worth, the newspaper in Jackson, Wyoming, quoted the landlord of the Jackson Kmart as saying that there were still "several" years on that store's lease. https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/bus ... 0a7d5.html

This is a town with high tourist traffic and limited alternatives (the closest Walmart is about 75 miles away in Rexburg, Idaho; the nearest regional shopping is 90 miles away in Idaho Falls, Idaho). The logistics of running this store are more challenging than normal due to the need to get creative in staffing (most likely providing housing and hiring seasonal international employees during the summer) and high seasonality. However, I would be shocked if this store wasn't in the top 5 percent of Kmart stores nationwide even with the extra expenses. Walmart fought to locate in Jackson for years but was fought off. Smith's navigated permitting for years and years before being allowed to build a standard grocery store that, I was told by a manager, outsells some of the Smith's Marketplace (former Fred Meyer) stores in Utah. The town's Albertsons is one of the best performers in the chain (in the past, they have sent managers from other Albertsons stores to help staff this store over the 4th of July weekend). The bottom line is that this Kmart should have been one of the last 20 Kmart stores to close. The fact that it is closing now with years left on the lease suggests that Kmart is totally throwing in the towel. This store is in town, along the highway, has good access, is reasonably new (built in late 1980s or early 1990s), and fills a niche in a community otherwise full of art galleries and boutique stores.
I wonder if they would be more welcoming of Walmart, or perhaps Target, if they took over the Kmart building. Walmart's merchandise mix seems like it would be a better fit for Jackson though.

Even without competition, I have to wonder if this store's sales fell off as Kmart kept closing stores. Not to mention tourists not stopping, thinking ALL Kmarts have already closed because zero are left in some states and thinking the store and parking lot is being used for something else even though the store is still open. Although Kmart and Sears move quickly to get rid of signage after closing a store, other chains have been known to leave signs behind, sometimes for years.
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Re: Sears Fears: The Final Days of Sears & Kmart, 2019

Post by Bagels »

kr.abs.swy wrote: December 8th, 2019, 11:53 am For what it's worth, the newspaper in Jackson, Wyoming, quoted the landlord of the Jackson Kmart as saying that there were still "several" years on that store's lease. https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/bus ... 0a7d5.html

This is a town with high tourist traffic and limited alternatives (the closest Walmart is about 75 miles away in Rexburg, Idaho; the nearest regional shopping is 90 miles away in Idaho Falls, Idaho). The logistics of running this store are more challenging than normal due to the need to get creative in staffing (most likely providing housing and hiring seasonal international employees during the summer) and high seasonality. However, I would be shocked if this store wasn't in the top 5 percent of Kmart stores nationwide even with the extra expenses. Walmart fought to locate in Jackson for years but was fought off. Smith's navigated permitting for years and years before being allowed to build a standard grocery store that, I was told by a manager, outsells some of the Smith's Marketplace (former Fred Meyer) stores in Utah. The town's Albertsons is one of the best performers in the chain (in the past, they have sent managers from other Albertsons stores to help staff this store over the 4th of July weekend). The bottom line is that this Kmart should have been one of the last 20 Kmart stores to close. The fact that it is closing now with years left on the lease suggests that Kmart is totally throwing in the towel. This store is in town, along the highway, has good access, is reasonably new (built in late 1980s or early 1990s), and fills a niche in a community otherwise full of art galleries and boutique stores.
They could've very well sold the lease for K-Mart. I mean, that's probably what Lampert's goal has been since day 1 - maximize the value of Sears/K-Mart's assets. That Sears and K-Mart will continue to operate with their sparse locations... isn't going to happen, and was probably never intended to happen.

IMO, I would be surprised if the plug ISN'T pulled after the holidays. I was in Sears (just for shits and giggles) on Black Friday, and it was dead, in spite of a $10 off $10 coupon available to anyone. It was extremely neat, clean and well organized... so either it has a ton of staff for clean-up... or never got much business to begin with.
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