Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Alpha8472
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by Alpha8472 »

Perhaps the rent is so low it is practically free. A landlord might make a deal and give free rent for a period of time to keep the business from leaving.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by BillyGr »

Super S wrote: November 13th, 2021, 6:35 am
BillyGr wrote: November 12th, 2021, 4:48 pm
retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 12th, 2021, 2:24 pm Stores left in the continental US:
Hamilton, MT
Miami, FL
Key West, FL
Avenel, NJ
Westwood, NJ
Bridgehampton, NY
OK, who in NJ knows Eddie? That Avenel store has to be the strangest choice to remain as one of the last 6 in the country - in a plaza with a defunct Pathmark (after that bankruptcy in 2015) and on a street that gets traffic but isn't the main route in the area...
Never mind NJ....I want to know how Hamilton, MT is still open.
The only thing that came to mind with that one is being somewhere where there is little other option. It looks to be a town fairly close to the Idaho border, and mostly surrounded by various forests (State/National), but perhaps there are enough small towns with no other options to keep it running?

Or, totally the opposite of the (Avenel) NJ location, which is often the main road but certainly not far from many other options. The other NJ one being in an area not too far from NYC that often draws people from there to shop for lower prices and taxes.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by kr.abs.swy »

Hamilton aggressively fought off Walmart a while back. That little store fills a niche in that town. At least it would if properly merchandised ...

BillyGr wrote: November 13th, 2021, 1:40 pm
Super S wrote: November 13th, 2021, 6:35 am
BillyGr wrote: November 12th, 2021, 4:48 pm

OK, who in NJ knows Eddie? That Avenel store has to be the strangest choice to remain as one of the last 6 in the country - in a plaza with a defunct Pathmark (after that bankruptcy in 2015) and on a street that gets traffic but isn't the main route in the area...
Never mind NJ....I want to know how Hamilton, MT is still open.
The only thing that came to mind with that one is being somewhere where there is little other option. It looks to be a town fairly close to the Idaho border, and mostly surrounded by various forests (State/National), but perhaps there are enough small towns with no other options to keep it running?

Or, totally the opposite of the (Avenel) NJ location, which is often the main road but certainly not far from many other options. The other NJ one being in an area not too far from NYC that often draws people from there to shop for lower prices and taxes.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

The Grass Valley Kmart pharmacy was closed on 11/10 and the files were actually sold to Rite Aid. They are still working on getting the pharmacy fully closed this weekend.

The store has a lot of clothing left but not much else.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by pseudo3d »

By the way, the remaining Sears Auto Centers (including a stand-alone store in San Antonio) are going out of business, but there's only about a dozen left.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

Kmart Virgin Islands actually has a Black Friday ad- it is on their Facebook. The Kmart VI Facebook.

I guess I don't understand if they can print up an ad for VI Kmart why can't they just run that same ad in the US too?

Kmart Guam is running an ad as usual but doesn't explicitly reference Black Friday. This Guam ad is probably half Guam-specific products so they could not really run that in the US.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by buckguy »

You can't assume conventional "retailing" reasons to keep these stores open. Fast Eddie has always run Sears/KMart as a financial business not as a retailer.

There's a book on the takeover of Anchor Hocking, the glass company, which I found fascinating and disturbing. It's about manufacturing, not retail but it it is instructive in terms of how a business can be monetized over and over again and also how this can ruin a decent sized town on many levels. This is the model of management that was popularized by Jack Welch---it actually made GE a weaker company and a poorer performer but it wasn't until Welch retired that anyone noticed that, although it should have been obvious before. That doesn't mean that whatever decisions have been made to keep this odd assortment of places has been wise for anyone including Eddie, but it provides the logic doing for this.

It's analogous to the need to see Amazon as a software engineering/information systems company rather than a retailer and Walmart as a logistics company rather than a retailer. The journalism about Walmart in the early 2000s made it clear that they were in the business of efficiently getting goods to a consumer and cared little about merchandising or anything else. Of course, now they are efficient at getting goods to a store but not to the floor---but if you see them in a logistics lens, it's obvious how they got themselves in this position and why they seem unresponsive to "normal" processes of running a store.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

buckguy wrote: November 29th, 2021, 7:31 pm You can't assume conventional "retailing" reasons to keep these stores open. Fast Eddie has always run Sears/KMart as a financial business not as a retailer.

There's a book on the takeover of Anchor Hocking, the glass company, which I found fascinating and disturbing. It's about manufacturing, not retail but it it is instructive in terms of how a business can be monetized over and over again and also how this can ruin a decent sized town on many levels. This is the model of management that was popularized by Jack Welch---it actually made GE a weaker company and a poorer performer but it wasn't until Welch retired that anyone noticed that, although it should have been obvious before. That doesn't mean that whatever decisions have been made to keep this odd assortment of places has been wise for anyone including Eddie, but it provides the logic doing for this.

It's analogous to the need to see Amazon as a software engineering/information systems company rather than a retailer and Walmart as a logistics company rather than a retailer. The journalism about Walmart in the early 2000s made it clear that they were in the business of efficiently getting goods to a consumer and cared little about merchandising or anything else. Of course, now they are efficient at getting goods to a store but not to the floor---but if you see them in a logistics lens, it's obvious how they got themselves in this position and why they seem unresponsive to "normal" processes of running a store.
Jack Welch's failed model of management also led to the collapse of Albertsons Inc. Larry Johnston came from GE's European division and I'm sure applied the GE model of management.
I'd say Walmart today is like Sears or Kmart 30 years ago. At its peak, but could start to do major store purges in 10 years. My question is, what ailing retailer will we talk about once Sears/Kmart is toast?
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 29th, 2021, 8:45 pm
Jack Welch's failed model of management also led to the collapse of Albertsons Inc. Larry Johnston came from GE's European division and I'm sure applied the GE model of management.
I'd say Walmart today is like Sears or Kmart 30 years ago. At its peak, but could start to do major store purges in 10 years. My question is, what ailing retailer will we talk about once Sears/Kmart is toast?
Department store chains will continue to be a topic, and I think drugstore chains are going to hit an ugly period in the next few years.

Also I think the dollar store sector may continue to be a topic.

We will see what happens with Wal Mart. Looking at their stores the past 9 months it feels like they are poised to fail. But I don't think they will fail.
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Re: Is 2021 finally the end for Sears/Kmart?

Post by jipper »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: November 12th, 2021, 2:24 pm Kmart's last store in NYC is closing: https://hudsonvalleypost.com/6-popular- ... on-valley/
I heard that this Bronx Kmart was very profitable for them. With "profitable" stores like Grass Valley and NYC now getting the axe, I expect them to pull out of the continental US within 4 months.

Stores left in the continental US:
Hamilton, MT
Miami, FL
Key West, FL
Avenel, NJ
Westwood, NJ
Bridgehampton, NY
Please add Orlando FL; at The Florida Mall; but only open 11am - 7pm? Sears Florida Mall page
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