Sears Goes Bankrupt, Mired in Debt and Deserted by Shoppers

[Applewood]

Sears Goes Bankrupt, Mired in Debt and Deserted by Shoppers

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, early Monday and said Eddie Lampert is stepping down immediately as chief executive officer. At the same time, Lampert’s ESL Investments Inc. is negotiating a financing deal while also discussing buying “a large portion of the company’s store base,” Sears said in a statemen

Excerpt.  More at:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/sears-said-to-be-filing-for-bankruptcy-protection-monday-morning?srnd=premium

[Applewood]

Even Stevie Wonder could see this coming.  Tragic, but the company brought it on itself.

[DCPatriot]

Even Stevie Wonder could see this coming.  Tragic, but the company brought it on itself.

If only somebody could get them to re-ignite Craftsman Home Kits.     




http://www.google.com/search?q=sears+craftsman+house+plans&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6i7vrvYjeAhUGneAKHY3PDCAQsAR6BAgDEAE&biw=1920&bih=1035

[240B]

The saddest part of this story is that Sears was the first online store in the world. The Sears Order Catalog was the 1800s equivalent to what Amazon is to us today. It is simply amazing that anyone could screw that up. But, somehow they did?

[Frank Cannon]

This worthless dinosaur should have been dead years ago. Who cares.

[DCPatriot]

The saddest part of this story is that Sears was the first online store in the world. The Sears Order Catalog was the 1800s equivalent to what Amazon is to us today. It is simply amazing that anyone could screw that up. But, somehow they did?

   You're absolutely right! 

[DCPatriot]

This worthless dinosaur should have been dead years ago. Who cares.

That's the type of remark my grandson, born in 2001, might say about McDonald's some day.

Baby Boomers and our parents and grandparents grew up with Sears.

[Frank Cannon]

That's the type of remark my grandson, born in 2001, might say about McDonald's some day.

Baby Boomers and our parents and grandparents grew up with Sears.

And McDonalds should die a quick death too. Instead of focusing on their core business which is making delicious burgers and fries in a timely fashion, they want to be something to everyone. That means they ruin their fries because health nuts were angry. It means making shitty salads because Commies were angry. It means making Halal dishes because rag heads are angry. Burger King and Wendy's focused on making the products that made them national with great success.

Sears is the same story. They were a company that sold shit to people until a guy who had no retail experience. Eddie Lampert, took over and turned it into a data mining operation. Ever wonder why you were asked 58 questions to buy gum at Sears or K-Mart? It's because a major part of their income was selling that information instead of selling the shit in their stores. They should have died years ago with that bullshit. I don't particularly pine for American Motors vehicles, I don't particularly pine for Author Treacher's fish sandwiches and I don't particularly pine for a Kenmore trash compactor. 

[mountaineer]

It was a go-to place for household appliances, lawn equipment, tires and things like that for those of us who don't live in large metropolitan areas. We just had the Sears repair guy out last week to fix our Craftsman lawn tractor. 

[Frank Cannon]

We just had the Sears repair guy out last week to fix our Craftsman lawn tractor. 

Wow. A Crapsman lawn tractor failing. That's unheard of. 

[mountaineer]

Wow. A Crapsman lawn tractor failing. That's unheard of. 

It's 10 years old. Not surprising the belt would break. Otherwise, it's been a workhorse.

[DCPatriot]

And McDonalds should die a quick death too. Instead of focusing on their core business which is making delicious burgers and fries in a timely fashion, they want to be something to everyone. That means they ruin their fries because health nuts were angry. It means making shitty salads because Commies were angry. It means making Halal dishes because rag heads are angry. Burger King and Wendy's focused on making the products that made them national with great success.

Sears is the same story. They were a company that sold shit to people until a guy who had no retail experience. Eddie Lampert, took over and turned it into a data mining operation. Ever wonder why you were asked 58 questions to buy gum at Sears or K-Mart? It's because a major part of their income was selling that information instead of selling the shit in their stores. They should have died years ago with that bullshit. I don't particularly pine for American Motors vehicles, I don't particularly pine for Author Treacher's fish sandwiches and I don't particularly pine for a Kenmore trash compactor.

 

One 30 second walk from the parking lot thru the store to the mall boulevard 'hallway' tells you everything that's wrong with Sears.

[mountaineer]

It's hard to find a shopping mall, many of which formerly were anchored by Sears, that isn't also dying.

[Frank Cannon]

It's hard to find a shopping mall, many of which formerly were anchored by Sears, that isn't also dying.

That isn't true. There are many malls flourishing despite what Zero Hedge and others pimp. The one common denominator with a failing mall is a dying town. It's not Sears dying or other anchor stores that is killing malls. It's the area dying that is killing malls. 

[mountaineer]

IowaHawk has a thread going on Twitter where he shows the products Sears used to sell, from cars to motorscooters to musical instruments.

Really interesting.

RIP Sears, Roebuck & Co... a little thread to salute some of the stuff they sold in their catalogs. First, the Allstate car (basically a rebadged Kaiser Henry J)  ...

[Frank Cannon]

IowaHawk has a thread going on Twitter where he shows the products Sears used to sell, from cars to motorscooters to musical instruments.

Really interesting.

Problem is those Allstate products were garbage.

[Texas Yellow Rose]

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.   

[dfwgator]

Oldest rule in business:

"Adapt, or die!"

[mountaineer]

Oldest rule in business:

"Adapt, or die!"

There's a factory in my town that started out over 120 years ago making pickle jars. Now it's one of the world's leading manufacturers of safety cans, safety cabinets and poly drums. They adapted from glass to metal and plastic - and currently are looking to hire more workers.

[RoosGirl]

That isn't true. There are many malls flourishing despite what Zero Hedge and others pimp. The one common denominator with a failing mall is a dying town. It's not Sears dying or other anchor stores that is killing malls. It's the area dying that is killing malls.

In my area the malls failing are the ones that have not bothered to remodel in the last 30 years or allow groups of unsavory characters to hang out.

[mountaineer]

In my area the malls failing are the ones that have not bothered to remodel in the last 30 years or allow groups of unsavory characters to hang out.

That's a big part of it. Older shoppers won't go someplace they don't feel safe.

[DCPatriot]

Problem is that we're at a stage in our electronic culture where specialty boutiques and 4 different athletic shoe stores can't pay the rents.

That's why the 'New Mall' is the "Major Brand Outlets".

...which are mostly bullshit made-up sales on merchandise specially purchased to offer 'off price'.

Went into a Zegna store last month...saw a lightweight v-neck sweater in light mauve.   Their discounted price was $795.

Screw that.   Can't afford to do that anymore.

[INVAR]

They were a company that sold shit to people until a guy who had no retail experience. Eddie Lampert, took over and turned it into a data mining operation.

True, but more than that- he became head of Sears in a hostile takeover, and essentially made himself richer by running the company into the ground as his other 'investment firms' constantly loaned Sears money  - and of course the selling off of assets as lambert chopped up the company and left what remained to literally rot made him even more money.  He did the same to Kmart which his new company 'Sears Holdings' bought and proceeded to run into the ground as well. 

Lambert from my reading, is a Class A Jerk and is essentially what Richard Gere was in Pretty Woman; an investor that took over vulnerable companies and cut up their assets and sold them off to make even more money.

[INVAR]

We just had the Sears repair guy out last week to fix our Craftsman lawn tractor.

Three years ago the John Deere tractor mower we owned for 12 years to mow 2.3 acres, failed.  Limited on what I would spend for another mower, I ended up getting a Crafstman at the Sears store near me (before it was closed a year and a half ago) for cash. 

It was a monster lemon of a machine that literally broke down in the middle of my first mowing.  The transmission drive cable came loose and rendered the hand controls useless.  Turns out the mower was a repainted cheap-end Husqvarna.  'Craftsman' simply private label repackaged it in their name.  Had a 'Sears repair service' come from 3 hours away to service it - and he became a regular feature for the ensuing two mowing seasons.  The mower was more powerful than the metal in the chassis could properly handle and the vibration literally 'shook' loose every nut, bolt, belt and fastener as it mowed.  Notwithstanding it did not mow or cut the grass as nicely as the Deere did that we once had.

The resonant frequency of the engine vibration literally cracked the pylons and the rings holding the mower deck to the bottom of the chassis and the deck fell off by the beginning of season 3.  Well, the Sears Service guy no longer worked for Sears and the closest repair service guy to me was a 5 hour drive away and required me to bring the mower to him.  I have no trailer, so that option was a non-starter.

So... I did what I should've done three years ago - I ponied up the dough and bought a John Deere.   It's like going from a Dodge Gremlin to a Lexus.  This season's mowing has been a joy and the grounds never looked better.

What was interesting to learn in this ordeal was that Craftsman was simply stamping their name on other name brand products that were cheaper or Chinese junk in the era of Lampert.

[Applewood]

@INVAR

My late father  bought all of his lawnmowers from Sears, except for the last one.  His last mower from Sears was called "Eager One."  The nower had a pull cord to start it, but Dad could pull on it for 20 minutes and the mower wouldn't start.  He joked that the mower was an eager one all right -- eager to stay in the shed and not do any mowing. 

I don't know the brand of Dad's last mower, but he bought it at Home Depot.  I do know that mower ran well for years and after Dad passed, my brother used it for sometime thereafter.