Posted on 01/09/2014 2:09:59 PM PST by Hojczyk
Sears, once America's golden retailer, is a company in crisis.
The company has shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years. The embattled company has been selling some its most profitable stores to raise money.
And now, shares are tumbling after Sears lowered guidance for the quarter and announced that comparable sales in the fourth quarter have slid more than 7%.
Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, took poignant photos inside of New Jersey and New York Sears locations in October.
"To understand why Sears is in a 'sell stores mode' one must look no further than the stores themselves, where the truth is to be found," Sozzi writes.
His photos show the sad reality of what Sears is today.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Sears stores have ALWAYS been BORING and utilitarian. They were/are this countries version of the GUM store in Moscow at its worst. Sears always felt dead-drab-something was missing. Merchandise was ok-but the catalog stuff was better. Now, with all the Amazon and online shopping they should close the stores and go back to catalog sales. They ruled that market back when.
We are going to see retail, in general, take a HUGE hit in 2014, resulting in millions more unemployed, in waves that will create a domino effect across all economic sectors. This is due to 0bamacare, and the result that the “middle class†who buy the everyday goods at stores like Sears and Macy’s, will have NO MONEY left to use after paying their health insurance premiums. This is my prediction, but just IMHO. I think the last “recession†is going to look mild compared to the next one.
for later
I was in Sears around Christmas time looking at tools. I didn’t buy any, as much of the Craftsman branded stuff is now made in China, but the prices haven’t changed.
There were more employees lurking around than customers.
Mixed feelings...used to spend a LOT of time at Sears with my folks as a kid. Dad LOVED the Craftsman line of tools and I’m pretty sure he had every single one.
I remember Mom buying washers, dryers, vacuum cleaners and every other large and small appliance you can imagine.
What happened, I wonder? I know this has been a decades-long slide, but it’s hard to believe that it couldn’t be reversed when it first started.
This was a publicly traded company, right? This isn’t a ‘Third Generation Thing’ where the family members are just using the brand as a cash cow...or are they?
Here's your problem - back assward thinking.
You don't sell the profitable stores, you sell off the dogs and put *more* money where you already have a winner.
Selling your winners to back your losers is just dumb.
The next couple of years are going to be a NIGHTMARE.
I’m pretty much broke and worrying my butt off 24/7.
THANK GOD I never had children, I worry for my poor niece and nephew though....
Sears closed down catalog sales in the mid-1990s just as every other retailer was moving to the newfangled internet.
My first job was selling automotive products as a brand new Sears store in 1977. At that time they had brought in career sales staff from across the nation and who came from the original Sears mold, dedicated, loyal, and who knew their product was the best on the market. I was 17 and making $2.75/hr. + 3% sales commission. and would routinely bring home $200 + a week.
Walk into a Sears store today and its virtually empty of sales staff who know little to nothing about the product.
They merged with K-Mart a few years back, and from what I gather, the current CEO has no retail experience whatsoever.
He’s a hedge-fund manager.
Well, there ya go!
Lampert is bleeding them white.
I was in a Lands End/Sears store last week.
The place looks like it hasn’t been remodeled since the 80s.
It's amazing that they ceased their catalog operations just when online and catalog shopping were beoming even more popular.
The other one that was predictably good was Spiegal, before they were bought out by a German company that went from the practical merchandise that would be used for years to more stylish lower quality selections.
Then there's KMart which makes me want to SCREAM. Plenty of people want an alternative to WalMart. If KMart went to a Made in the USA format instead of having almost all Chinese crap it would be really popular.
How can these companies be as stupid as they are?
Those same sights are visible in businesses across America as stores and employees and most importantly consumers have given up all hope for prosperity under Obama.
Any efforts to improve Sears would be little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
When I was a kid in Sears I would run straight to the riding lawnmower section and drool over the mini-bikes and go-carts in the catalog.......when I wasn’t drooling over the womens bra section that is. lol.
I still shop Sears for appliances. It’s the only place where the salespeople seem to know their beehinds from a hole in the ground, at least at the one I go to. Same with delivery & installation.
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