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Sears to close more stores as holiday sales slump
reuters ^ | 12/27/2011 | Reuters

Posted on 12/27/2011 5:20:29 AM PST by tobyhill

Sears Holdings Corp will close up to 120 stores in its Kmart and namesake chains, blaming poor sales of consumer electronics so far this holiday season and saying it would focus its energy on its better performing stores.

Sales at Sears Holdings, whose chairman and top shareholder is hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, have fallen every year since it was formed through the merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005.

And so far this holiday season, the drop has continued. Same-store sales at Kmart were down 4.4 percent in the current quarter through Christmas Day, and down 6 percent at Sears' U.S. stores. Companywide, they were down 5.2 percent, the company said on Tuesday.

Sears said that typically, it would keep "marginally performing" stores open to give them time to improve, but "we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment."

The store closings follow its announcement last quarter it would shutter 10 stores. Kmart and Sears have a combined 2,177 U.S. full service locations and another 500 in Canada.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


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To: SunTzuWu

K-Mart AND NAMESAKE stores.
I assume that “namesake” means stores that bear the SEARS logo.

I went to SEARS in Santa Monica a couple of weeks before Christmas to find something I couldn’t find anywhere else, and put my dibs on some great clothing items, intending to go back this week. I wondered afterward how long they will stay around.

Sad to see them finally close down. When my mother was a little country girl back in the day, they ordered a lot from the infamous SEARS catalog.


81 posted on 12/27/2011 12:23:54 PM PST by La Enchiladita (Newt says amnesty isn't amnesty.)
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To: Think free or die

I think you can now get Craftsman tools at Ace Hardware.


82 posted on 12/27/2011 12:28:21 PM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: tobyhill

I just find it odd. We have a great Christmas shopping season, a real record breaker. But two traditional flagship stores are trimming fat due to poor sales. Now I have been in Sears and K-Mart, and they haven’t changed all that much over the past few years. My hunch is the much vaunted Christmas shopping season wasn’t nearly as good as they are advertising. We seen a lot of shenanigans in employment and housing numbers lately. Christmas shopping numbers would even be easier to fudge, in my opinion. Reported sales numbers are one thing, but store closings are a better indicator of the economy. I don’t root for bad economic numbers, I am just getting wary of the crappy economic reporting being perpetrated by the Obama cheerleaders.


83 posted on 12/27/2011 2:26:08 PM PST by fhayek
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To: no-to-illegals

I think the numbers are all rigged.

People are blowing out the last of their credit cards because they know they are going to be cut off.

Remember the real estate tracking regarding home sales just confessed all the numbers regarding sales were fabricated.

Obama is riding high on this blib of a tax cut. He and his democrats are too stupid to realize people will know the tax cut is fake as there losing their jobs.

150 stores closing 150 store’s worth of jobs gone. 150 stores with no delivers, no need for goods, no need for sales people to meet with buyers, 150 stores that corporate will buy less products for, 150 stores that will not anchor other stores, other restaurants, AND SOMEHOW msnbc, FNC, CNN and even MSNBC (with their DNC overseers) will report all is well.


84 posted on 12/27/2011 3:25:34 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: fhayek
We seen a lot of shenanigans in employment and housing numbers lately. Christmas shopping numbers would even be easier to fudge, in my opinion. Reported sales numbers are one thing, but store closings are a better indicator of the economy.

You nailed it. What I see in the streets and the stores doesn't jive with what is "reported" and so I have wondered about how they are coming up with their magic numbers. For one thing, inventory was down in all the stores I shopped in. I'd say about 1/3 to 1/2 of what I've seen pre-Christmas in years past. I didn't see extra help or long lines to make purchases, get gift wrap, etc. At the P.O., folks were mailing one or two packages. It was a very pared-down holiday season from what I could see, and I live in one of the biggest metropoli in the country.

85 posted on 12/27/2011 4:18:06 PM PST by La Enchiladita (Newt says amnesty isn't amnesty.)
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To: wbill

stanly makes craftsman...


86 posted on 12/27/2011 4:21:40 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: EBH

sorry but you can and people do file bankruptcy and keep everything.

keep all their furniture,
keep their home.

If there is a secured lien on their cars that tracks the value of the car then you keep the car(s) too.

The only thing lost is the debt. If a person files ch 7 the credit card companies send then applications within 2 months of FILING. shortly round 12 months their credit scores go UP!

there is little downside to clearing out debt in a bankruptcy and finding a second chance. Remember, bankruptcy law is established in the body of the constitution.


87 posted on 12/27/2011 4:31:46 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: fhayek
Christmas shopping numbers would even be easier to fudge, in my opinion. Reported sales numbers are one thing, but store closings are a better indicator of the economy. I don’t root for bad economic numbers, I am just getting wary of the crappy economic reporting being perpetrated by the Obama cheerleaders.

They are easy to fudge until the numbers start rolling during the financial reports for the publicly traded companies. Obama's administration has a very brief window where they can pretend everything is doing just fine.
88 posted on 12/27/2011 5:25:58 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: longtermmemmory

Certainly has been a banner year for media lies.


89 posted on 12/28/2011 5:38:21 AM PST by no-to-illegals (Please God, Protect and Bless Our Men and Women in Uniform with Victory. Amen.)
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To: SamAdams76
I would rather pay a little more and get better quality goods at specialty stores or online.

Oh, believe me - if one goes out in public wearing Sears or K-Mart clothes, people will take notice. :)

Sears is suffering the worst effects of a problem that all department stores and even many shopping malls have currently: they were designed in a time when women had half a day or more to shop. Today's shopper is pressed for time, and older. A trip to a department store or mall is often an exhausting and frustrating experience. The specialty store is closer to home, has easier parking, and likely can supply the exact item wanted and at higher quality - even if the cost is higher. Wealthier people, who value their time more than a few extra dollars and can spend enough to keep your store in business, will usually pass on the mall experience. The kind of people who wait in lines at Best Buy for two days before Black Friday...well, a store really can't ever cut its costs and lower its prices enough to satisfy that demographic. But Sears and the others seem to be trying.

One of the things department store chains must attempt to survive is to reorganize as miniature malls full of specialty stores with in-demand branded merchandise. Saks Fifth Avenue already looks like this - others will follow.

90 posted on 12/28/2011 5:57:57 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves (CTRL-GALT-DELETE)
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To: longtermmemmory
I think the numbers are all rigged.
People are blowing out the last of their credit cards because they know they are going to be cut off.

I work in bankruptcy law, and I think you are right on. I expect a flood of BKs after the new year.

91 posted on 12/28/2011 3:58:56 PM PST by truthkeeper (Vote Against Barack Obama in 2012! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.))
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Twenty years ago, when my wife was pregnant with our first child, she was placed into bed-rest had to quit her job and we had some tough financial times. Sears set our account to zero minimum payment for a year and wished us well.

As a result, for the next 10+ years, everything from my kids clothes to our household appliances were all from Sears. We had best customer status, and the first place we went to buy stuff was Sears.

Then one day, when we needed a new riding lawn mower... we paid down our Sears card and later that week went in to pick out our new lawnmower. Declined. They had lowered our card limit just after we paid it down. When we asked why they would do that to a long term customer... we were informed that Sears had broken everything up into small different units, and the the new finance unit had new policies in place and blah blah blah, they had no problem doing a long term customer wrong. Our next lawnmower came from Lowes.

My wife has a saying that if a business will treat you wrong... they’re treating other customers wrong and they won’t last. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to dance on the grave of several big businesses who did us wrong. Montgomery Wards, Norwest Mortguage and several others.

Make stupid decisions... go out of business.


92 posted on 12/28/2011 4:30:42 PM PST by csivils
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