Is Sears Dying a Slow Death?

Fox Business ^ | DECEMBER 9, 2016

[Hojczyk]

Sears (SHLD), the 130-year-old American icon, can’t find a way to stop the bleeding.

The floundering retailer has closed hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores, cut costs and borrowed millions of dollars from CEO Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund to keep the business going. Sears invested in its online store and a loyalty program, Shop Your Way, in hopes of regaining its footing, but customers have yet to return in droves.

On Thursday, Sears reported its fifth quarterly loss in a row, and sales continued their downward trend. Sears also revealed that it will accelerate plans to shutter underperforming stores. Jason Hollar, Sears’ chief financial officer, said there’s no guarantee when the company can return to profitability.

Sears, which is based in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Ill., traces its history back to 1886. Sears, Roebuck & Co. grew to become the largest retailer in America, competing with retail heavyweights of the day like Macy’s (M) and J.C. Penney (JCP).

The retailer was widely known for its catalogs, but that business fell out of favor by the 1990s. With the brick-and-mortar business also struggling, Kmart—controlled by Lampert’s firm, ESL Investments—acquired Sears in a $12 billion merger in 2005. Sears Holdings is now the 20th-largest retailer in the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation Opens a New Window. .

[Husker8877]

Me too, right to the women’s foundation underwear section.

I learned what a woman actually looked like through that catalogue! (Well, that and the National Geographic—the African village section!)

[VideoDoctor]

Going.. Going.. GONE!

[Alas Babylon!]

Microsoft bought Nokia a few years ago.

[Deplorable American1776]

If it dies, malls will never survive. How many Macy’s can you have as anchor stores? If Sears got spun off from KMart, I think it could turn around. I was with Caldors when it went out and besides the employees, it hurt the towns they were in, customers and the shopping centers. I seen empty Caldors, Headless and Ames stores to this date. Wish I could see Wards, G. Fox and Sage-Allen back in business. It still is....on my railroad layout.

[Deplorable American1776]

Headless is not a store, it’s supposed to be BRADLEE’S...stupid phone...

[MarkL]

Maybe if they put guns and ammo back in their catalogs they’d improve sales.

The feds would need to repeal the GCA of 1968 in order to allow mail order and interstate sales of firearms, otherwise you'd have to go through an in-state dealer.

Though ammo would work.

Mark

[MarkL]

Sears symbolizes America when America was great.I very sincerely hope that they can be saved.

I agree. It makes me sad to see what's happened to Sears. For me, and nearly everyone with whom I grew up, getting a Sears credit card was one of the first financial decisions, learning to use it responsibly. My first purchase was a Craftsman tool set, and later, after I bought my first house, I bought a washer, dryer, and microwave from Sears. Twenty two years later, when I sold the house, it included all three, still working perfectly!

Mark

[OldMissileer]

...the big attraction for us kids was that going into the store from the back parking lot there was a donut-making concession just inside the doors. I can still smell those freshly made donuts covered with delicious pink icing. Those were the good old days.

When I was a kid our local Sears store had a candy/cookie counter in the middle of the main aisle.

We were far from being rich so once in awhile my parents would splurge and buy a five pound bag of their Devils Food Cookies. With seven of us in our family they didn't last long but those cookies from Sears are one of my fondest memories.

[Wonder Warthog]

"My dad gave me a Craftsman metric ratchet set in 81 still have and use it though I did lose a few pieces over the years.

Heh...back in high school (Junior year-early 1960's), my dad gave me a Craftsman socket set and a Nash Metropolitan he had bought for $300. He said "when you have rebuilt it to my satisfaction, you can drive it." I did rebuild it, and drove it, but it still had some intermittent fuel feed problems.

Turns out that the one part that I did not rebuild (the carburetor...dad had a mechanic friend he worked with do that). So I finally pulled the carb...it turns out that this "superior" mechanic had put the float in upside down.

Still have the socket set and all the sockets. Still works just fine. Not the Metropolitan, though...... :^)

[bert]

How many students can ride home from school in a Metropolitan?

[Wonder Warthog]

"How many students can ride home from school in a Metropolitan?"

Usually only one (deep country...homes FAR apart). But on occasion we did stuff six into it. Y'gotta be REALLY good friends, though.

[bert]

I was very small and was poked into the small space behind the back seat

[Wonder Warthog]

"You can use the model and serial numbers to determine which company made your Kenmore appliance and where. There are internet sites that decode the numbers."

Good info! Turns out in my case that only the Kenmore microwave was made in China...the fridge was from Mexico, and the dishwasher apparently from Canada.

[Wonder Warthog]

"I was very small and was poked into the small space behind the back seat"

Back window "dish" in first year model Corvair.