Sears aims to close up to 150 stores in bankruptcy, sources say

Al Rooters ^ | Oct 11, 2018

[robowombat]

Source: Reuters

Sears is planning to close up to 150 of its department and discount stores and keep at least 300 open as part of a plan to restructure under U.S. bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The plans, which remained in flux Friday afternoon, would leave the fate of Sears' remaining roughly 250 stores uncertain, the sources said. The future of the stores could hinge on Sears' negotiations with landlords over their leases.

[RandallFlagg]

Sooo, would it be too soon to wonder if I should go see if Sears will have cheap tools for sale?

[snoringbear]

“Sears is a textbook example of what happens when MBAs take over a business.”

For sure. Sears created the Amazon model over a century ago. Bezos had the genius to adapt it for the 21st century. Think of it, process;
Search for item. Sears, review catalog. Amazon review database
Order entry. Sears, fill out form. Amazon, fill out order screen.
Place order. Sears, mail form. Amazon, hit enter.
Order fulfillment. Essentially same, Amazon utilizes current technology.
Shipment. Sears originally utilized USPS. Amazon utilizes UPS, FEDEX.

[Larry Lucido]

Then they built that tower in 1970.

I remember visiting in 1974 and looking at the directory in the lobby. Couldn’t find “Sporting Goods.”

108 floors of prime real estate and I couldn’t even shop there?

[snoringbear]

“Sears quit selling guns a few months after you bought your rifle.” I’m 73; raised during my early years in my grandfathers farm in east Texas. Basically, subsistence living. Anyway, I can recall in the 50’s the arrival of the Sears and Roebuck catalog was a big event (as was Montgomery Wards). The women of the family would huddle around it and go through it page by page. Btw, back in those days Sears sold guns, boats, motors, cars, houses, and my favorite item which I couldn’t afford and never owned, an Allstate motor scooter. Oh well, too late now 😏...

[Fresh Wind]

My friend bought some new kitchen appliances from Sears some years ago. The delivery and installation experience was a nightmare for him. I’ve more recently used Lowe’s. No problems at all.

[Fresh Wind]

As a kid, the annual Christmas catalog was required reading!

[bgill]

One thing, their appliances and other housewares got to be too expensive.

[bert]

Three hundred stores is probably not enough to have the buying power to remain competative

[P8riot]

So, if Sears finally dies, who is going to honor their Craftsman tool lifetime warranty? I have amassed a fair collection over the last 50 years, but haven’t bought any in the last 20 years since I could just exchange what was broken.

[Vigilanteman]

Someone will be around to honor the Craftsman tool brand warranty, just not Sears. They spun off that brand a couple of years ago and are merely a distributor now.

As you probably know, the same warranty is offered on Pittsburgh brand hand tools from Harbor Freight, which produces a quality well short of Craftsman but adequate for the occasional handyman. I can buy a whole set of Pittsburgh drivers for the price of one from Craftsman. If I were a pro, I'd probably pay the extra for Craftsman.

[Carriage Hill]

The Sears in York (PA) is gone, after many, many years. Too bad.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Sears does not want to do this. Their creditors are forcing the issue.

[hanamizu]

The CEO bought KMart for the real estate.

---

I believe it was the other way round—K-Mart bought Sears for the real estate. About 10 or so years ago, our local Sears moved into a brand-new building and called itself ‘Sears Grand’. You drive by and there might be 6 or 7 customers’ cars in the parking lot. If you go in you feel like you are in the building by yourself. Our local K-Mart will close next month and I have no doubt our Sears will soon follow.
My first rifle was a JC Higgins .22. As others have said, just about anything up to and including houses were for sale at Sears.

[rollo tomasi]

So who will oversee Sear's capital structuring, cashiers?

The decisions that doomed Sears all happened in the Board room, not middle-management.

[snoringbear]

“As a kid, the annual Christmas catalog was required reading!”

For sure! Now that I’ve thought about it; I did get one Christmas present from Sears that I badly wanted, a Red Rider BB gun!

[Carriage Hill]

My Dad bought me a $37.95 Mossberg 144LS .22cal bolt action in 1958 there, and I used it in NRA competition in the BSA for years. Still have it in pristine condition.

Can’t find any 5-rnd replacement mags for it, though. Last working mag on eBay went for $225 and I just missed it. Mine still functions, but occasionally jams.

[GreenHornet]

In the early 1950s, Sears once sold their own brand of automobile, the Sears Allstate. It was a rebadged Henry J built by Kaiser Motors.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Until it closed my local Sears was checking customers out with an iPad connected to an IBM register from the late 1980’s. Weird.

[Yo-Yo]

Time to pull the plug, Sears. The disease was terminal when you bought/were bought by/merged with K-mart.

Having a booming catalog business, you failed to leverage that expertise to the online market, and got left behind.

[Seruzawa]

They have MBAs too.