“Eddie Lambert the CEO is a hedge fund guy who has been paying in (This is an example, not exact numbers.) 60 cents on the dollar in cash and debt and taking out $1.00 in real estate sales, selling brands etc.”
Sounds bad but could we say the basic problem is that customers have found other places to do their shopping?
Adapt or die.
Consumers may have found other places to do shopping, which they did, but Toys R Us detractors said the same thing. Meanwhile the private equity firm that took on Toys R Us saddled it with billions in debt the ompany didn’t have before hand until it collapsed.
However the intellectual property and of Toys R Us is still valued near a billion dollars, the same can’t be said of Sears.
The demise of Sears was as much planned and moved along from the inside as it was subject to market forces.