18 Depressing Photos That Show Why Sales Are Crumbling At Sears

Yahoo Finance ^ | January 9, 2014 | Ashely Lutz

[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.

[beaversmom]

You know who knows how to do retail? Kohl’s. They have got it down!

[beaversmom]

Sears Holdings Falls After Forecasting Quarterly Loss http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-09/sears-holdings-falls-after-forecasting-fourth-quarter-loss.html

[beaversmom]

Sears Slumps In Appliances As Kenmore Fails To Attract Millennial Shoppers
http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2014/01/09/sears-slumps-in-appliances-as-kenmore-fails-to-attract-millennial-shoppers/

[beaversmom]

Viral Photos Put Sears On The Defensive
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/photos-sears_n_4550528.html

[beaversmom]

I’m not snooty, but totally don’t get the Duck Dynasty deal. I’m not saying you DD folks are wrong. Understand what I’m saying. It just hasn’t reached me yet. But I’ve been known to have been wrong MANY times and have changed my thoughts accordingly. ;)

[Mad Dawgg]

Men shop at sears for tools and such. its the only thing keeping them open.

[beaversmom]

I got a Duck Dynasty throw for Christmas. Yep, with the four faces.

lol... Do they have a pink one in snuggie style?

[RedHeeler]

The only thing keepin’ Sears open, is “see you next Thursday”, punks- who already sold their Daddy’s Tools.

[beaversmom]

Now the pink on black shirt sounds kinda cool. Coming back from Lubbock in November stopped at a tractor supply store and got a pink John Deere shirt...kinda went a little red neckery there for a moment. :)

[kearnyirish2]

My wife loves Kohl’s; I’ve only been in there a few times (when she is looking for something). I don’t shop much; I’ve been to Wal-Mart, but you’ve got to be there early when it isn’t packed. I don’t see how any stores can compete with them; our K-Mart has been practically deserted since they opened, and an increasing number of people there are buying groceries (which doesn’t bode well for our Shop-Rite - our Pathmark has already closed).

[kearnyirish2]

“Sears Slumps In Appliances As Kenmore Fails To Attract Millennial Shoppers”

I think a lot of companies that used to cater to people setting up households are feeling the pinch; once people aren’t starting families and setting up “homes” (buying houses or renting apartments for a spouse and children), then sales in many things (as basic as kitchen utensils) will drop off.

Illegal aliens play a key role (in government’s mind) to preventing this stagnation; they are viewed as a necessary evil to keep this type of economy moving.

[Category Four]

I hear ya, the Sears in Davenport IA resembles nothing so much as a ghost town.

Across the river, in Moline IL ... that one's closed, with a smaller adjunct store going in at a different location, but no one knows quite yet when.

[Ditter]

LOL! Are you my brother? :)

[MD Expat in PA]

My dad, who was a master carpenter, used to go to Sears for the Craftsman tools; they used to be very good and had a lifetime warranty. But as a teenager in the 70’s, even back then I thought their clothes were kind of frumpy and unstylish. The little kid’s clothes were OK, but it seemed to me that they had nothing in between kids and “clothes your grandmother wears to BINGO night”. LOL!

Back in the early 80’s just after I got married, my husband and I went to Sears to buy an electric lawnmower that was advertized on sale. We had a townhouse with a small, “postage sized” front and back yard and a small electric mower was all we needed. We found the mower on display at the advertized sale price but when we asked the salesman, he told us “it was out of stock”. Then he tried to up sell us a larger, much more expensive one. When we asked if we could get a rain check for the mower we wanted at the sale price, he told us “no, it’s discontinued”. When we asked if he could sell us the one on display, he said, “no, I’m not allowed to do that”. We walked out and bought a mower somewhere else but not before I very loudly said, “I guess Sears is still pulling the bait and switch scam that got them in hot water a few years ago.”

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19740711&id=4e8vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s_oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7232,2612432

I had not been back in a Sears store until a few years ago when I got a $25 gift card as a going away present at my last job. I went to Sears a few times but honestly couldn’t find anything I wanted to buy with my gift card until I had to replace an old frying pan. The store didn’t look quite as depressing and shabby as the one in the pics but it was sort of depressing and had few customers. I think there is still $10 on that gift card and that was 6 years ago.