Posted on 12/04/2014 12:42:34 PM PST by Hojczyk
Sears shares fell Thursday, after the struggling department store announced an adjusted net loss of $296 million—in line with the updated guidance it gave in November.
The retailer also said it's accelerating the number of stores it plans to close this year, boosting its list from the 130 underperforming stores it announced in its second-quarter earnings release, to a total of 235 stores.
Analysts called the move a step in the right direction for the company, which has been tapping into its real estate in creative ways to compensate for downward-spiraling sales. Still, they said the haircut won't be enough on its own to turn the tide at Sears, adding that it needs to close even more stores—and figure out how to become profitable.
According to Retail Metrics, Sears hasn't posted a quarterly profit since fourth quarter 2012.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
we’ve moved a lot over the past ten years and every city had a mall with a Sears. All I can say is Sears has the best parking, we could always get a spot near a door because nobody is in there. It was always the best place to use the reading room because nobody was ever using them. Sometimes there were more employees on the floor than customers.
I think you just brought back a memory I haven't recalled for 50+ years.
They sold off everything at 80% off... and all the vultures took their pickings. They even sold off all the retail infrastructure... display cases, clothing racks, shelving... even the kitchen equipment in the little luncheonette they had. I went in there 2 weeks ago and it was just awful... that store was an anchor store in a dying mall... that used to be a center of commerce. It's sad.
I will always have fond memories of Sears because when I was growing up, that was the big store that had everything. Back in those days, you didn't just say Sears, you said Sears & Roebuck. They also used to ship these catalogs each year to pretty much every home in America that were the size of phone books. Which is amazing when you think about it. Every house in America! I also believe my very first credit card was a Sears card. I was about 20 years old when I got one and I used to feel like a big shot whipping it out as I purchased my Craftsman tools and Levis. I think I had a $250 limit on it but it seemed like a lot at the time.
The Craftsman brand is already being diluted as it's now available at Ace Hardware stores across the country.
The "big money" in Sears Holdings happens to be primarily in real-estate, followed by their more popular brands including "Craftsman" and "Kenmore."
Craftsman hand tools are top notch, especially with the lifetime guarantee. The Craftsman power tools not so much.
As for the "Kenmore" brand -- anyone who's ever worked for Sears as I have (ironically doing repairs on washers, dryers, dishwashers as I was putting myself through college) knows that "Kenmore" is really nothing more than cheapened Whirlpool appliances as they were made by Whirlpool -- at least in the mid 1980's when I worked for Sears.
“spreadsheet monkey”
I am so stealing that! I know a bunch of those guys in our company.
Hmmm... As one of those Sears repairmen in the mid 1980's I can tell you factually that wasn't true (at least back then.)
That's because "Kenmore" washers and dryers are nothing more than re-branded Whirlpool machines manufactured to a Sears (cheapened) specification.
Anyone with a lick of sense would steer well away from the "Kenmore" brand.
Since the bookstore was closed, Sears is the only place in my local mall where I can hang out while my wife shops. Bummer if it closes.
I think my memory was about 15 years after that, but I sure love that little candy shop. mmmmmmmmm
Sears’ Wish Book was the high point of my kids’ Christmases-—many nice memories.
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My experience today at Sears (in Cape Cod):
We made the rounds of several stores, looking for an artificial Xmas tree (please, contain your laughter, after several decades of cleaning up needles and spilled water, we crossed over to the dark side). Sears had a pretty good selection, so we made a purchase. We were told to go to the merchandise pickup area, as it was a fairly large box, held in storage. The person in front of us was told that, although they had sold it to her, it wasn't in the store, but it was "at the Warehouse, somewhere down the street past the Sherman Williams paint store." Off she went.
Our turn came, and they couldn't find the item we had ordered for quite a while. Then the stockboy came out, and said, "Oh, I found one in a bin we were holding for a lady, but we're actually out of stock." And, as we were loading it, the lady behind us was told, "Go to the warehouse, past the paint store, for your item."
This is no way to handle customers. Even though there's a monitor ticking off your wait times, and they claim it's quick, three glitches in a row made me wonder. In my case, the cash-register lady didn't have accurate access to stock. For the other two customers ahead and behind me, the system didn't know which building their items were in.
The stores have had their ups and downs. Nowadays, the clothes are mediocre; the tools, electronics, and appliances are OK, but nothing special. The stores are hard to find your way around, though, and the inventory/stock delivery looked lame to me.
I think they're going down, myself.
Isn’t Ace owned by Sears?
If my local store is typical the customer service is horrible. The salespeople aren’t very knowledgeable and very rude.
The city mistakenly turned the water off today, for several hours. They said they have until 8pm to turn it back on, great customer service. not.
I’m keeping my 80s era Craftsman hand tools.
BTW I still have most of the two Sears brand (not Craftsman) cheapos bought in the early 80s as kid, I’m keeping them too. They have been used once in a while and have held up.
GROOVY!
I despised the Brady Bunch TV series but loved the movies, such perfect satires. If any old show deserved to be aped, it was the Brady Bunch.
You're right... often people take on the ethics of the boss...
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