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Sears is going into chapter 11 bankruptcy

Yeah. This has been coming for quite awhile. I wonder if Penny's will be next. Sears didn't keep up with the times. Penny's is trying but they have been in trouble for years. Oddly enough, the one closest to me is always crowded. The local Sears store here closed down a few years ago. It only sold appliances and tools.
 
Sears has been going out of business for the past 40 years since its transition into a department store after that French conglomerate bought them. The transition never really took, I suspect, due to the timing. At that time department stores that were a similar model as Sears such as Models and Korvettes were finding it difficult to compete with larger, more luxury stores such as Macy's and others. It often takes a very long time for large chain store to actually close its doors because of the slow pace of devaluation. Sears was absorbed a few years ago by KMart, as I recall.
 
All Republicans and most Democrats have been following the same economic policies. Part of those economic policies has been working like hell to suppress wages in as many ways as possible. Thus for non-wealthy people, wages have been stagnating relative to or even falling behind the ever-rising cost of living.

This means that as time goes on, the total disposable income of the population goes down a little bit year by year.

While it's true that competition with Internet vendors has been tough on traditional brick and mortar retailers, the fact that there are fewer and fewer potential customers each year is definitely a contributing factor to the pain currently felt by retailers. What makes this funny in a poetic-justice sort of way is that many retailers spent millions of dollars lobbying politicians to suppress those wages.

In other words, many of these failing retail outlets are lying in the very bed they made.

Anyway, the only thing that can stop our economy's race to the bottom is to convince millions of conservative/libertarian voters that it's possible that they are wrong about a few things. Thus, nothing can stop the next great depression.
 
I read yesterday, what I thought was an interesting article about the history and political influences of Sears throughout its existence, so I thought I would post a link for anyone interested.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/business/sears-bankrupt-history-timeline.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront


To an entire generation of young shoppers, Sears is the store they least want to visit in the mall they rarely patronize.
But for much of its 132-year history, the company was at the forefront of American retail. Its early mail-order and distribution innovations made it the Amazon of the Gilded Age.
Later, its vast spread of brick-and-mortar stores positioned it in prime retail locations across the country. For years, it was the largest retailer in the United States, operating out of the tallest building in the world. At various points, it sold products like fishing tackle, tombstones, barber chairs, wigs and even a “Stradivarius model violin” for $6.10.
In the last decade, however, little of that splendor has been evident. The company has lost money for years, its head count has fallen by hundreds of thousands of employees, and it has several thousand fewer stores than it did in 2008. Even the landmark Sears Tower in Chicago — which it no longer owns — was renamed, after an insurance company.
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southernhybrid said:
I read yesterday, what I thought was an interesting article about the history and political influences of Sears throughout its existence, so I thought I would post a link for anyone interested.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/business/sears-bankrupt-history-timeline.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront


To an entire generation of young shoppers, Sears is the store they least want to visit in the mall they rarely patronize.
But for much of its 132-year history, the company was at the forefront of American retail. Its early mail-order and distribution innovations made it the Amazon of the Gilded Age.
Later, its vast spread of brick-and-mortar stores positioned it in prime retail locations across the country. For years, it was the largest retailer in the United States, operating out of the tallest building in the world. At various points, it sold products like fishing tackle, tombstones, barber chairs, wigs and even a “Stradivarius model violin” for $6.10.
In the last decade, however, little of that splendor has been evident. The company has lost money for years, its head count has fallen by hundreds of thousands of employees, and it has several thousand fewer stores than it did in 2008. Even the landmark Sears Tower in Chicago — which it no longer owns — was renamed, after an insurance company.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I hadn't realized that the founder (?) was such a fan of Ayn Rand and actively encouraged the various store managers and higher level execs to be greedy and compete against each other. So another data point on the efficacy of Libertarian principles to add to the data set.
 
Sears has been a mess for years. It's interesting how K-Mart which went through bankruptcy in 2004ish, then went on to buy Sears not long after. I occasionally shopped in Sears but it was never a good experience. They had good prices on appliances and jeans and a receipt was about six feet long for a two item purchase ! Retail is too competitive and Lampert was never going to be successful in retail, real estate is where it's at for him the crafty beggar.
 
At least Sears is falling out not because of a leveraged buyout that didn't take, like Toys R Us.
 
Worldtraveller said:
I hadn't realized that the founder (?) was such a fan of Ayn Rand and actively encouraged the various store managers and higher level execs to be greedy and compete against each other. So another data point on the efficacy of Libertarian principles to add to the data set.
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Not founder, but I think the current CEO was the fan of Ayn Rand, and it was his methods that helped run it into the ground. Original founder - Mr. Sears - died in 1914.
 
Worldtraveller said:
southernhybrid said:
I read yesterday, what I thought was an interesting article about the history and political influences of Sears throughout its existence, so I thought I would post a link for anyone interested.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/business/sears-bankrupt-history-timeline.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&action=click&contentCollection=business®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront


To an entire generation of young shoppers, Sears is the store they least want to visit in the mall they rarely patronize.
But for much of its 132-year history, the company was at the forefront of American retail. Its early mail-order and distribution innovations made it the Amazon of the Gilded Age.
Later, its vast spread of brick-and-mortar stores positioned it in prime retail locations across the country. For years, it was the largest retailer in the United States, operating out of the tallest building in the world. At various points, it sold products like fishing tackle, tombstones, barber chairs, wigs and even a “Stradivarius model violin” for $6.10.
In the last decade, however, little of that splendor has been evident. The company has lost money for years, its head count has fallen by hundreds of thousands of employees, and it has several thousand fewer stores than it did in 2008. Even the landmark Sears Tower in Chicago — which it no longer owns — was renamed, after an insurance company.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I hadn't realized that the founder (?) was such a fan of Ayn Rand and actively encouraged the various store managers and higher level execs to be greedy and compete against each other. So another data point on the efficacy of Libertarian principles to add to the data set.
Click to expand...

Well, it was also an out-dated box store struggling in an era where all box stores were struggling. Like most companies that fail, it was likely run into the ground because it's exec were short-sighted and more focused on short-term results, rather than a true understanding of the market and long-term vision. Either that or the organization was just so big that it had a hard time pivoting.

Lots of companies run by greedy CEOs are doing quite well.
 
I think it's odd that Sears shares jumped up 30% to close at $.40. They were as high as $.69. Speculators think they will turn a profit at some point ?

And I think Sears Canada went tits up last year.
 
rousseau said:
Well, it was also an out-dated box store struggling in an era where all box stores were struggling. Like most companies that fail, it was likely run into the ground because it's exec were short-sighted and more focused on short-term results, rather than a true understanding of the market and long-term vision. Either that or the organization was just so big that it had a hard time pivoting.

Lots of companies run by greedy CEOs are doing quite well.
Click to expand...

Eddie Lampert will come out ahead even if Sears Holdings are liquidated. It has been said he was asset stripping them over the years. I find it hard to tell if that's true or not. He put in a lot of his own money and time over the years to keep them afloat. But Lampert never had any background in retail so it is hard to see why he was drawn to Sears/K-Mart. He may yet be pulled up in court for some of the shenanigans he has been up to.
 
I think it's interesting that back in its hey day, Sears sold prefab houses, which were very popular and much less expensive than custom built homes. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and just remembered that my mother used to get the Sears catalog. We kids loved looking at it, although we rarely shopped at Sears. The store became obsolete quite awhile ago, but it did have a pretty good run and lasted for 132 years. It has an interesting history and influence on American culture. I don't see how it will last after declaring Chapter 11.
 
As a kid, the Sears winter/Christmas catalog was what dreams were made of. Though it's been many years since I patronized Sears, I always have had a bit of a soft spot for the company due to those childhood memories. A trip to Sears in the small city of Columbus, GA, was always a cause for big excitement.

They tried to keep going with an outmoded business model; I do wonder what they might have become if they had embraced the internet early.
 
To an entire generation of young shoppers, Sears is the store they least want to visit in the mall they rarely patronize.
Click to expand...

This millennial always enjoyed going to Sears. If I had to be dragged around a mall in the first place, as a kid I loved the upper floor with all the electronics and appliances. I think the biggest trouble is that we never had the kind of spending money to drop on anything you could buy on that floor, and by the time any of us did, you could get everything there much cheaper on the internet (and no layaway required). Most of their stuff goes better with, like, houses, too; another thing which none of us own and for the most part aren't angling to own.
 
Whether they survive or not, I will always remember Sears as having having great products and the worst service of any retailer in history.
 
I worked for Sears a couple of years ten to fifteen years ago. It did not pay much but I was treated well by the staff and management. I sold tools and shoes, built displays and put up posters and when hours were tight the back dock manager would let me work for him a few hours if they were behind loading and unloading freight.

Funny thing. I applied for promotions a couple of times and got turned down. The store manager gave me a bs reason in why he couldn't promote me but promoted two people who didn't even know anything about the departments they were going to manage. No manager ever did this before who I worked for but the day after he told me no he took me out to eat at one of the fast food places in the mall. He then said "BH, I have to level with you since we are out of the office. The reason I couldn't give you that tool manager spot was because <insert political reason>" and the other time he told me he had to give it to this other person because corporate decided paying the person who got it would have been less of a raise for the person getting than for me. I grant he was honest and did not lie. He was mad when I left because I wanted to move up and he couldn't let me. Years later someone who still worked there found out from relatives living in the town I do that my dad died. Those people still working at the store sent me a nice letter and condolence card. A few days later I got a card from that manager (now long retired) and his wife offering condolenses too.

My great uncle and great aunt did well with them. They made upper management at their store and retired thirty years ago. He is dead now and she is very old. One thing she said was the managers eligible for bonus decided for years that they would not cut hours and pay for the non-management staff at their store so as to get bonus. A bonus was nice but they were not going to hurt the people who worked there to get it. They never cut hours to get a bonus and did do without it several times but they made sure their workers made their living and fed their families. She gets mad about how management in a lot of places is so selfish and cut throat. She didn't think she was special and often times thought in all honesty some of the people below her on the totem pole actually deserved to be above her. She knew it was politicking and always told her nieces and nephews to be aware of it at their workplaces that it explains a lot of things that otherwise don't make sense you might see.
 
Jobar said:
As a kid, the Sears winter/Christmas catalog was what dreams were made of. Though it's been many years since I patronized Sears, I always have had a bit of a soft spot for the company due to those childhood memories. A trip to Sears in the small city of Columbus, GA, was always a cause for big excitement.

They tried to keep going with an outmoded business model; I do wonder what they might have become if they had embraced the internet early.
Click to expand...


I heard that the guy who started Amazon actually approached Sears about his ideas and they turned him down. In all fairness at the time it was not certain people would have the personal computers at home they do today.
 
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