Hasta la vista Sears?

[BobSch]

From Forbes http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home...t-Shop-in-2009



Another possible casualty: Sears Holdings, operator of Sears and Kmart stores. A key to hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert's 2005 merger of the two chains was in the underlying real estate. But with those values down 30% or so since then, slumping sales hit even worse.


"I'd be surprised if Sears-Kmart makes it through the year," says Britt Beemer, who runs retail market-research firm America's Research Group.


Get your BT3 parts early, folks.

[mclear6]

I read that last night as well..... They might split off Sears Hardware and Appliances. Craftsman and Kenmore I would think would be two brands that Sears would be able to continue in smaller separate stores such as the Sears Hardware stores.

[Bigbit]

Get your BT3 parts early, folks.

I would guess / hope that Ryobi would re-introduce the tools they sold as Craftsman under the Ryobi brand. I'm sure that their present motive is that they can get a premium for these tools with a Craftsman name attached.

Time will tell. But I would guess that the saw would still be available under one label or the other.

[mclear6]

My brother is involved with leasing for retail stores. He had called some of the closures quite a while before the announcements came to the public. He called Circuit City closing, Linen and things.... His next prediction was Eddie Bauer which was listed in the Forbes article. I'll ask him about the Sears/K-Mart story.

[dbhost]

Note to self, grab a 21829 to stuff in the attic while I still can!

Not surprised that Sears is taking a beating, on the retail front, they have been weak for a long time. Not the same company I remember as a kid...

[Uncle Cracker]

Not surprised that Sears is taking a beating, on the retail front, they have been weak for a long time. Not the same company I remember as a kid...

Neither is K-Mart... When they hooked up together, it just became a double train wreck...

[crokett]

I've been in a few Kmarts recently and they are all depressing, dingy stores. Kohls is a very pleasant place to shop as is Target. Walmart is ok, it is just always a madhouse.

[docrowan]

I have refused to shop in a Kmart since the early 90's. I worked with a management consultant at a former employer around then. He had also been working with a group of young leaders at Kmart - he said they recognized the many problems Kmart had, but couldn't get their top leadership to change anything. I could see it when I walked in their stores. I'm highly surprised there are any still open. Why Sears would team up with them is beyond me.

[jziegler]

I've been in a few Kmarts recently and they are all depressing, dingy stores. Kohls is a very pleasant place to shop as is Target. Walmart is ok, it is just always a madhouse.

I mostly agree with this, although many Walmarts can be pretty dirty and depressing too. I just wish that there was a Target less than 40 minutes from where I live. But Walmart always is a madhouse, so I don't shop there (well, also because I don't like the way they do business).

Jim

[dbhost]

I haven't stepped foot into a Kohl's yet, and Target rarely ever has anything I like, and if they do, it's the same thing I can buy at Walmart for a lot less.

[LinuxRandal]

Sears didn't "team" up with Kmart, they were bought out by Kmart, after Kmart filed bankruptcy.

So I figure, they will do another bankruptcy, screwing up more investors, and buy another company.

[cgallery]

The Craftsman trademark has been pretty much gutted by Sears management.

Perhaps it is the fault of the investor, demanding unrealistic returns. Perhaps it is the fault of the consumer, valuing low prices over quality.

There are a few notable exceptions. But only enough to make me think there might be one guy left in tool merchandising that has a clue.

The problem is, in its current form, Sears can no longer exist. It is a dinosaur. And the entire plan of capitalizing on commercial real estate holdings is now DOA as the bottom of that market is falling out.

So right now they're delaying the in inevitable. It will be interesting to see if Lampert can claw his way out and pull a save of some sort. But given the tight credit markets, and the unwillingness of the banks to recognize assets other than cash, I'd say it is more likely we will see a liquidation.

[docrowan]

Sears didn't "team" up with Kmart, they were bought out by Kmart, after Kmart filed bankruptcy.

So I figure, they will do another bankruptcy, screwing up more investors, and buy another company.

I wasn't exactly sure what happened, which is why I chose to say team up.

Did I read you right - Kmart filed bankruptcy, then Kmart bought Sears? If this is correct, then the management team that couldn't run their own company bought another company so they could screw it up as well? How does the market allow idiocy like this to happen?

[cgallery]

I wasn't exactly sure what happened, which is why I chose to say team up.

Did I read you right - Kmart filed bankruptcy, then Kmart bought Sears? If this is correct, then the management team that couldn't run their own company bought another company so they could screw it up as well? How does the market allow idiocy like this to happen?

It was a new manager at K-Mart that took them through bankruptcy, and then bought Sears to get the real estate, which is now much less valuable.

The plan actually made sense, until the economy started to sour.

[jziegler]

I haven't stepped foot into a Kohl's yet, and Target rarely ever has anything I like, and if they do, it's the same thing I can buy at Walmart for a lot less.

That's interesting, as I usually don't find Target more expensive than Walmart. I've never found Walmart prices significantly cheaper than anywhere else. Might be a regional thing.

Kohl's is mostly clothing, so different market than these other stores, but they tend to be nice in my area, although I've heard that in some areas (Baltimore) they can be kinda dirty and disorganized.

Jim