Once the most powerful retail business on earth, Sears is now a broken-down shell of it's former glory. Sears has, in the last two decades, shuttered more than half of it's stores, and that trend is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
Back in November of last year, Sears shuttered a vast number of stores (HERE), but even that hasn't been enough. Sears has announced that they will be closing another 68 stores this year, the story for which can be found HERE.
"Here's a list of the latest stores being closed:
CaliforniaNewark: Sears at 6000 Mowry Ave.
Thousand Oaks: Sears at 145 W Hillcrest Drive
FloridaAltamonte Springs: Sears at 451 East Altamonte Drive
MichiganTroy: Sears at 300 W. 14 Mile Rd.
MontanaWest Havre: Kmart at 3180 Highway 2
New YorkClay: Sears at 4155 State Route 31
OklahomaOklahoma City: Sears at 4400 S Western Ave
VirginiaVirginia Beach: Sears at 4588 Virginia Beach Blvd
Chesapeake: Sears at 1401 Greenbrier Parkway
WisconsinMadison: Sears at 53 West Towne Mall C
June 6 closings listLess than a week after announcing 63 stores would close, the company added five more Sears stores to the list, which also are set to close in early September.
ConnecticutWaterbury: Sears at 425 Union St Waterbury
NebraskaOmaha: Sears at 3420 Oak View Drive
LouisianaMonroe: Sears at 4800 Millhaven Road
Shreveport: Sears at 3601 Southern Ave.
Bossier City: Sears at 2950 E Texas St
..."
Damn rip sears
So, in the latest twist in the Sears Holdings' death-spiral, CEO Eddie Lampert, often cited as the 'architect' of Sears' collapse over the last few years, has offered the embattled company $400 million of his own money to buy out Kenmore, Sears' once-exclusive appliance name that is sold in other stores today. It is, despite Sears' other corporate dead weight, still an incredibly valuable asset. Though the days of people really attaching a "value" to a name brand are coming to an end thanks to us poverty-stricken millennials and Gen-Z'ers (it's a joke, relax), the Kenmore brand name does still have some serious value to it. Which makes it seem, in my opinion at least, all the more slimy that Mr. Lampert would drive the stores and the company into the ground, only to offer them a "Critical" and time-sensitive deal to keep their creditors at bay. Following the sale of their Craftsman tool brand to their key rival, Stanley/Black-and-Decker, it seems that Sears is kept afloat only until Lampert can 'legally' extract all of Sears' valuables at a tremendous discount, before letting it sink to the depths when it's run out of things to plunder.
Now, to further that assessment, Lampert also offered to buy (for only $70 million) Sears Home-improvement service, known as "SHIP". It's really only available in large cities, but serves as both a moving company for hauling Sears products to customers, to installation, to other jobs the customers might need. As one might expect, where it's still available there is still money in operating that service.
What is an appliance brand actually worth though? Is $400 million dollars a low-ball offer? Lampert seems to think so, indicating that "an expedited sales process is in the interest of all parties" when he pitched the deal to Sears' assessment board for approval. He's looking to close on the deal about as fast as most close on a house sale- 60 to 90 days. For that volume of money, for a once-in-a-lifetime deal to sell out an entire company? All to a store chain that is closing stores left and right in a desperate bid to remain solvent? Yikes.
If you want to read about the deal and whatnot, the story is HERE.
For a picture of Mr. Eddie Lampert, I imagine a Google search for "Devil" should bring him up within the first 3 pages of results or so...
Check the real one out HERE.
Makes you wonder how much longer they can keep going.
News stories:
New York Times
Perhaps it is only my perspective, but it seems that CEO Lampert who has, unquestionably, helmed Sears total collapse has done so only to squeeze brands, intellectual property, real estate, and other valuables from the foundering retailer. Now of course that the metaphorical ship is sinking, CEO Lampert has made his way to safety, where I'd wager he'll try to buy up things as the court moves on to liquidate them. The whole affair has, from my perspective at least, made him and his cronies rich at the expense of their workers, investors, and even their customers. Disgraceful, through and through.
