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Sears and Kmart advertising

Interesting story about how the company has been run during the past 5 years. The Chairman, who also runs an investment firm, was running Sears like its firm, rather than a retail outlet. It mentions specifically that the company stopped advertising:

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bu...-old-retail-icon-has-12-hours-survive-n952586

The article says the only chance the company has is a multi-billion buyout by the Chairman's investment company. Seems to me, it would be a better investment to buy it in liquidation. Or just cherry pick the things he wants to buy.
 
The story also says they will close another 80 stores, bringing the total of cosures to 260. Not sure that Lampert is the right guy to run this company. They need a creative retailer. My view is they'd benefit by subletting space in their remaining stores to other retailers or venders, such as restaurants. Both Target and WalMart already do that. They'd do well to get out of the clothing business. No profit there. The restructuring might be to do what Woolworth's did with Foot Locker. That way they could focus on the core profitable assets, which might include auto and appliance. The era of the all-in-one store is over. The only way to do that profitably is online, where you only inventory the products you can sell.
 
Don CT said:
Still a dead company walking, they are just putting off the inevitable.
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It depends on how the bankruptcy court handles their pension situation. If they can get control of their debts, cut their employee base, get out of some bad lease agreements, and completely reorganize how they do business, they might be able to recover. They still have a trusted name, and some trusted products. It's not necessarily good news for the economy.
 
TheBigA said:
It depends on how the bankruptcy court handles their pension situation. If they can get control of their debts, cut their employee base, get out of some bad lease agreements, and completely reorganize how they do business, they might be able to recover. They still have a trusted name, and some trusted products. It's not necessarily good news for the economy.
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I can see them selling off Kenmore, splitting the auto centers into a separate company and trying to scale down the core business. It might buy them a few years but Sears is too far gone to be competitive. The shoppers have moved on from the company.
 
Don CT said:
I can see them selling off Kenmore, splitting the auto centers into a separate company and trying to scale down the core business. It might buy them a few years but Sears is too far gone to be competitive. The shoppers have moved on from the company.
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Keep in mind that Kenmore products are not made by Sears. They are built under contract by a combination of Whirlpool, Frigidaire and LG.

So the only value there is the rather tired brand, as there is no manufacturing facility involved. Whoever buys the brand will have to renegotiate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing agreements. Also worth noting that there is likely liability involved pertaining to unexpired warranty and guarantee promises to buyers of Sears-sold appliances.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Keep in mind that Kenmore products are not made by Sears. They are built under contract by a combination of Whirlpool, Frigidaire and LG.

So the only value there is the rather tired brand, as there is no manufacturing facility involved. Whoever buys the brand will have to renegotiate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing agreements. Also worth noting that there is likely liability involved pertaining to unexpired warranty and guarantee promises to buyers of Sears-sold appliances.
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Are there any other brands with value left in Sears' portfolio?
 
Don CT said:
Even if the bid is accepted I would not call it a long term solution unless major changes are made in the company. Sears needs a major restructuring and I don't know if it's doable.
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My view is that Lampert may have the money, but he doesn't know squat about retail, as evidenced by how he has run the company into the ground. He needs to hire someone to fix it, give that guy a percentage, and get out of the way. I can tell you that people are willing to shop in certain stores if they are marketed properly. Sears hasn't been marketed properly, and that's why it's in trouble.
 
TheBigA said:
Their branded home improvement service is pretty useful with low costs.
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Twice I made an appointment and twice the man failed to show up. Plus I made the first appointment with a woman who apparently called every morning at 8:30 but I couldn't get to the phone before the recorded voice said to leave a message, and I can't fix that. But no one left a message. I just happened to be right beside the phone the final time, and it was the woman from Sears. Yeah, that's a great way to do business.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Twice I made an appointment and twice the man failed to show up. Plus I made the first appointment with a woman who apparently called every morning at 8:30 but I couldn't get to the phone before the recorded voice said to leave a message, and I can't fix that. But no one left a message. I just happened to be right beside the phone the final time, and it was the woman from Sears. Yeah, that's a great way to do business.
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vchimp,
Please stop posting about this. It has nothing to do with the subject of this thread.
 
TheBigA said:
My view is that Lampert may have the money, but he doesn't know squat about retail, as evidenced by how he has run the company into the ground. He needs to hire someone to fix it, give that guy a percentage, and get out of the way. I can tell you that people are willing to shop in certain stores if they are marketed properly. Sears hasn't been marketed properly, and that's why it's in trouble.
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I would suggest it also hasn't been merchandised properly. Now, that could be a which-came-first conundrum with the financial difficulties, but walking through a Sears, or Kmart, store in recent years has been, apart from the glaring lack of upkeep, like something of a time warp. Target has done a remarkable job on this front, keeping up with fast fashion, but also in other areas of the store. Walmart may be more in the price leadership position, but even there, they have done a fair job of updated merchandising. Sears has simultaneous problems of creating an image and living up to it when you get to the store. I think the ship has sailed...and sunk....on that one.
 
anotherguy said:
I haven't been there in a while, but the last time I went it was pretty deserted. I'll probably go back once the closeout starts.
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I probably haven't been in that particular store since sometime in the '80s.

Meanwhile, here in Nashville, the Sears store in the old Bellevue Center was the linchpin that was keeping (what was left of) that mall open, while their automotive garage (an out-parcel from the store itself) was the linchpin that was keeping the store open. As recently as 2011, when I was working for UPS, we had a REGULAR pickup and delivery every day at the Bellevue Center Sears store. And it was a fairly large stop for us!
 
frankberry said:


vchimp,
Please stop posting about this. It has nothing to do with the subject of this thread.
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Most people are posting about the chains, not their advertising. Can we possibly start a topic about whether the chains will succeed? Because I think my experience is relevant to that. If too many people have similar experiences, that's not good for the company's future.
 
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