Sears, the Original Everything Store, Nears a Bankruptcy Filing

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Sears more than a century ago pioneered the strategy of selling everything to everyone.

But it has long since given up that mantle as a retail innovator. It was overtaken first by big box retailers like Walmart and Home Depot and then, by Amazon as the go-to shopping destinations for clothing, tools and appliances.

In the last decade, Sears had been run by a hedge fund manager, Edward S. Lampert, who sold off many of the company’s valuable properties and brands, but failed to develop a winning strategy to entice consumers who increasingly shop online.

The result has been a long painful decline. A decade ago, the company employed 302,000. Today, there are about 68,000 people still working at Sears and Kmart, which Mr. Lampert also runs.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-the-original-everything-store-nears-a-bankruptcy-filing/ar-BBOmKiJ?li=BBnb7Kz

In the interest of brevity and DU rules. I couldn't post much more of this article but it does suggest hedge fund manager Lambert may bear a lot of the blame for Sears' failure.

[Joe941]

1. To some degree this is tRumps fault because...

Of his economic policies.

[marylandblue]

2. Can't blame this one on Trump

But you can blame greedy corporate billionaires. Lambert basically sucked billions out of Sears instead of investing the money in modernization.

[NastyRiffraff]

3. There's a Sears near where I live.

Last edited Sun Oct 14, 2018, 07:49 PM - Edit history (1)

I went into it only once. It was a large store in a fairly busy shopping center. Prime location. I saw a only couple of customers besides myself. I was looking for something specific, but the layout of the store was confusing, with no posted guide. There was no one around to help. When I finally found what I was looking for (and it was difficult), there was no price posted, and no one around to help, including at the stations where you were supposed to check out.

I don't know if all or most Sears stores are like that, but I felt like I was in an abandoned store.

[NurseJackie]

4. Sadly, it is like wandering around in an abandoned warehouse. Same thing goes...

Sadly, it is like wandering around in an abandoned warehouse. Same thing goes for the Macy's Home store in a town that's near to me. On a Saturday afternoon, the store had ONE employee for the entire store. He was helping people as he could, but would always return to the ONE open checkout station for purchases AND returns.

[JNelson6563]

5. Totally mismanaged, run straight into the ground.

This will be a surprise to absolutely NO ONE.