Sears May Sell Its Best-Known Brands Craftsman, Kenmore, and DieHard

[Purveyor]

Once upon a time, Sears was the Amazon.com and Walmart of U.S. merchandising. Customers could order just about anything for delivery—even a kit to build a 10-room colonial-style house—from the Sears catalog, a compendium of the American dream with a reach into the rural parts of the country that helped make Sears, Roebuck America’s largest merchant. Sears helped create the shopping mall in the 1950s, working with developers to build the retail centers that grew with the exodus to the suburbs. And when customers needed financing, it created a massive credit arm that paved the way for the MasterCards and Visas of today.

“They stood like a colossus on top of the American retail market—bigger than the next four companies combined,” says Craig Johnson, president of consultant Customer Growth Partners. That was as recently as the 1980s. “Now they’re a 98-pound weakling.”

It’s been 11 years since hedge fund magnate Edward Lampert merged Sears with another ailing company, Kmart Holding, which he bought out of bankruptcy in 2003, to form Sears Holdings. Sales have plunged by almost half, the result of defecting customers and the sundering of assets such as the Lands’ End clothing brand in 2014. Sears has lost more than $8 billion in the past five years. Its stock, once trading above $100, closed at $13.30 in late May. Some mall owners are eager to replace its stores with those of more vibrant tenants. And on May 26, the company said it would consider selling some of its crown jewels: the Kenmore appliance, DieHard battery, and Craftsman tool brands.

“They have been in a desperate state for a number of years,” says Matt McGinley, an analyst at Evercore ISI, the lone Wall Street firm still covering the company. “I wouldn’t say any of the asset sales have been from a position of strength in the past three or four years. They’ve been done to fund substantial operating losses.” Sears declined a request for comment for this story.

The retailer has suffered from an industrywide decline as Americans spend differently and on different things. People are buying fewer clothes, spending more on dining and other experiences, and saving more. In the mid-’80s, 45 percent of consumer spending went to goods, the remainder to services. Today those figures are 31 percent and 69 percent, respectively, according to Customer Growth’s Johnson. When Americans do buy goods, they’re shifting where they shop—not just to online, but to off-mall retailers, such as Walmart, Costco Wholesale, and T.J. Maxx.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-03/sears-may-sell-its-best-known-brands

[hobbit709]

1. "People are buying fewer clothes, spending more on dining and other experiences, and saving more."

You have to have something to save to save more.

[HuckleB]

2. Why doesn't Sears focus on the products it does sell: Like Craftsman and Kenmore?

Seriously, what in the world is going on with management there?

I haven't bought anything from Sears except Craftsman and Kenmore, and the odd electronic product for decades. Sheesh.

Still, Craftsman is a great line of products, and Kenmore has been incredible. It allows smart consumers to get good products at decent prices, and then laugh at their neighbors who spent twice as much for the name brand of the same product.

I guess I'm already mourning.

[Mnpaul]

9. Craftsman's quality has been going down the tubes

and some of it is made in China. You have to watch closely. Some of it is junk.

[HuckleB]

10. It's still far better than anything from other places, for the cost.

[Mnpaul]

11. Some of it is

some not so much. I have a small craftsman drill/driver and it is made by Ryobi. The Ryobi model is cheaper.

[avaistheone1]

19. I have a few pieces and I agree.

I would think that Sears would want to salvage this brand and bring it back to its former glory.

[Jerry442]

3. 21st century management - bigger bonuses thru cannibalization. NT

[spanone]

4. without those brands, they might as well lock the doors.

[underpants]

6. I agree.

Just bought a Kenmore washer (great deal). The ground floor of the store is tools, lawn equipment, and appliances. Plenty of sales reps. The other two floors - empty of customers and reps. I once had a hard time finding someone to ring me up.

My stepfather is retired Sears. When Circuit City stopped carrying appliances he said "They're done" huge mark up and they drive traffic. I'll give him a call to see what he says about this.

[Orrex]

7. I believe that they're still stocking lots and lots of anchors

To help speed their descent to the bottom.

[kimbutgar]

8. Eddie the vulture destroyed Sears

Last edited Tue Jun 7, 2016, 10:27 AM - Edit history (1)

Bad work morale, sloppy stores. I grew up withnSears as our go to stores. My parents brought amen ore appliances. I remember buying shoes there as a kid. But the writing is on the wall and the greed of Eddie lampert destroyed Sears.

[RockaFowler]

16. YES!!

I worked for Sears for 5 years in the late 90's. It was one of my favorite jobs ever. I worked in Electronics and I just loved being on the edge of the new and innovative products coming out.

When I left they changed the whole department. We were all paid on commission and that ended when I left. Look, people care more when they are paid on commission in these high-end departments. That was the downfall of Circuit City, too.

Oh and the Sears stores that we do go to now are dirty and filled with people who know nothing of the Sears products. If you can actually get someone to help you. Really sad when I think about it. KMart was the downfall of Sears. All Sears stores became KMart in the Mall. Really bad!

[snooper2]

17. Damn, how much did schools cost when you were a kid?

You must have had a HUGH allowance

[kimbutgar]

18. Should have been shoes not schools.

[MerryBlooms]

12. Sears started going downhill at least 30 years ago, and once they

merged with Kmart, their days were numbered. Two losers teaming up, what could possibly go wrong. :/

[Odin2005]

15. The last time I went into a K-Mart it was depressing as fuck.

[Efilroft Sul]

13. The beginning of the end started in 1993, when management eliminated the Sears Catalog.

You don't ditch what brought you to the big dance, and that wrongful decision killed both mind share and market share for Sears. It was a big nose-thumbing to customer loyalty, institutional knowledge, corporate culture, and Sears' presence in rural America. Had Sears kept publishing its big book plus the wonderful Wish Book, the company could have kept one foot in the traditional mail order/brick and mortar business and the other in the emerging world of e-commerce in the mid 90s. I think it would've been in a much better position than it is today.

[Odin2005]

14. Sears is pretty much just a real estate management company, now.

Selling off it's assets as profitably as possible.