Sears ate up Land's End. Next is KMart.

[GreenPartyVoter]

CHICAGO (AP) - The discounter Kmart Holding Corp. (KMRT) is acquiring one of the most venerable names in U.S. retailing, the department store operator Sears, Roebuck and Co., in a surprise $11 billion deal that will create the nation's third largest retailer.

The combined company under Wednesday's deal would be known as Sears Holdings Corp., but it was clearly orchestrated by Kmart chairman and Sears shareholder Edward Lampert, who will lead a new board that will be dominated by Kmart directors.

Shares of both companies surged on news of the deal. Kmart shares climbed $16.08, or 16 percent, to $117.30 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while Sears shares soared $9.42, or 21 percent, to $54.62 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new company is expected to have $55 billion in annual revenues and 3,500 outlets. That will mean it will trail only Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Home Depot Inc. (HD) among the biggest U.S. retailers.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20041117/D86DPPE80.html?PG=home&SEC=news

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Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[trotsky]

1. I wish I knew what to think.

It seems like Sears has generally had its corporate head on the right shoulders, so on the one hand I laud it for going out and doing battle with the mega-evil Wal-Mart.

But then maybe I don't know everything there is to know about Sears. I sure like Craftsman tools though.

[Fenris]

2. If two troubled retailers merge...

Do they become just one giant troubled retailer?

It's funny how Sears has been on the decline for so long and yet still has the ability to suck up other companies.

[Mistress Quickly]

3. How can KMart buy Sears

when KMart has filed bankruptcy?

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Self-delete. That was even more unclear.

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Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[warrens]

7. Kmart is recovering

Sears is not. It got an artificial boost by selling off its credit operations, but they accounted for as much as 150 percent of its profits (in some years, it lost money on its retail operations, but way more than made up for it on its credit card, which was a very high interest card). But the company has been turning toward the things it said it would never sell (food, CDs) and has become far more multicultural, finally figuring out that apart from its hardware department, its core customer was not a fat old white guy.

Kmart finally figured out that it is an urban retailer, and bailed out of the small towns where Wal-Mart was just creaming it. It knows how to sell in urban markets, where its main competitors are Sears and Target.

So this could work. The product mix is so very different, though, that it's going to take forever to figure out what stays and what goes. I don't know if they have the luxury of that much time, but I think they have a better chance together than apart.

[Lefty48197]

9. K-Mart filed for bancrupcy protection

They had no intention of going out of business. They had been stuck with a lot of long leases that they were still paying, long after having closed the stores. The Chapter 11 bankrupcy allowed them to get out of those leases. K-Mart closed more stores and sold off the property and soon found themselves loaded with cash.

[damntexdem]

5. Other: it won't survive Wal-Mart.

How many saw the TV special on 'Is Wal-Mart good for the U.S.?'

[demodonkey]

6. Hey -- they want only one party, why not aim for only one store too? eom

[Lefty48197]

8. Screw you Walmart! Here comes S-Mart!

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