Last year, as part of their “taking on roommates” strategy of keeping their doors open, Sears announced that they were leasing parts of seven stores to Primark, a clothing retailer out of Ireland. Sears has finally named all seven of the stores where Primark will be moving in. All seven are in the Northeast. [More]
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Sears Pension Fund Requires Cash Infusions From Sears
By 4.15.15
Sears really didn’t need any more problems, financial or otherwise. Yet the company does have a problem that doesn’t involve its loss of $1.7 billion last year, run-down stores, fleeing customers, and alleged problems with suppliers? The company’s employee pension plan also isn’t doing very well, which has been another drain on the company’s finances. [More]
Sears Teams Up With Simon Property Group To Generate $114M In Revenue
By 4.13.15
As Sears continues to shake out all its piggy banks and check under every single couch cushion it has for spare change, the retailer chain is also looking to outside sources to help it raise some revenue. The company has teamed up with mall king Simon Property Group to create a new company that will bring in $114 million extra for Sears, money it sorely needs. [More]
Sears Promises Early Payment To Vendors, Ties Up Cash Flow
By 3.18.15
While Sears struggles to get customers into its stores and lost $1.7 billion last year, the retailer is also encountering problems in keeping its shelves stocked with merchandise. The company’s vendors are reportedly nervous to ship to the retailer given its poor financial results and touchy cash flow situation. Vendors are asking Sears to pay their bills sooner in exchange for a discount. This ties up tens of millions of extra dollars’ worth of capital up at a time. [More]
March Recall Roundup – Plummeting Chandeliers And Ceiling Fans
By 3.9.15
In this month’s Recall Roundup for non-edible items, fans and chandeliers might plummet from the ceiling, handlebars on kids’ bikes and amphibious vehicles for grown-ups fall apart, and cocktail glasses shatter for no reason. Also, there are 40,000 portable heaters out there that could spray hot oil on their owners at any time. [More]
The Best & Worst Store-Brand Deals At Lowe’s, Home Depot & Sears
By 2.26.15
Need to buy a snowblower, light bulbs, and some paint? You might figure, “Oh, I’ll just head to Home Depot (or Lowe’s, or Sears) and get it all done in the same trip.” But just because these stores all offer one-stop shopping for most home goods, price and quality of store-brand and private label products can vary greatly depending on the retailer. [More]
Credit-Swap Traders Think Sears Will Fail In The Next Year
By 2.19.15
Credit default swaps are a confusing concept, since some forms resemble gambling on the failure of a company without even owning any stock in it. As a consumer, especially if you’re someone who likes to shop at Sears, you should know that now that Radio Shack has declared bankruptcy, the hot retailer that credit swap traders are betting will fail is Sears. [More]
Sears Canada Offers Criticism Of Target Canada, Discount And Jobs To Workers
By 1.19.15
Last week, Target announced that it is fleeing Canada, giving up on its ill-fated expansion and closing all 133 of its poorly-stocked stores that nobody wants to shop in. An unlikely source has publicly offered support to Target employees who are about to lose their jobs: quasi-competitor Sears Canada. [More]
Sears To Close Parts Distribution Center In Dallas, Lay Off 77
By 1.6.15
The new year has barely started, but it’s already time to shed a few more tears for Sears. The American retailing legend is trying to stage a comeback as a place where Americans are willing to shop again. Part of that comeback is shedding stores and facilities that it no longer needs. It’s time to add facility to that list: a parts distribution center in Dallas that employs 77 people. [More]
Clothing Company Sues Sears Claiming It Routinely Canceled Orders, Then Refused To Pay
By 1.2.15
When you’re a company that’s struggling not to lose customers and you’ve been trying to build yourself up to some semblance of your formal glory, everything matters and any negative news isn’t going to help. Sound the pity horn if you have one, because there’s yet more bad news for Sears: One of its suppliers is suing the company, saying Sears would “routinely and deliberately” cancel already placed orders and then refuse to accept delivery or pay up. [More]
Is In-Store Pickup Any Faster Than Just Shopping At The Store?
By 12.30.14
For years, an increasing number of retailers have been pushing their “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS, for all you acronym lovers) option as a expedient option that offers the convenience of online shopping without the hassle of having to search the aisles. But is it really any faster than traditional bricks-and-mortar shopping? [More]
Sears Offers 30% Discount On Replacement For Defective Dishwasher, Then Forgets
By 12.29.14
A man in New Jersey had the wacky idea that buying a dishwasher meant that he would end up with a working dishwasher. Instead, he ended up with one that he says broke in the same way four times in four years. Sears offered him a 30% refund on a replacement appliance, if he purchased from Sears. Naturally, Sears forgot about this offer once he actually brought the dishwasher. [More]
Eddie Lampert Blogs Mini-Manifesto About Why Sears Has Shed 200 Stores
By 12.16.14
Americans seem to love and hate their Kmart and Sears stores: our posts linking to unofficial but comprehensive closing lists have been very popular in the last few weeks. Americans apparently love to complain about their Sears Holdings stores, but don’t really want them to go away. Sears Holdings CEO and chief manifesto-writer Eddie Lampert recently took to the company’s blog to explain why the chain is getting rid of up to 200 stores. [More]
Sears Distribution Center In Mississippi Available For Lease, No One Will Say Why
By 12.10.14
Great news if you’re in the market for 800,000 square feet of warehouse space: the owner of the building in Mississippi where Sears houses a distribution center is reportedly quietly marketing the facility. Why? Where is Sears going? The company that owns the building won’t say, and of course neither will Sears. [More]
Sears Holdings Admits Plans To Close 105 More Stores, Won’t Say Which Ones
By 12.5.14
Last week, we shared an updated version of a list naming 109 Kmart and Sears stores reported by employees or local media outlets to be closing by early 2015. While Sears still won’t confirm or deny these reports on a company-wide level, the company did tell investors as part of its quarterly earnings report this week that it plans to close 105 more stores by the beginning of next year. [More]
Where Do People Buy The Stuff They Used To Buy At Sears?
By 11.26.14
Many American consumers have sworn off shopping at Sears and Kmart, their local stores have closed, or they have just forgotten that the chains exist. Business that once went to Kmart now goes to discount store competitors Target and Walmart, logically enough, but where do Americans go for the things that they once bought at Sears? [More]
Report: 109 Sears And Kmart Stores Now Expected To Close By Early 2015
By 11.24.14
There’s more cost-cutting planned at Sears Holdings through the end of this year and the beginning of next year. That news shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the total has increased to 39 Sears stores, and 70 Kmart stores, along with one Sears distribution center, one Kmart distribution center, and three Sears repair centers. [More]
Sears Holdings Ponders Forming A Real Estate Trust, Selling Stores To It
By 11.7.14
Two things are true about Sears Holdings: the company owns a lot of stores, and those stores are not selling enough merchandise. In order to raise some cash, in the last year the company has spun off its best quality clothing brand, sold shares in its Canadian subsidiary, borrowed money from its CEO, and taken on some roommates. What’s next? Selling some of its stores and leasing them back. [More]
