HDTV Almanac - More Bad News for Sears

[alfredpoor]

Times have been tough for Sears Holdings, the company that owns Sears and Kmart retail stores. In the fourth quarter of 2011, which is the season that retailers hope to post most of their profits for the year, Sears reported a loss of $2.4 billion. As a result, the company is looking to raise money [...]

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[eliwhitney]

TO: alfredpoor

RE: "Sears Holding" - - a.k.a. / Sears & Kmart

So soooory to sound like a "Grinch" BUT, to pretend that any selected pitifully-small quantity (of Locations) might actually accomplish anything IS the very same as rearranging Deck Chairs on that TITANIC must-have-been!!!

Simply, pathetic .... more "Smoke 'N Mirrors!"

NOW, what actually should have happened ''..way back.." whenever this FIASO was initially created by Lawyers, shafting the then Creditors, was to have had a King-sized Liquidation Auction, Chapter 7, instead.

...Never too late to simply do so NOW and avoid it happening "down-the-road" anyway!!

eli

[alfredpoor]

Eli, I agree that sometimes it's better to do the hard thing and get it over with. I see a news item this morning that they are going to close an additional 24 stores: three Sears, nine Great Outdoors, and a dozen KMarts. That brings the total slated for closure to 182 stores, I believe.

That's a lot of inventory to get rid of, so I still expect that there will be liquidation bargains to be had. It's worth watching.

Alfred

[eliwhitney]

TO: alfredpoor

Thanks! .... the extremely-sad part about all-of-this IS that many, many of our "Generation" were spoon-fed on the fantastic "..Sears, Roebuck & Company" Merchandise Lineups..!!!

Literally and for many, many years, I "poured over" the next, new HUGE Mail Order Catalogue and the supplemental "Sale Flyers!"

Craftsman Socket Sets, Hand Tools, "Kenmore Laundry Sets" strictly by a then outstanding Whirlpool Corp.,
Unique Clothing, ad infinitum ... WERE a tremendous part of my early-eduation and experiences! Literally, wonderful "Books-of-Knowledge" .... decades before the "www" Era!

Very, very Bad - - BUT, yet another extremely-costly-loss to our USA Heritage, in my View!

eli

[alfredpoor]

I grew up in rural Maryland, and much of what we bought came through mail order, and most of that from Sears. (Our boots came from LL Bean every winter.) Sears had a good run, longer than most retailers, but as in most things, companies are like waves on the beach; one rushes in and dominates for a while, then recedes as another takes its place. But I share your nostalgia for the giant Sears "wish book" that gave me so many hours of entertainment when I was young.

Alfred

[eliwhitney]

alfredpoor

Amazing that we've each one "shared" something so basic and yet, fundamentally now, "GONE!"

There were so very many associated 'bits and pieces' with every single thing within those wonderful, twice-yearly Huge Editions! ... e.g. = sizes or dimensions, weights (for shipping them) & other assorted attributes ....

Nowadays ... only a "Thing-of-Curiosity," sometimes found at Estate Sales or the like!

Thanks for sharing the Memory!! {...I don't always find that the 'newest' phenomena is necessarily better than what came before?}

eli

[jordanm]

I saw this post Saturday, and Sunday looked at the magazine ad Sears had in the newspaper, and prices were not adjusted anywhere near as expected after reading the article here; they were average at best.

[alfredpoor]

Jordan, I'd be surprised to see any big changes in pricing that quickly. That Sunday sales flyer was printed weeks before the announcement, and the way Sears has been making these cuts incrementally, I would not be surprised if the closure decisions weren't made right at the last minute.

The sales obviously are most likely at stores that are closing, so if you live in one of those markets, you're most likely to benefit. But the company's statement that it wants to reduce inventory will probably cut across all locations. So I suggest that you add KMart and Sears to your weekly price checks and keep an eye out for a deal. If they happen, they probably won't last for long.

Alfred

[eliwhitney]

TO: jordanm

In reference to "...My Sunday Sear's Flyer $$$..."

...as well as the clarification by alfredpoor above ... don't overlook a "..Special Event Soon!.." promotional extravaganza, wherein a specific store may be literally shuttered a day or two / brown kraft paper in windows & on glass doors, etc...

THEN, "..Line-up.." before they DO open-those-doors, in the same manner as @ ~ 3 A.M. on "Black Friday!"

ALL-MANNER of unique Merchandize which will have been brought in from warehouses .... all-over-the-place / in-the-aisles / somewhat helter-skelter / almost as Pandemonium!

eli

[alfredpoor]

Good points, Eli, but you do need to be careful about store close-out sales. In some cases, they are run by third-party companies that bring in all sorts of inventory that was never part of the store's original stock. This happened when our local CompUSA closed, and it was filled with over-priced junk.

So be careful at liquidation sales, know what you're buying, and know what it's worth. (Isn't that why they invented smartphones? <g>)

Alfred