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brooklynite

(93,873 posts)
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:33 AM Jan 2019

Sears plans to shutter after 126 years in business as Chairman Eddie Lampert's bid fails

Source: CNBC

Sears Holdings has rejected Chairman Eddie Lampert's bid to save the 126-year-old company, setting the storied retailer with more than 50,000 employees on a path to liquidation, people familiar with the situation told CNBC on Tuesday. Sears, which also owns Kmart, planned to announce its liquidation plans Tuesday morning, the people said.

Lampert had put forward a $4.4 billion bid to save Sears by buying it out of bankruptcy through his hedge fund ESL Investments. His offer, though, was deemed insufficient by Sears' advisors, the people said. One of the biggest unresolved issues was covering the fees and vendor payment it owes, making it "administratively insolvent."

Still, ESL plans to protest Sears' decision, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC. ESL, which worked over the weekend to improve its offer, will point to the extensive advisory fees that Sears has racked up during bankruptcy. Such fees are part of Sears' administrative expenses.

The people requested anonymity because the information is confidential.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

38 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Sears plans to shutter after 126 years in business as Chairman Eddie Lampert's bid fails (Original Post) brooklynite Jan 2019 OP
Mongomery Wards, Sears, and I suspect JC Penney is cllose to the same situation. No doubt from still_one Jan 2019 #1
Best Buy exboyfil Jan 2019 #9
I agree with your assessment still_one Jan 2019 #17
Pennys fucked up when they tried EDLP TexasBushwhacker Jan 2019 #37
Another one for Wikipedia's "List of defunct department stores of the United States" page... Dennis Donovan Jan 2019 #13
Macy's has bought out a lot of competition of the years. crazytown Jan 2019 #35
I was surprised to see a smaller footprint Sears store reopen recently near me at a local mall. Freethinker65 Jan 2019 #2
Sears began its decline when they gave up the Green Script Neon Signage. madaboutharry Jan 2019 #3
It's decline started when Lampert took over Perseus Jan 2019 #5
This will make steam come out of your ears then Woodycall Jan 2019 #7
yup mikeysnot Jan 2019 #10
Thx, good article njhoneybadger Jan 2019 #19
Good reason to end these vulture entities and MarcA Jan 2019 #33
Yes, I blame him entirely. LisaM Jan 2019 #28
Eliminating the catalogue didn't help. muntrv Jan 2019 #16
The catalogue wasn't needed as much once we got indoor plumbing. Cold War Spook Jan 2019 #27
Ah, before Charmin, Cottonelle. muntrv Jan 2019 #31
I know all the reasons, but this just makes me.... hlthe2b Jan 2019 #4
It's kinda sad to see the empty buildings Rorey Jan 2019 #6
I think ours lasted as long as it did exboyfil Jan 2019 #11
I've been fond of Sears since I was a kid, but... Girard442 Jan 2019 #14
They became dumps when Lampert took over TexasBushwhacker Jan 2019 #38
I'm suspicious Lampert only made the offer so he wouldn't be remembered as the guy who killed Sears. Gidney N Cloyd Jan 2019 #8
25 million executive package compensation was mikeysnot Jan 2019 #12
It's about time. Sears has been dead for a while. Honeycombe8 Jan 2019 #15
I brought a new mattress there last week kimbutgar Jan 2019 #18
Local mall here has now lost Younkers and Sears hibbing Jan 2019 #20
we bought all our household appliances at Sears. I used to by all my tools there as well... Javaman Jan 2019 #21
No plain stupidity CountAllVotes Jan 2019 #22
It's Sears' own fault obamanut2012 Jan 2019 #23
This is the end of an almost 20 year decline jgmiller Jan 2019 #24
This is what Walmart and Amazon have done to America FakeNoose Jan 2019 #25
Another hedge fund takes down an American Institution. Power 2 the People Jan 2019 #26
I'm not surprised cannabis_flower Jan 2019 #29
from my limited knowledge, it sounds like Lampert tried to steal the whole company paulkienitz Jan 2019 #30
small regional department stores can still do well paulkienitz Jan 2019 #32
I love McCaulou's! TheCatQueen Jan 2019 #36
So, Eddy, the right thing to do now dickthegrouch Jan 2019 #34

still_one

(91,965 posts)
1. Mongomery Wards, Sears, and I suspect JC Penney is cllose to the same situation. No doubt from
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:35 AM
Jan 2019

my perspective that the Amazons, Home Depot, and Lowes were contributing factors

exboyfil

(17,857 posts)
9. Best Buy
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:53 AM
Jan 2019

Kohls to some degree as well. I think the trend is away from department stores with a broad product line. Smaller, more focused stores.

Why JC Penney is allowing Kohls to eat its lunch is a mystery? They had been scaling back offerings over time to be more of a lower cost clothing store. Our Pennys eliminated an entire floor in a two story mall (Sears struggled on with both floors until it closed). Pennys closed a few years before Sears did. At about the same time Sears went out, Younkers (a more upscale clothing store) also closed both stores in our area.

We still have Dillard's at our main mall. It is so fancy I never go into it. We have a Von Mauer at our smaller mall, but they own the building which is attached to the mall. I got to think they will get a lot of the Younkers traffic.

These are the only two traditional department stores left between both malls. The are primarily clothing focused.

We do have two Wal-Marts, two Targets (one a Supercenter), 2 Mennards, one Lowes, one Home Depot (three home improvement stores are within one mile of each other??), a Best Buy, and a Kohls.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
37. Pennys fucked up when they tried EDLP
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 08:28 PM
Jan 2019

Every Day Low Price. They were trying to compete with Target and Walmart. It was a disaster. Once they went back to having sales, coupons, etc business picked back up, but not enough to pay for the crushing debt they took on to stay afloat.

It's funny you mention Dillards. They bought a chain here in TX called Joskes back in the 80s. Joskes was my first full time job after I graduated from high school in 1975. It was, as you say, a bit more fancy than Pennys or Kohls, or even Foleys, which was eventually bought by Macys. But once Dillards took over, quality went down a bit. I remember them packing the sales floor with more fixtures for merchandise. You could barely walk around. I worked for Joskes/Dillards, mostly part time, for 13 years. They seem to have upgraded their offerings a bit. I guess they are on par with Macys, but below Nordstrom.

Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
13. Another one for Wikipedia's "List of defunct department stores of the United States" page...
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:58 AM
Jan 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_department_stores_of_the_United_States

Department stores merged with Federated and May
Many United States department store chains and local department stores, some with long and proud histories, went out of business or lost their identities between 1986 and 2006 as the result of a complex series of corporate mergers and acquisitions that involved Federated Department Stores and The May Department Stores Company with many stores becoming units of Macy's, Inc.. The following is a list of the affected stores, including some local and regional stores that earlier had been absorbed into chains that became part of Federated, May, or Macy's.

Abraham & Straus (Macy's in 1995)
D. M. Read Macy's In 1990
Ames (Eastpoint)
Arlan's
Bamberger's (Macy's in 1986)
The Bon Marché (Macy's in 2005)
C.C. Anderson's Golden Rule (The Bon Marché in 1923)
The Paris (The Bon Marché in the early 1980s)
Barnes-Woodin Co. (Yakima, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)
Columbia River Mercantile
A. M. Jensen's (Walla Walla, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1951)
Missoula Mercantile Co. (Missoula, Montana, The Bon Marché in 1981)
Montague-McHugh (Bellingham, Washington, The Bon Marché in the 1950s)
Runbaugh-Mclain (Everett, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)
Stone-Fisher Co. (Tacoma, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)
Russell's (The Bon Marché after World War II)
Bullock's (Macy's in 1996)
Bullocks Wilshire
Burdines (Macy's in 2005)
Maas Brothers
Carter Hawley Hale Stores (merged into Macy's West 1996)
The Broadway (Southern California). Headquartered in Los Angeles.
Emporium-Capwell (Northern California)
Capwell's (East Bay)
The Emporium (San Francisco and South Bay, North Bay)
Hale Bros. (San Francisco and Sacramento)
Weinstock's (Sacramento and Reno)
Davison's (Macy's in 1986)
E. J. Korvette
The F & R Lazarus and Co. (Macy's in 2005)
Shillito's
Rike Kumler Co. (Rike's)
William H. Block Co. (Blocks)
Joseph Horne Co. (Horne's)
Herpolsheimer's
Famous-Barr (Macy's in 2006)
William Barr Dry Goods Co.
The Famous Clothing Store
Filene's (Macy's in 2006)
Filene's Basement (separated from Filene's in 1988, closed in 2011)
G. Fox & Co.
B. Peck & Co. (sold to Gamble-Skogmo, Inc.)[1]
Steiger's
Foley's (Macy's in 2006)
May-Daniels & Fisher
Daniels & Fisher
May Company Denver
The Denver Dry Goods Company
Z.L. White
Sanger-Harris
A. Harris
Sanger Brothers
Gold Circle (discount store chain) Founded in 1967 by Federated; merged into Richway in 1988 and later dismantled during 1990 bankruptcy
Gold Triangle (discount store chain for electronics, appliances, home building supply, sporting goods, photography, housewares) Founded in 1970 - closed in 1981, 6 Florida locations - 3 Miami, Plantation, Tampa and Orlando.
Goldwater's
Goldsmith's Merged into Rich's in mid-1980s. (Macy's in 2005)
Hecht's (Macy's in 2006)
Castner Knott (Hecht's in 1998)
Miller & Rhoads (Hecht's in 1990)
Strawbridge's (Macy's in 2006)
Thalhimers (Hecht's in 1990)
Woodward & Lothrop
I. Magnin, owned by Federated 1965-1988 and R.H. Macy Co. 1988-1994; most stores closed 1988-1993, remainder of stores converted to Macy's West and Bullock's or sold to Saks Fifth Avenue. Union Square, San Francisco location eventually incorporated into adjacent Macy's.
John Wanamaker or Wanamaker's (Philadelphia and New York City flagship stores), sold to Carter Hawley Hale in 1979, then Washington DC-based Woodward & Lothrop owned by Alfred Taubman; sold to May Company in 1995; merged with Federated Department Stores in 2005 (now known as Macy's, Inc.)
The Jones Store (Macy's in 2006)
Jordan Marsh (Macy's in 1996)
Kaufmann's (Offices merged with Filene's in 2002, Macy's in 2006)
May Company Ohio
O'Neil's (department store)
Stark Dry Goods - Canton (department store)
Sibley's
William Hengerer Co.
Strouss-Hirshberg
L.S. Ayres (Macy's in 2006)
Stewart's
H. & S. Pogue Company
Wolf and Dessauer
Liberty House (Macy's in 2001)
Marshall Field's (Macy's in 2006)
Dayton's (Marshall Field's in 2001)
Frederick & Nelson (defunct in 1992)
The Crescent (department store) (defunct in 1992)
Lipman's
Halle Brothers Co.
Hudson's (Marshall Field's in 2001)
J.B. Ivey & Co.
Meier & Frank (Macy's in 2006)
Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (Meier & Frank in 2001)
O'Connor Moffat & Co., purchased by R.H. Macy in 1945, renamed Macy's in 1947. Their Union Square, San Francisco location is Macy's flagship West Coast store and headquarters of Macy's West.
Rich's (Macy's in 2005)
Robinsons-May (Macy's in 2006)
May Company California (Robinsons-May in 1993)
Hamburger's
J. W. Robinson's (Robinsons-May in 1993)
Steiger's (May in 1994)
Stern's (Macy's in 2001)
Gertz
W. T. Grant
Zayre


More at link

madaboutharry

(40,153 posts)
3. Sears began its decline when they gave up the Green Script Neon Signage.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:39 AM
Jan 2019

Sears stores were once lovely and inviting. Instead of maintaining its appeal to the middle class, it chose to downgrade its stores and along with it the merchandise. It is sad. My grandfather worked for Sears back in the 50's and 60's selling washers and dryers. He thought he had the best job in the world.

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
5. It's decline started when Lampert took over
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:48 AM
Jan 2019

His management skills are based on Ayn Rand's philosophy, and the end goal was for him to become richer.

MarcA

(2,195 posts)
33. Good reason to end these vulture entities and
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 03:08 PM
Jan 2019

to support some Co-ops and small business. In the end the important
thing is not individual companies but the General Welfare.

LisaM

(27,762 posts)
28. Yes, I blame him entirely.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:50 PM
Jan 2019

I always bought appliances at Sears. Growing up, we got a lot of out back-to-school clothes there, and then when they bought Land's End, I bought grown-up clothes there, too. My first couch and loveseat set came from there, as did my first bed and boxspring. I also got tools there (not that I used a lot of tools, but theirs were Craftsman, good quality). We bought our lawn mowers there.

I also used to get a lot of stuff at KMart, not clothes, but kitchenware, Christmas stuff (lights, ornaments, even my small artificial tree that I've now had for about 12 years), and the bulk of my cleaning supplies, trash bags, etc., along with shampoo, and so on (I get most of these things at Target now, but they like to lean towards their own brand, and they're definitely more expensive).

I miss both stores, the ones in our area have been closed for a while.

 

Cold War Spook

(1,279 posts)
27. The catalogue wasn't needed as much once we got indoor plumbing.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:48 PM
Jan 2019

If you don't know what that means, ask someone older than you. Probably much older.

Rorey

(8,445 posts)
6. It's kinda sad to see the empty buildings
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:50 AM
Jan 2019

But I can't say that it's sad to see them go. I haven't been in our local Sears store for about a year. The other day I went into K-Mart. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but would have made purchases if I saw something I needed or wanted at the right price. The prices there haven't been competitive for a long time, and I left buying nothing. I'm surprises they've been in business as long as they have been.

exboyfil

(17,857 posts)
11. I think ours lasted as long as it did
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 11:56 AM
Jan 2019

was because it was the attractive non-Wal-Mart option. My wife hates going to Wal-Mart because of the traffic. She was bummed when the Sears left. You know these places are in trouble when you see these huge unmaintained parking lots with maybe 10-20 cars in them (knowing that at least half probably represent the staff).

Girard442

(6,059 posts)
14. I've been fond of Sears since I was a kid, but...
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 12:09 PM
Jan 2019

...over the last few years, every time I went to our local Sears, I walked out out swearing I'd never go back. Y'know, if you want to run a successful store you have to do at least a passable job of basically doing what a store does -- and they didn't.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
38. They became dumps when Lampert took over
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 08:33 PM
Jan 2019

He loaded them up with unsustainable debt but spent nothing upgrading the stores. The last time I went in one was in 2005 and I remember thinking "What the hell happened?" I worked at Joskes/Dillards for 13 years in the 70s and 80s. I could have done a better job running Sears than Lampert did.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
15. It's about time. Sears has been dead for a while.
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 12:15 PM
Jan 2019

I hated to see it happen. But it did happen. It's hard to think that someone at Sears thought they could continue on and turn things around. That time seems to have passed years ago.

kimbutgar

(20,882 posts)
18. I brought a new mattress there last week
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 12:35 PM
Jan 2019

Growing up Sears was my go to store for my parents. I have brought many appliances there myself. It will be sad to see it go. Getting rid of the catalog was a big mistake. They could have competed with Amazon but gave it all away. I hope to hear Lampert being bankrupt himself and thrown out of his hedge fund partnership soon.

hibbing

(10,076 posts)
20. Local mall here has now lost Younkers and Sears
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 12:49 PM
Jan 2019

They were on opposite ends of the mall, but both huge spaces. There is still a Dillards and JC Penney, not sure for how much longer. I've actually shopped at JC Penney recently, they had a HUGE selection of Levis.


Peace

Javaman

(62,442 posts)
21. we bought all our household appliances at Sears. I used to by all my tools there as well...
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:02 PM
Jan 2019

but over the last several years, the quality of the appliances went down as did the craftsmen tools. The hand tools were still good, but all the power tools were just crap.

I did still buy a lot of my clothes there up until about a month before the one closed near us. (about 6 months ago).

the failure of sears of just a classic example of greed/libertarianism/and just dick like behavior.

CountAllVotes

(20,854 posts)
22. No plain stupidity
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:08 PM
Jan 2019

Sears had a good thing going at one time.

There collapse is due to quality IMO.

I bought a Diehard battery and it lasted for 2 years. Two years! The one I replaced was 12 years old and was the original battery that came with the car! It is a Honda btw and I replaced the Diehard with a new Honda battery for $99.00 a few years ago.

The Diehard battery was supposedly the best one Sears had. Yeah right.



obamanut2012

(25,911 posts)
23. It's Sears' own fault
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:14 PM
Jan 2019

They didn't move with the times: the clothes were bad and not the least bit stylish, the prices overall sucked, and they degraded the quality of Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances. Lowes and even Best Buy have better and cheaper appliances (BB has been very smart doing this. And, just when people started liking to buy online, they axed the catalog.

If you live near (or within an hour drive) a Kohls, Best Buy, IKEA, Target, LOwes/Home Depot, Tractor Supply, there is no reason to go to Sears' anyway. Better prices, customer service, and goods in the other places.

I am old enough to remember when we went to Sears' for our school clothes and shoes every year, all the way through HS, and when my sister and I would fight over the Xmas catalog. My mother bought a lot of stuff via the catalog store, and all our appliances were Kenmore (which now suck), and all my Dad's tools were Craftsman.

jgmiller

(383 posts)
24. This is the end of an almost 20 year decline
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:41 PM
Jan 2019

Lampert is just the latest vamprire to try and suck what blood he can out of the dying body. Sears began their decline even before Amazon started rising. They have had a long sucession of incompetent executives who never understood how retail was changing, it's sad but this is not the fault of anyone but their own stupidty.

The truely sad thing is that back before Amazon emerged from just doing books KMart had BlueLight.com which was trying to be Amazon before Amazon and it was run by smart, forward thinking people. Then Sears and gang took over and got scared that it would destroy their retail stores and shut it down. They actually had the solution in hand and operational and killed it because they were scared.

FakeNoose

(32,356 posts)
25. This is what Walmart and Amazon have done to America
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 01:45 PM
Jan 2019

I don't know if it's what we Americans want, but it's what we've got now. The retail families are all going under, one by one. If we don't buy locally and support our local merchants, then we're showing Walmart and Amazon that they've won.

cannabis_flower

(3,764 posts)
29. I'm not surprised
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:25 PM
Jan 2019

Last time I went into a Sears it was hot, dirt and disorganized. And it was hard to find anyone on the floor to wait on me.

paulkienitz

(1,295 posts)
30. from my limited knowledge, it sounds like Lampert tried to steal the whole company
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:39 PM
Jan 2019

...raiding its assets and then trying to buy it for pennies on the dollar, but he didn't manage to steal enough pennies.

paulkienitz

(1,295 posts)
32. small regional department stores can still do well
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 02:46 PM
Jan 2019

In my area there's a little chain called McCaulou's -- while Sears was dying these last few years, they grew from eight stores to ten. It seems to be still entirely possible to just ignore Amazon and do okay anyway.

dickthegrouch

(3,151 posts)
34. So, Eddy, the right thing to do now
Tue Jan 8, 2019, 05:41 PM
Jan 2019

Is to take that 4.4 billion, divided by 50,000 employees and give them severance of $88,000 each.
The other creditors can sue you (Lempert) personally for their entitlements. You’ll still have plenty of loot from which to pay them what you owe them .

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