Sears Is Closing Another 28 Kmart Stores As Sales Tumble Again

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Sears Is Closing Another 28 Kmart Stores As Sales Tumble Again

Phil Wahba
7:06 AM ET

The bleeding at Sears Holdings (SHLD, +7.70%) shows no signs of stopping. ... The long-struggling retailer said on Thursday it was closing another 28 Kmart stores, the latest in a string of recent announcements of store shutterings amid a severely deteriorating business. The company has already closed dozens of Sears department stores and Kmart discount stores this year.

Sears Holdings said comparable sales fell 13.2% at Sears, and 9.4% at Kmart, for a companywide decline of 11.5% in the quarter ended July 29. While Sears CEO Eddie Lampert in May invoked dwindling sales at many of the company's rivals, Sears' declines are far deeper than those of Macy's and J.C. Penney.

Lampert, who says he is trying to turn Sears into a membership-based retailer with fewer and smaller stores, pointed to what he called "continued softness in store traffic and elevated price competition." In the face of persistently awful results—Sears Holdings has yet to report a same-store sales increase since Kmart and Sears were merged in 2005—Lampert claimed the company is "making progress" on its long-vaunted—but so far disappointing—turnaround.
....

In recent years, Sears, which in March recognized doubts in the marketplace about its long-term future and concerns about a possible bankruptcy, has sold off many core assets like its Lands' End clothing brand, hundreds of stores, and its Craftsman brand to stave off a cash crunch. It has even borrowed from Lampert, a billionaire hedge fund manager. Recently it said it would start selling its Kenmore appliances on Amazon.com to extend that brand's reach.

[Historic NY]

1. And Dear Leader is battling Amazon...

[BigmanPigman]

2. Shit, I miss real stores. This morning had to track second set of speakers "lost" by someone.

I have waited over two months already. I hate the fee to mail stuff, etc. I want it back the way it is supposed to be.

[Freethinker65]

3. Noticed my local Sears was liquidating for a "remodel"

It is a huge anchor store located in an upscale mall outside of Chicago. I have a feeling the remodel will not be happening.

[OnlinePoker]

4. This was from March...1/3 of all malls expected to close completely

As you will see below, it is being projected that about a third of all shopping malls in the United States will soon close, and we just recently learned that the number of “distressed retailers” is the highest that it has been since the last recession. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can possibly believe that the U.S. economy is in “good shape” after looking at the retail industry. In my recent article about the ongoing “retail apocalypse“, I discussed the fact that Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy’s have all announced that they are closing dozens of stores in 2017, and you can find a pretty comprehensive list of 19 U.S. retailers that are “on the brink of bankruptcy” right here. Needless to say, quite a bloodbath is going on out there right now.

But I didn’t realize how truly horrific things were for the retail industry until I came across an article about mall closings on Time Magazine’s website…

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-07/third-all-shopping-malls-are-projected-close-space-available-signs-go-all-over-ameri

[zipplewrath]

5. 8 million square feet

Read an article the other day talking about the amount of excess retail/commercial space in the US. We're still building more while some crazy amount sits empty. This, all while retail is suffering.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Yannow, Sears, Roebuck & Co. was one of the first and biggest of the "online"....

retailers of its day. I don't know if it invented mail order, but it made its fortune in it. How things can change...

All retailers are having problems, but Sear and K-Mart have no excuse-- it is almost entirely the fault of management. Lampert refused to put a dime into the stores or do proper marketing. He doesn't even know who his customer is.

In this town we've got Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, BJ's, K-Mart, and a bunch of specialty retailers. Guess whose parking lot is empty?

Bad enough the K-Mart isn't too nice on the outside, but when you get inside it's dingy, badly lit, and looks like it's on its last legs. Dollar Tree is more inviting. Target is much more pleasant experience, even with higher prices. And Wal-Mart is always mobbed, largely because of prices and service.

Retailers should run retail, not hedge fund hotshots.

[democratisphere]

7. Sears/Kmart could have put together a great online business

and blew it with the horrendous online operation currently in place. Also their advertising in recent years been very weak or non-existant.

[Not Ruth]

8. Sears/Kmart has been on cruise control for decades

In the current climate of retail innovation, they have been stagnant for an unacceptable time.

[TlalocW]

9. CEO Eddie Lampert is a big fan of Ayn Rand

So much so that he broke the company up into 30 separate units, each with its own management, and they would be judged by their own profit or losses. He thought if they acted selfishly, like objectivism demands, the decisions they made would automatically be good for them and thus the entire company. Instead, the divisions turned on each other.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/column-this-is-what-happens-when-you-take-ayn-rand-seriously/

TlalocW