So what happens if Sears goes under

[DesertTortoise]

Sears Roebuck isn't doing very well. They might not survive in the long term, at least not in their current form. The losses just seem to get bigger and closing stores has never seemed to me to be the road to success. To me it is a shame because I have always enjoyed shopping at Sears and love their tools and appliances, and of course their vacuums.

So what do you all think will happen to Sears in the future? Maybe the tools and appliances are spun off to a new owner? Maybe Craftsman and Kenmore survive while the rest of Sears goes away? Or maybe Sears remains in name but only selling appliances, tools and some patio stuff like they sell in the small town Sears outlet stores? Think about all the spare parts for their appliances sitting in a couple of big warehouses. What happens to those? Who gets them and how do customers take care of their Kenmore appliances in the future? Should they ditch K-Mart and concentrate on Sears branded stores?

Lets have a little fun speculating.

 

[man114]

I was just commenting on this elsewhere. Do not expect much if anything to happen in the very near future, JCP was in much worse shape, and might still be, than Sears is now. Sears owns a large number of their stores for which they have no lease obligations, the real estate is worth, from what I've seen upwards of $5 billion or more. Their long term debt is negligible. Something like $92 million due in 2017. With little long term debt and that amount of real estate they could easily get collateralized loans and meander around for years until they find their formula to work or lack of it. Additionally, with the low debt, if the share price goes low enough, do not be surprised if Eddie Lampert takes the company private and continues to artificially shore up operations at the stores they own until the real estate becomes a much more valuable play. If in that period sales turn around, you are not going to see him unload. I wouldn't be hedging on a liquidation of Sears for at least a couple of years, and then only in dire circumstances.

 

[sebo_fan]

They could do the same approach with the Woolworths brand in the UK. Their shops lost a lot of money in the end, but now have a mail internet based company only. That would cut down a lot of physical shops to have mail order internet only.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Man114, thanks for the analysis. That is the sort of detail I was hoping would come out of this thread.

Maybe it is a sign of my age but I still love shopping at Sears, find Craftsman tools to be the bargain of the century for the kind of high quality they offer, and same thing for their appliances. You can find higher quality, sure, but you pay double or triple for it. To go cheaper you take a huge hit on quality. They are kind of in the sweet spot that way.

Just my thought, Sears needs to upgrade K-Mart stores and make them presentable. I shop in ours from time to time but I have to hold my nose to do so, and that isn't how you draw customers to your store. Wally World stores look a lot nicer inside, so do Target stores, and that is K-Marts competition.

Sebo_Fan, their on line presence is pretty strong (google up Sears Parts Direct as an example) and one thing I do like is if you want to buy something in their store that is out of stock, they will order it and ship it to your door with no shipping charges. Same thing at K-Mart. That is way cool if you ask me. Wally World sure won't do that.

 

[super-sweeper]

My beloved Montgomery Ward is confined to the internet, now. I get their emails, but I've got 2 catalogs from them in the past, I want more! 

 I need to figure out how to sign-up, they're awesome little catalogs! 

 

[suckolux]

I agree DT, our Sears is past its prime, but K mart is scary condition, and always with that 1 scared looking cashier! I shop Sears still for the tools and appliances, not much else, but want to be able to continue that!

 

[bagintheback]

My family was pretty loyal to Sears for many years. When we still lived in a big city, Phoenix, Sears was the place to go to for tools, major appliances, and I think we got new tires from them once. However, the one Sears here in northern Arizona is awful.  I walked in once and haven't  been in since. It was dirty, cluttered, and the employees looked very unhappy. 


 


It's my understanding Kenmore and especially Craftsman still have a good standing with consumers. A few years ago, the Craftsman brand began selling at Ace Hardware. I would hope should Sears go under, they would do something similar with Kenmore. Maybe Costco? I don't think Home Depot or Lowes would be best fit for the brand. 

 

[daknx1994]

First off all of the Sears Outlet, Hometown, Appliance Showrooms, and tool stores are now operating as their own company. They are no longer owned by Sears Holdings. Sears Outlet and the others are in a much better financial condition than those of Sears Holdings. As for the Kenmore and Craftsman brands, if Sears were to close up those brands would get sold off. Eddie Lampert is already doing this with Craftsman as Bagintheback has mentioned. It wont be too much longer and you will see Kenmore at other retail outlets. Sears is actually becoming an online business more than their brick and mortar stores. I currently work for Sears Outlet but was originally from one of the big Sears stores. The Shop Your Way program is actually the beginning of Sears becoming more of an online entity. The other thing is like DT mentioned, the K-Mart stores need major upgrading and/or need to be ditched. Almost every K-Mart I have been in is either run down or in a part of town where there is very little traffic. It will be a while before we see the complete closure of Sears. Unfortunately, if the corporation does not turn itself around, that future will be here sooner than what people may think. 

 

[man114]

If you want to see a nice looking Kmart, check out the Super Kmarts. There are a few left in the Midwest, something like 20. I was at the one in Warren Ohio a month ago, it was clean, well stocked. Sears Grand was a pretty cool concept store too, I went to the one near Pittsburgh, large, more trendy looking, in stock was pretty bad though in some of the hardlines.

 

[eurekaprince]

Sears is going through serious surgery here in Canada as well. Their flagship store in downtown Toronto is closing and I think the store will now be taken over by Nordstrom's. This article gives more detail.....

http://m.thestar.com/#/article/busi...its_flagship_torontos_eaton_centre_store.html

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

Sears is still open? Who cares? Won't miss them or JCP when they close, haven't shopped in either in years, maybe decades. If you want a decent parking spot at the local mall, drive to Pennys or Sears... nobody is ever in either one and always plenty of parking. The only downside is you then have to walk through one or the other.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Kmart and Sears here are both in the same mall! Both are kept clean and well organized. They are also both relatively knew (1991 Kmart and Sears about 2000). I remember going to Kmart with my aunt back in the late 90s and she commented on how nice the store was, and that theirs was a mess. So I knew that even then there were some bad ones. I have been reading more recently about messy, dirty and poorly stocked Sears and was surprised to read that.

My family usually shopped at Sears for appliances and tools and still do. I always liked reading their catalogs so I sort of grew up with them and would definitely miss them. Neither store is all that busy though, although that can be true of any retail store these days. I went to Kmart last weekend with my mother and the store actually had more people around than usual, though some were just browsing and a lady and kids were sitting at a table in the furniture dept.

I think the Sears brands would likely continue if the stores were to close.

 

[suckolux]

Our Kmart is circa 1972 and Sears is 67

 

[kirbylux77]

I hope Sears DOES go out of business eventually! They deserve to! Every Sears that I have been into in Ontario, without exception, the staff have been extremely snooty & rude. One woman that worked the men's clothing dept, one time, was so rude I had to remind her that SHE was the one who was working a job paying barely above minimum wage & that she didn't even have a college degree, so she should stop acting like a snooty rich bitch & treat her customers with RESPECT. Yet if I go into The Bay, they give exceptional customer service & the staff are very polite & cordial. It also doesn't help that the prices Sears charges are through the roof compared to their competition, & the quality of their in-house brands, like Kenmore & Craftsman, has gone wayyy downhill in recent years & is a former shadow of what they once were.

Rob

 

[DesertTortoise]

I don't see any of that here kirbylux77. When I test drove a new Kenmore Elite canister vac this weekend the sales staff couldn't have been nicer to me. When I pointed out that the white Progressives like mine come with plastic bristles on the dusting brush while the purple one next to it has a nicer horse hair brush, she mentioned that for 2014 there was an upgrade to that series that included the new brush, an aluminum telescopic wand and a couple of other things. She was knowledgeable and informative. She was very nice and when I fill out the on line survey I will be sure to make that point. She deserves it.

Same at the Sears Hometown Outlet where I live. Both stores are clean and my last two shopping trips for major appliances we visited Home Depot, Lowes, Circuit City and Frys but ended up buying Kenmore stove and fridge. For what you get the price can't be beat. And before you say it I shopped a Sears just last Saturday.

Sometimes how people treat you has a lot to do with how you treat them. Re-read your post, consider it's tone and think about it.

 

[countryguy]

I have never had a problem with the staff at Sears and I have been to several of the stores in different cities all over the province.

Rob, how do you know that the salesperson did not have a college degree? Did you ask her or were you just making an assumption?

Gary

 

[kirbylux77]

Gary, in this particular case, this was an employee at the store in Barrie, Ontario...,happened about 5 to 6 years ago. It just so happened that this person was friends with a friend of mine, & I knew enough about them to know they went straight from high school to the work force. Once I told her this, she immediately clammed up & by the look on her face she knew she had been in the wrong.

Dircik, I do know how to treat people....anyone who knows me in real life, meaning they have met me in person & not just on Facebook, would tell you I am one of the nicest people you would come across. But, I also don't tolerate poor customer service in a store, or rude, snooty sales associates with an attitude problem. I set my standards pretty high as to what I expect when I walk into a high-end store....you want my money & to pay for your over-priced items, you had better give me exceptional customer service!

Rob

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I would much rather shop at K Mart than Walmart.

I like Sears, for the most part. My late brother LOVED Sears.
I love their paint. They no longer carry paint. Does anyone know WHERE that paint was made and/or wher it still can be puchased? It was some of the best paint I ever used. Anyone know anything about that?
John

 

[filterqueenman]

Sherwin Williams

Made Sears Paint.  We don't have a Sears here anymore they closed the store last year - we  do have Sears Appliance Store they sell major appliances, vacuums, grills, laundry detergent, water filters and trash compactor bags.