(Gary Gardiner/Bloomberg News)
| By Sandra M. Jones | Sears plans to close eight of its namesake stores by early April as parent Sears Holdings Corp.continues efforts to trim underperforming locations from its ranks.
The retailer intends to shutter four full-line department stores in Waycross, Ga., Columbia, Tenn., Wilson, N.C., and Houston. Another four Sears Essentials stores–a freestanding, big-box format that once had been pegged as Sears’ growth vehicle–will close in Plainfield, N.J., Carlton, N.J., West Bend, Wis., and Londonderry, N.H. |
See also • Kmart to shut down 2 Illinois stores |
All the stores will close May 9, except for the London store which will
shut down April 4, according to Kimberly Freely, spokeswoman at Hoffman
Estates-based Sears.
On Thursday, Sears disclosed plans to shutter 13 Kmart stores
nationwide, including local stores in Woodstock and Crestwood.
Sears is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and fiscal year-end
financial results on Feb. 23.
Classic example of how to wreck a major major corporation. Take a successful 100+ year old company, add greedy executives, and let it all fall apart.
It’s so easy to blame greedy executives, isn’t it? Why not step back and actually look at the situation. When is the last time anyone shopped at Sears? I’ve walked through it a couple of times a year, but never find anything to buy. The merchandise is behind the times. A few celebrity connections don’t fix the entire store. The stores near us are dirty and you cannot find any help. The last thing we bought at Sears was a dryer. Other than appliances, I’ve never found anything to buy there.
really who shops at Sears anymore? They are an icon but behind in the times… If sears were smart they would close all their outlet stores and just keep an online store going back to the catalog like sales that orginally launched them to success. If Kmart and Sears were to disappear tomorrow I don’t think anyone would really care.
It’s Obama’s fault!
The wrong merchandise mix, rude sales staff, bad executive management = weak sales.
I try to shop at Sears when I can. They do have good paint, tools, and appliances. The woman who sold us our newest mattress couldn’t ring up the sale correctly. It took her 6 attempts and a call to her manager. Forget asking for help in electronics or any other department – they don’t speak English.
Executives over the years, besides being greedy, sorely lacked vision. Ultimately, who is responsible for ensuring that at company remains competitive in the marketplace besides the executives? So, it is still their blame for allowing Sears to lose ground to its competition. If these executives had spent even half the time they did running up huge expense accounts studying the trends in the retail industry, both Sears and K-Mart would still have a stable customer base.
Growing up, virtually all of the household appliances in our house were Kenmore and tools Craftsman, so they made quality goods. The company just stopped focusing on what got them there, and we’re left with, what–”Save Money, Live Better?” Yeah, right!
If they close the Sears at my local Mall, I’ll be very disappointed… there is always plenty of parking near the Sears store! Sears had been resting on its laurels waaaay too long… over 20 years now… they may not be able to dig themselves out of the hole they’re in. I haven’t shopped there in years.
To Carelvis – I agree with you 100%. It is corporate greed that is the cornerstone of corporate failure and economic failure. Greedy execs living on 6-digit+ incomes, along with bonuses that are 4 to 5 times mores than most annual salaries is disgustingly inexcusable. When companies like this fail, they tend to make the support staff suffer, while keeping their undeserved positions – they are reason for the failure, not their support staff.
Why is everybody so happy? When all you have is Wal-Mart maybe then you’ll be happy. That’s the direction all this is going. Oakbrook Sears is very nice and their clothes are up to date. Love their shoes. I guess it depends what area your Sears is in.
And the reason ‘no-one’ shops at sears? B/c it is no longer run by retail execs, but by hedge fund execs out of Stamford. good ol’ eddie and his ESL cronies bought sears (and Kmart) sucked all the value they could out of the real estate, deferred cap ex so significantly that the stores are about as attractive as a soup kitchen, cost-cut until there were no marketing/merchandising initiatives remaining, and leave you with a shell of a company that has no alternative but to close shops. Anyone who thinks this is an example of anything but greed run amok is naive.
“The woman who sold us our newest mattress couldn’t ring up the sale correctly. ” The core of well trained Sears people were retired out or layed off years ago. Why? Because they were paid a reasonable salary while the American consumer screeched for that answer to all issues, LOW LOW prices “everyday”. Hence you have the explosive growth of Wal-Mart. Enjoy your shopping “experience” there. That also accelerated the death of manufacturing in the USA since no matter how productive or innovative, domestic companies that actually make stuff cannot “compete” with our trading “partners” in Asia where wages and benefits add up in dimes. So in order to have “prices alwuz’ a fallin’” Wal-Mart hammered them to “offshore” the production and just have warehouses here. Enjoy your New Economy job driving a forklift or packing up shipments. Decades of bumbling execs at Sears with their heads up their butts did play a significant role in the decline, but shifting consumer trends away from “mid level” stores and especially demands for “low prices” was the real driver.
Sears has lost me as a customer due to VERY POOR customer service. I am not surprised that they are now shutting down stores. In the past you knew that Sears would stand behind their products so you didn’t have a worry when it came to buying from them. Spend your money where people value your patronage.
Last summer, we had to replace our refrigerator and two weeks later our washing machine. On both occasions we went to the Sears at Chicago Ridge Mall. Our salesperson was knowledgeable, courteous, provided all the information and told us how to process the rebates on our new appliances. He promised next day delivery and sure enough, both appliances arrived the day after we purchased them. The took away the old ones and both our washer and refrigerator are more than satisfactory. The rebate came in the form of pre-paid credit card which was honored at Sears and Kmart. I think its a shame established retailers are falling by the wayside to the big box stores that provide no service after the sale (ship it back to the manufacturer, we’re done with you). Thats what’s killing this market.
Sears had become closing stores way before Obama even thought of running for president you bone brain
I’ve tried a number of times to shop at Sears and support them. They’ve been around forever, they’re a local company and any of us who grew up with them around are a bit nostalgic for the old Sears.
But here’s the thing: Sears sucks. No matter how much they change their stores to make them look like Kohl’s, no matter how much they redesign, no matter what…..they are behind the times. Poor products at high prices. All ANYONE really goes there for anymore is appliances and tools.
I’ve tried any number of times to go there on State Street. They never have what I need, and on the rare occasions I do find something there, they have ONE register open per floor and you could literally wait a day trying to check out.
I went there in December for Christmas stuff and was told….”oh, we aren’t carrying Christmas items.” what the h???? seriously? You earn a grade of FAIL in retail. Just close already.
I don’t know enough about the retail business to correctly analyze Sears’ problems, but I do know when I stopped being a loyal customer – when Sears outsourced their service to outside contractors. I’m sure the move made financial sense but I immediately noticed a decline in customer service related to installation, delivery and repair of appliances sold by Sears. The year before last I had to replace a water heater. First of all, The Sears website advertised that I could purchase the water heater and have it installed, all within 24 hours. They lied. When I called the toll-free number the reprentative told me that even though the unit I wanted was in stock, the wearhouse couldn’t deliver it for 4 or 5 days. In addition to that, the cost of delivery, installtion and the charge for hauling away the old water heater would have been more than the price of the heater itself (the cost of the heater was about $300). Fortunately I know an excellent plumber. I ordered the unit, he picked it up for me and installed it for less than $200. As for disposal of the old unit, I placed it in the alley and the scrap metal scavengers picked it up in less than 30 minutes. They seemed quiet excited with their luck. If you call the Sears service number you will be faced with the most annoying system that will have you pressing so many blasted buttons and speaking to an automated voice, that you may forget what the heck you were calling about in the first place. Sears is trying to improve their merchandise and I do occasionally find a few clothing items and small appliances there, but for major appliances, I usually go to ABT appliances, were I can order online, delivery is free for items in a certain price range, and installation costs are very reasonable and so far their service is excellent. A lot of these retailers don’t realize that people will pay more for excellent service. Because of the loss of jobs that occur when stores are closed, I hope Sears can pull it together, but it may be too litle, too late. Sad.
Sears tried to move into the new decade by providing shopping carts! I go to Sears every few months to get my oil changed at Sears Automotive. Sears brand is excellent, their appliances are great and they back it up with a great warranty. But their prices on all their items is high. I DO like Sears only because it is a familiar dinosaur. But, like the old Service Merchandise, you have to ask the question: “when was the last time you shopped at Sears?” 20 years ago that store was booming. What a shame Sears became resistant to change.
Has anyone walked into the Sears Corporate building lately? They outsourced everything to non-american workers. They are known to get rid of the American workers and bring in cheaper less skilled Indian workers just to save a buck and not have to spend on healthcare since they are contracted out. They surely abuse the work visa program. I don’t support companies that treat their dedicated employees as just numbers or $ values. How many layoffs have they done in the last 10 years. I would guess over 15. It is a shame their poor management decisions impact their employees and cost them their jobs. The executives should be the ones held responsible for their bad business decisions.
Every time I go into the Sears on State St I’m disappointed. Dirty surroundings, shabby clothing,unhappy staff. They try to promote Lands End clothing but only offer Lands End outdated rejects in the Sears store. Management sets the tone: unhappy employees do not make happy customers. They should visit Nordstroms to see how to do it right!
What template do you use in your blog ? Looks cool:)