Community Chat

[ValuSkr]

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@Cakers3 wrote:

Sears used to sell kits to build houses, too.

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It looks like a nice house.  I wonder if they were any good.

[Cakers3]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

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@Cakers3 wrote:

Sears used to sell kits to build houses, too.

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It looks like a nice house.  I wonder if they were any good.

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@ValuSkr  I wonder if they including plumbing and wiring. 

[suzyQ3]

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@San Antonio Gal wrote:

It's very sad and a sign of the times. 

My mom and I use to go shopping at the mall during my teen years and into my 20's.  During my teens, kids use to hang out at the mall a lot too.  Do kids hang out at the mall anymore? 

I can't remember the last time I shopped at a mall. 

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@San Antonio Gal, we have some very new and upscale malls here. My 13-year-old granddaughter and her pals love to hang out at one in particular. She does some of her shopping there, and my daughter has told me that she's quite savvy.

[lovesrecess]

Sears filed chapter 7 last night....which means they are officially done. Chapter 11 protects them from creditors while they attempt to regroup but they finally decided it was too late for that.

What a shame.....who doesn't fondly remember looking at the Sears Christmas Wish Book and picking out toys to put on our list for Santa? Or getting candy in the candy dept. after your mother finished her shopping there? Or ordering from the big Sears catalog? Truly a sad end of an era.

[chickenbutt]

We recently purchased a new refrigerator and a new washer and dryer.   I always bought Kenmore washers and dryers over the decades, but I was afraid to purchase the brand because Sears has been struggling for a while now, obviously, and I didn't want to be stuck with large, expensive, appliances and no coverage.

I haven't been to a mall in ages, either, except when I was getting my exams and glasses at Lenscrafters  (we had some awesome vision care insurance).  But I would park in the back, where their store was right inside the door, so I still didn't go through the mall.

No big thing.  I'm just not much of a 'shopper'. 

[Spurt]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

Beisdes being a major investor in Sears, Eddie Lampert is Sears' major (or largest?) creditor.  As such, he may end up owning most or all of Sears when it emerges from Chapter 11.  And that may be exactly what he intended.  Is he crazy like a fox?

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@ValuSkr @FrostyBabe1

Your right, all the decisions made by their CEO, Lambert, all along didnt seem to be made to save the company, but to enrich his own pockets.......

"ESL may walk away with the prized brand assets and real estate portfolio that Lampert always coveted, but Sears as an ongoing retail operation is doomed sooner or later."

****** SeeselPrincipal, Retailing In Focus LLC

"Eddie Lampert figured out a way to enrich himself by creating the world’s longest liquidation sale for this century-old brand."

Cathy HotkaPrincipal, Cathy Hotka & Associates

Is Eddie Lampert looking to save Sears or suck it dry?

Sep 25, 2018

by George Anderson

If the only responsibility of business is to make a profit within the rules of the game as Milton Friedman once wrote, then ESL Investments, the hedge fund run by Edward Lampert with a controlling interest in Sears Holdings, appears to be fulfilling its duty. The same cannot be said for the parent company of Sears and Kmart, which is also run by Mr. Lampert. It is facing bankruptcy as early as next month if something isn’t done quickly to renegotiate its debt and increase revenues.

Mr. Lampert has a plan to keep Sears Holdings going, but will it help revive the retailer or just allow ESL to get more value from its investment before the decision to liquidate its remaining assets are made?

Yesterday, the board of Sears Holdings chaired by Mr. Lampert, announced that it was in receipt of a proposal by ESL that recommends it renegotiate $1.1 billion in debt that will come due in 2019 and 2020. It also proposed that the company sell real estate valued at $1.5 billion and assets including the Kenmore brand and Sears Home Services to raise another $1.75 billion.

Mr. Lampert offered last month to buy Kenmore for $400 million, a business that Sears Holdings had valued at $500 million as recently as April, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The truth is that there may be no other option for Sears Holdings to stay in business if it doesn’t take ESL’s deal. If it used all the proceeds from the steps proposed, Sears could cut its debt from $5.5 billion to around $1.24 billion, according to a filing by ESL. 

The hedge fund’s filing, with no apparent sense of irony, said the retailer “must act immediately to have sufficient runway to continue its transformation.” Sears Holdings has lost $11.7 billion since 2010, the last year it turned a profit, according to CNN. Same-store sales for the company were down 3.9 percent for the quarter despite operating in a favorable retail market. Sears and Kmart, which operated more than 3,500 stores combined when they merged in 2005, currently have fewer than 900 stores.

[ValuSkr]

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@lovesrecess wrote:

Sears filed chapter 7 last night....which means they are officially done.

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No, I believe the O.P. is correct: Sears filed for Chapter 11.  I suppose it could end up in Chapter 7 if a reorganization can't be negotiated.  But that's not the goal at the moment.

[FrostyBabe1]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

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@lovesrecess wrote:

Sears filed chapter 7 last night....which means they are officially done.

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No, I believe the O.P. is correct: Sears filed for Chapter 11.  I suppose it could end up in Chapter 7 if a reorganization can't be negotiated.  But that's not the goal at the moment.

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Chapter 11 it is:

https://searsholdings.com/press-releases/pr/2116

How lovely that good ole' Eddie is going to lend them $300 million thru his ESL Investment arm!

[Allegheny]

We have 3 K-Mart stores in the surrounding area that will be shut down as a result.

[Spurt]

Sad......I remember Sears in their hay day ...everybody was buying Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances, home goods and everything in between...and I feel sorry for people losing jobs........

They are closing the Sears at one of our popular malls here...There are still a lot of shoppers at this mall EXCEPT at Sears....its like a ghost town.....