Sears Coming to Ohio? (Florida: taxes, move, farm)

[buzzards27]

Originally Posted by unusualfire

Well OUCH. Ohio would have been a fool to have had gotten them.

Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores - FOX19 News and Weather - Greater Cincinnati Area

Thank goodness they are not moving here. Walking thru a Sears or kmart during the day is like walking thru a museum. The only sign of life is the clerks. It has to be depressing for them.

Sears has not found a way to stay current, their buyers are old fashion and have repeatedly brought in new lines that seem dated and frumpy. Their namesake tool line is a joke among professionals. The only saving grace for the tool dept. is that they sell other brands that tradesmen will use.

I seldom shop at either and the wife jokes about them. We do park at their entrances and walk thru becuz you can always find close in parking there.

[Locutus of Board]

There is no question that Sears is financially distressed which is why they were looking to move out of Illinois in the first place.

Try to understand that no business lasts forever. Ohio could have attracted Sears and with properly structured incentives still ended up ahead even if Sears went bankrupt or even eventually liquidated. Because in that much time, it would have still created jobs and income taxes in Ohio.

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by buzzards27

Thank goodness they are not moving here. Walking thru a Sears or kmart during the day is like walking thru a museum. The only sign of life is the clerks. It has to be depressing for them.

Sears has not found a way to stay current, their buyers are old fashion and have repeatedly brought in new lines that seem dated and frumpy. Their namesake tool line is a joke among professionals. The only saving grace for the tool dept. is that they sell other brands that tradesmen will use.

I seldom shop at either and the wife jokes about them. We do park at their entrances and walk thru becuz you can always find close in parking there.

I was back home in Indianapolis for Christmas, and went to the mall yesterday. After fighting with the crazy people at the mall the days after Christmas, I struggled to find a parking spot. I knew where I could find a place within quick walking distance to the mall. I drove all the way around the mall, and parked right next to Sears. I was the second spot in from the roadway that led to the mall entrance. I walked in and it was ghostly, no one was in there, and it was old.

But everyone saw over 6,000 jobs coming to Ohio and got all excited. They looked at the short term instead of the long term picture. It made national news yesterday, and all they could say was the closing of these stores doesn't paint a good picture for the future of Sears, or at least in the moment, where it's going.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

I was back home in Indianapolis for Christmas, and went to the mall yesterday. After fighting with the crazy people at the mall the days after Christmas, I struggled to find a parking spot. I knew where I could find a place within quick walking distance to the mall. I drove all the way around the mall, and parked right next to Sears. I was the second spot in from the roadway that led to the mall entrance. I walked in and it was ghostly, no one was in there, and it was old.

But everyone saw over 6,000 jobs coming to Ohio and got all excited. They looked at the short term instead of the long term picture. It made national news yesterday, and all they could say was the closing of these stores doesn't paint a good picture for the future of Sears, or at least in the moment, where it's going.

The issue with Sears right now is that they have not been focusing on their stores. They have put a lot of emphasis on the online stuff and left the stores to become outdated. I do think a lot of their problems would start to go away if they went back to a focus on traditional stores. The online division is a moneymaker for Sears, which is why they're focusing on it, but they can't abandon what grew them in the first place. Get rid of the CEO and refocus on stores and I do think Sears would come back. Many many companies go through this, closing stores, etc, only to restructure and come back with new leadership. And it's interesting that this is largely an American issue, as Sears in Mexico, from what I remember, were always packed with people and products. Of course, they also still have Woolworths.

The idea of them coming to Ohio was not a short-term gain, because it went beyond Sears alone. It would've put Ohio back in the spotlight as a business-friendly state willing to work with companies. That would've been a long-term positive for the state.

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

The issue with Sears right now is that they have not been focusing on their stores. They have put a lot of emphasis on the online stuff and left the stores to become outdated. I do think a lot of their problems would start to go away if they went back to a focus on traditional stores. The online division is a moneymaker for Sears, which is why they're focusing on it, but they can't abandon what grew them in the first place. Get rid of the CEO and refocus on stores and I do think Sears would come back. Many many companies go through this, closing stores, etc, only to restructure and come back with new leadership. And it's interesting that this is largely an American issue, as Sears in Mexico, from what I remember, were always packed with people and products. Of course, they also still have Woolworths.

The idea of them coming to Ohio was not a short-term gain, because it went beyond Sears alone. It would've put Ohio back in the spotlight as a business-friendly state willing to work with companies. That would've been a long-term positive for the state.

Ohio didn't need Sears to become known as a business friendly state. How do you know it would have made Ohio known as this business friendly state? It is one fortune 500 company, and we have 27 of them. It was just announced last week that a fortune 500 companies was moving to Canton. Even if their internet sales are doing well, their main focus should be on their stores. Their stores are in terrible shape. Target stores are in top-notch shape.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

Ohio didn't need Sears to become known as a business friendly state. How do you know it would have made Ohio known as this business friendly state? It is one fortune 500 company, and we have 27 of them. It was just announced last week that a fortune 500 companies was moving to Canton. Even if their internet sales are doing well, their main focus should be on their stores. Their stores are in terrible shape. Target stores are in top-notch shape.

You kinda have to be out of it to have not noticed that Ohio does not have a great economic image nationally. Whenever I travel outside of the state or country and I tell people I'm from Ohio, they always get this look of either not knowing what I'm talking about or assume I left because Ohio's a sh*thole. I hate that, and if you think I defend Columbus or Ohio too much here, you should see me doing it when I'm not actually here. The bottom line is, we don't have a good image. We can't even convince fellow residents to stay. We need to raise our profile in every way we can, and getting companies to move here is one way to do that.

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

You kinda have to be out of it to have not noticed that Ohio does not have a great economic image nationally. Whenever I travel outside of the state or country and I tell people I'm from Ohio, they always get this look of either not knowing what I'm talking about or assume I left because Ohio's a sh*thole. I hate that, and if you think I defend Columbus or Ohio too much here, you should see me doing it when I'm not actually here. The bottom line is, we don't have a good image. We can't even convince fellow residents to stay. We need to raise our profile in every way we can, and getting companies to move here is one way to do that.

If anyone is out of it, it's you thinking Sears is a good company to come to this state. And when I travel (which is a constant thing for me), I hear a lot of good things about Ohio. Newsflash for you, everyone is going to have an opinion about someplace. Tennessee, Idaho, Florida, New York, Jersey, etc. Not everyone is going to see a rosy picture.

Having a company like Sears in Ohio is not going to make Ohio's image any different. I would rather have Macy's, Procter and Gamble, Progressive, etc be here that are actually more in tune with what people want out of a company. Sears is dying, their stores are sh**, and is like walking into a ghost town in one of their stores. Yes, I would have been so proud when I was back home over the holidays to be walking in a dead Sears store talking about how they were going to be moving to Ohio. I would have been talking to the walls though because no one was there.

If anything, Ohio needs to promote itself better. It doesn't do that at all, so no one, and I mean no one (not even the people that live here) knows what all it has to offer.

And I don't think you defend Ohio at all, Columbus, sure.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

If anyone is out of it, it's you thinking Sears is a good company to come to this state. And when I travel (which is a constant thing for me), I hear a lot of good things about Ohio. Newsflash for you, everyone is going to have an opinion about someplace. Tennessee, Idaho, Florida, New York, Jersey, etc. Not everyone is going to see a rosy picture.

Having a company like Sears in Ohio is not going to make Ohio's image any different. I would rather have Macy's, Procter and Gamble, Progressive, etc be here that are actually more in tune with what people want out of a company. Sears is dying, their stores are sh**, and is like walking into a ghost town in one of their stores. Yes, I would have been so proud when I was back home over the holidays to be walking in a dead Sears store talking about how they were going to be moving to Ohio. I would have been talking to the walls though because no one was there.

If anything, Ohio needs to promote itself better. It doesn't do that at all, so no one, and I mean no one (not even the people that live here) knows what all it has to offer.

And I don't think you defend Ohio at all, Columbus, sure.

So Ohio is almost dead last in growth rates because... everyone loves it and thinks highly of it? We're barely above Michigan, which is losing people. How does this translate into something positive??

[homiej]

The problem with all of this is that it's not real growth for the country. If Ohio were its own country, poaching the jobs from Illinois would have made a difference. Until we MAKE jobs rather than MOVE them, nothing will improve.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by homiej

The problem with all of this is that it's not real growth for the country. If Ohio were its own country, poaching the jobs from Illinois would have made a difference. Until we MAKE jobs rather than MOVE them, nothing will improve.

Okay, I get that point and think that's an issue, but at the same time, my concern is for Ohio residents and its economy.