Quote:
Originally Posted by wit-nit
Sears went south when they merged with K-Mart their holding company. Too bad, I remember sitting in the 2 holer outhouse reading their catalogs many moons ago.
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Sears was purchased by KMart.
But step back some.
KMart went bankrupt a few decades ago.
In steps Edward Lampert. Edward Lampert is a Mitt Romney type venture capitalist. A turnaround guy.
Someone who buys weak companies - or in this case bankrupt companies and turns them around to make big monies.
Edward Lampert saw value in the Kmart name and more so in the value of the Kmart properties. Lots of money to be made with a quick turn around.
Right after this, Sears was floundering. Edward Lampert leveraged KMart to purchase Sears. Another opportunity for a fast buck - to turn around Sears.
Except Edward Lampert is no Mitt Romney. All of the holdings - Sears/KMart are floundering and tanking.
Edward Lampert did not see or visualize what Jeff Bezos was doing at Amazon. The retail market was changing.
Of course there are others involved in the Sears Holdings - the company name of Sears and KMart. Other banks and venture capitalists became involved.
With the changing buying habits of the public Edward Lampert is attempting to keep Sears and KMart alive. But as each time more money is infused into Sears Holdings yet the brands are still tanking.
Long before Autozone and Advance Auto and other automotive repair chains were around there was Sears Automotive. Sears Automotive was the place to take you car for repairs if you didn't want to go to the new car dealership. Unfortunately Sears Auto lost two Class Action Lawsuits in California. Sears Automotive was guilty of selling unneeded parts to the general public - parts that were not needed when people brought cars in for repairs. Added parts.
When a company such as Sears sells off it's high value assets it is only a question of time before the end comes.
Sears never made any of the products. Sears Kenmore appliances are ordinary Whirlpool and many other company products rebranded.
I gave up on Sears after Sears stole the Bionic Wrench from Dan Brown.
LINK Blatant theft of a product made in the USA.
In the end these companies fail because of management. Poor management. Management without a vision. Sears and KMart are floundering because management does not or cannot vision the buying habits of the general public. Jeff Bezos can see it. Sears management cannot. Or isn't capable of seeing it or capable of doing anything about it.
RIP. Sears was the largest retailer in the world at one point. Sears built the largest retail store in the world in Chicago just as the Home Depots and the Walmarts were beginning. Both with a different vision of what retail was.
As with Kodak and Polaroid, management did not and does not have the capabilities to grasp what the buying public needs or wants.
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