Sears, What Went Wrong...

I for one am happy about the crash of Sears Holdings...They started to slip in february and I shorted their stock in april. This month has been very profitable. :dblthumb2:

I'm going to buy a new flex rotary and a bunch of new microfibers with my gains in a few weeks when they have completely gone bankrupt.
 
JonMiles said:
....in a few weeks when they have completely gone bankrupt.
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I doubt it's going to be THAT bad. Though I will admit I got a Sears gift card for Christmas that I made sure to use right away just in case.

If they do go bankrupt I'm going to be on the lookout for clearance priced Craftsman tools and pick up anything I can get that is/was still made in USA.
 
I will 2nd the bad IT comment. I recently bought up every air-gauge/window hammer/seatbelt cutter in the area because they had them at $9.99. We gave them as stocking stuffers to family. Anyway I cleaned out one store. Then they tried to check their inventory to see if they had more. It said zero. But we found more in another department. Then they called another local store to see what they had. They had NO Idea what we were talking about. I then took the item to a 3rd store. Their terminal said they had none. But us looking very hard found 5 more hidden in the wrong area. So their Inventory Control system is poor.

Their time has come and gone. When I was a kid in the 60's the big thrill was to go into "the city" and were talking a city of 18K not NYC, and shop at Sears. If they didn't have it, like the bike you wanted, you ordered it, and a few weeks later it came. And who didn't grow up with "The WishBook the Sears Christmas Catalog?"

When all there is available to us in On-Line stores, you'll miss your local retailer. Hopefully it will go back to great on-line stores like AG and local mom-pop specialty stores for hardware, supplies, extra pads you need Now. Except for clothes I hatee shopping for clothes but I'd really be hurting if I had to rely on buying clothes without trying them on.

As people who work with chemicals and dress tires all the time, what's so wrong about the smell of tires? Besides every Sears I know has a separate Auto service center. Spiney-Dave
 
overpriced. poor customer service. lack of selection.
 
My opinion, something I'm an expert on!

Sears was the store of middle class America back in the 40's 50, and 60's and even some 70's. If you needed a washer, dryer, refrigerator, tools or tires Sears was THE store to shop.

Sears was a generational store and not only that they were the only game in town that sold everything you need and quality products. Catalog sales were a huge part of Sears and something the customer liked and relied on. Eliminating this was one of the biggest bone headed move they made. Sears felt that the catalog shopper would be forced into visiting the store and buying additional items...they were wrong...

Through the 70's, 80's and 90's Sears quality went down hill dramatically as many of it's suppliers were using Chinese suppliers and the focus went from quality to quantity. The philosophy of profit before customer and quality is a ticking time bomb for any company. This combined with huge competition has made it difficult for Sears.

Craftsman was a name synonymous with quality. Hand tools had a full lifetime replacement warranty and their power tools were first rate. As I mentioned above, the 70's were the beginning of the end for Craftsman power tools.

Craftsman lost it customer loyalty and support. This combined with demographic changes and stiff competition made it easy picking for brand names like DeWalt, Makita, Porter Cable etc to come in and take over as front runners. This is the very reason you see these names on the shelf at every Sears store...

Buying Kmart was another bonehead move in my opinion. What not buy a dollar store, their all about quality and durability aren't they?
 
From what I have seen and heard, Sears failed to keep their stores up to date despite expanding the online presence plus a lot more competition for clothing, appliances, etc from other retailers who also expanded and improved their stores.

Except for the tools area, the stores I have visited looked unattractive: lighting, sloppy, and picked over. I do not think Chinese products was a factor since everyone sells products from the same basic sources. Now, Kmart has significantly improved their stores in our areas but still looks like they have issues keeping shelves stocked.
 
Yea I heard about this yesterday. I never really shopped at sears unless I needed tools.

Buying K-mart was the worst idea ever
 
Every location can't be successful. MacDonalds and even Walmart have shut down non profitable stores. Many factors are contribute to such things. Demographics are constantly changing. Obviously economic conditions are worse in some areas.
 
I love how they threatened to leave Illinois if they didn't get a tax break(headquarters is based in illinois). They promised growth and jobs in return for getting the tax break signed last week. Then, a week later they are closing all these stores. Like they didn't know this was going to happen when they got the tax break. At least Illinois is rethinking that decission now. At least they better pull back that promise.
 
What went wrong. Overpriced and Low Quality merchandise. Associates lying to get a sale. Lack of customer service after the sale. Our Kmart lack's in all of the areas also. In Michigan you have Wally World, Target, Meijer's all competing for the same dollar. The Sears business model does not take that into account. People are willing to pay for quality. China is the business price point. Mark it up and there is our profit. I feel sorry for the employees who will lose their jobs because a company lost track of their goal. One of my thoughts has been to put a country of origin on all products, including produce, etc. Let the buyer decide. We had a store selling pickles packed in China. We have two pickle plants within 10 miles. Who ship and export to USA packers and China.
 
Sears is behind the times. They just don't advertise and offer the deals that their competiors offer. The big home improvent stores have better quality tools and appliances. Customer service seems to be outscourced to India. There repair service makes
customers wait 2 weeks for a tech to come to your house. They don't have enough people.
My opinion is that there business model is broken. Wall street projects Sears to loose money into the future. Isn't this what happened to Montegomery Wards?
 
As a former sales associate and current lead, I know how much the company expects of the employees. It is saddening to hear about the store closings and your issues. If there was something I could do to solve everyones' issues, I would, but I can only suggest you contact a store manager.

Fortunately, my store is not even close to closing. We shall see... All I can do is do my job to the best of my ability and hope for the best.
 
I just bought a bunch of Sears Craftsman Tools.

At Sears Online, then to save the shipping picked them up at the local Sears Brick & Mortar store.

Unfortunately, the auto dept at my local store has closed.

And I can see the entire store closing soon. The property is worth over a hundred million. It's overlooking the beach.
 
I love parts of Sears. I still prefer Craftsman tools and lawn mowers, weedeaters, garage door openers, etc.


My Craftsman Lawn Tractor is 17 years old and has been like a Sherman Tank. Rock solid.

I would hate to see them go. Maybe shutting down non-profitable stores and amping up online sales will save them. The overhead on a store overlooking the beach must be incredible. Maybe they just need to move.
 
Where Sears has lost out on my business was with the tools, moving the manufacturing to China in the process the tools quality has fallen greatly.
 
Armenakadino said:
Where Sears has lost out on my business was with the tools, moving the manufacturing to China in the process the tools quality has fallen greatly.
Click to expand...

Who is selling tools NOT from China?
 
Bunky said:
Who is selling tools NOT from China?
Click to expand...

Yeah, really. Even Matco/Snap-On/MAC/Cornwell are selling some stuff that is Chinese made. There are some of Craftsman's tools still made in the USA, you just have to look at what you're buying.
 
Spiney said:
I will 2nd the bad IT comment. I recently bought up every air-gauge/window hammer/seatbelt cutter in the area because they had them at $9.99. We gave them as stocking stuffers to family. Anyway I cleaned out one store. Then they tried to check their inventory to see if they had more. It said zero. But we found more in another department. Then they called another local store to see what they had. They had NO Idea what we were talking about. I then took the item to a 3rd store. Their terminal said they had none. But us looking very hard found 5 more hidden in the wrong area. So their Inventory Control system is poor.

Their time has come and gone. When I was a kid in the 60's the big thrill was to go into "the city" and were talking a city of 18K not NYC, and shop at Sears. If they didn't have it, like the bike you wanted, you ordered it, and a few weeks later it came. And who didn't grow up with "The WishBook the Sears Christmas Catalog?"

When all there is available to us in On-Line stores, you'll miss your local retailer. Hopefully it will go back to great on-line stores like AG and local mom-pop specialty stores for hardware, supplies, extra pads you need Now. Except for clothes I hatee shopping for clothes but I'd really be hurting if I had to rely on buying clothes without trying them on.

As people who work with chemicals and dress tires all the time, what's so wrong about the smell of tires? Besides every Sears I know has a separate Auto service center. Spiney-Dave
Click to expand...

Sheeshhhhh. Well I hear they are working with IBM now to "clean things up". That should take a few years easily.
 
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