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Looks like the end is coming soon

Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 01:49 PM

for Sears.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/10/sears-arranges-financing-for-a-potential-bankruptcy.html


Stock price is currently 40 cents per share.

Sears hasn’t had a profitable year since 2010.


I say it’s time to close up shop.
Posted By: Dart

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 01:53 PM

They've already done this weird Brand sharing thing with Craftsman, so radically downsizing is out of the question.

The bizarre thing is that Sears failed to become an online powerhouse. The company turned remote purchasing by catalog into a fine art - how they failed to grasp that buying via the Internet is the exact same thing using a different medium is beyond me.
Posted By: oldgrognard

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 01:58 PM

Dart is right. Sears, an early adopter of catalog sale, completely fumbled on-line selling.
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 02:04 PM

That is absolutely true that Sears dropped the ball with e-commerce but the long decline of Sears started in the late 90's when it was being smoked by both Walmart and Target in the traditional retail environment. So the problems with Sears go even deeper than just the advent of e-commerce.
Posted By: No105_Archie

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 02:38 PM

Sears did well around here until they tried to compete with the likes of Walmart. Sears ( at least around here ) always meant above average quality of products, fair prices and superlative personal service. The service AND product quality both went downhill so folks just went to Walmart.......who now had the same mediocre stuff and service but with lower prices. Target lasted about 6 months in Canada. More expensive than Walmart , same quality, lesser selection and even worse service smile
Posted By: adlabs6

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 02:48 PM

What bugs me with a few of the online fronts of the traditional brick and mortar stores, is when allow 3rd party sellers with dubious quality merchandise. This may mean a few pennies earned from the transaction, but IMO this practice massively dilutes the brand reputation that the brick stores built up.

And it's not just brick stores, even the online-only giants. I've been a shopper on Amazon for more than a decade, but the last few years there are so many products and sellers that seem a bit sketchy, that for some products I will actively shop elsewhere, before checking Amazon.
Posted By: LB4LB

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 03:10 PM

Amazon is not the same as it once was. More and more of their sellers and products are less reliable than before. They are no longer my go to place to shop. I have had to return a much higher percentage of product than before.

The Sears and K-Mart "death rattle" has been going on for as long as I can remember. Just pull the plug already.
Posted By: KraziKanuK

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/10/18 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by No105_Archie
Sears did well around here until they tried to compete with the likes of Walmart. Sears ( at least around here ) always meant above average quality of products, fair prices and superlative personal service. The service AND product quality both went downhill so folks just went to Walmart.......who now had the same mediocre stuff and service but with lower prices. Target lasted about 6 months in Canada. More expensive than Walmart , same quality, lesser selection and even worse service smile



Around 1970 worked for Simpson-Sears in the warehouse. At least twice a week would get 2 box cars full of stuff. At least 2/3 of the load were boxes of merchandise with some strange writing on them.
Posted By: BD-123

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/11/18 04:02 PM

Strange that the large catalogue firms with their expertise in mail order did not adapt and exploit the online marketplace. Same thing happened over here (UK) with Littlewoods (who I worked for, albeit in the Chain Store branch) and Kays, who many workers in my nearest city, Worcester, were dependent on for their livelihoods so the collapse of the company had quite a devastating effect on the local economy.
Posted By: Mr_Blastman

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 01:52 AM

Originally Posted by LB4LB
Amazon is not the same as it once was. More and more of their sellers and products are less reliable than before.


Bezos has gotten greedy.


[Linked Image]
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 10:19 AM

Greedy? Amazon is a publicly traded company. It's all about profit margins and market share once you go public. That's the way it should be.



Don't like the pressure from Wall Street and investors to be constantly efficient? Don't go public.
Posted By: F4UDash4

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
Greedy? Amazon is a publicly traded company. It's all about profit margins and market share once you go public. That's the way it should be.



Don't like the pressure from Wall Street and investors to be constantly efficient? Don't go public.


+1
Posted By: LB4LB

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
Greedy? Amazon is a publicly traded company. It's all about profit margins and market share once you go public. That's the way it should be.



Don't like the pressure from Wall Street and investors to be constantly efficient? Don't go public.


Agreed, but the free market also applies when your product/service is no longer considered a value by the consumer and they stop giving you business. It seems like E-Bay is making a comeback. Maybe a little market competition is what Amazon, no I mean the consumer, needs.
Posted By: Mr_Blastman

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
Greedy? Amazon is a publicly traded company. It's all about profit margins and market share once you go public. That's the way it should be.


You're preaching to the choir here. I own a few shares of AMZN... smile

But that doesn't insulate them from how they treat their vendors and their employees. That recent stunt about raising the minimum wage? They cut bonuses to compensate, creating a net wash but got free publicity. Brilliant move, but little overall improvement. Not that they have to improve, they're Amazon, folks are banging on their doors to sell product and find work. They're not a charity, they're a business, and as an investor that's all I care about. I want fatter margins, revenue growth, rising share price and ultimately a fat dividend.

When I take off my investor pants, though, I see them becoming quite similar to that other company so many love to hate--Walmart. Whether AMZN will begin selling tea kettles that catch on fire(true story, only tea kettle I ever bought from Walmart ignited while trying to boil some water. Good thing I caught it before it burned my place down...), remains to be seen.

I think the biggest gripe is Bezos is likely a cyborg Terminator sent from eighty years in the future, and beneath all that flesh his red eye and positronic brain never sleep, always seeking to lash out with his electro-flail on lackeys and malcontent slobs dogging the web-train from operating at maximum efficiency. He knows he can do this, because the only man worth more than him is Putin. It's good to be the king.

I'll keep buying their shares on dips, though.
Posted By: Coot

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/12/18 05:20 PM

They have their reward.
Posted By: W-Molders

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/13/18 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
for Sears.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/10/sears-arranges-financing-for-a-potential-bankruptcy.html


Stock price is currently 40 cents per share.

Sears hasn’t had a profitable year since 2010.


I say it’s time to close up shop.


I think a lot has to do with their overpriced hardware... when I bought my house about 15 years ago, I wanted to equip a full on tool bay in the garage... I was able to get that done with Husky from Home Depot for ~8000 I tallied the same for Craftsmen and it woulda cost ~20000 EDIT Oh and.. Husky has been 100% reliable ... good stuff for the money.
Posted By: MarkG

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/13/18 04:32 PM

Wife's company has (now I guess had) a deal with Sears, nice discounts for major appliances. In the last ~5 years we've purchased a Samsung fridge and Kenmore dishwasher, also clothes washer and dryer from Sears. Plus they've given us nice Crafstman tool gifts over the decades.

Now they give us Amazon dollars, but we have to walk for it (training now for 100 miles of walking Manhattan this March).
Posted By: Sluggish Controls

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/15/18 10:17 AM

Boink !
May not entirely be the end but filed for bankruptcy an hour ago. More or less going the Dodo way.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45859722

Cheers,
Slug
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Looks like the end is coming soon - 10/15/18 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by Sluggish Controls
Boink !
May not entirely be the end but filed for bankruptcy an hour ago. More or less going the Dodo way.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45859722

Cheers,
Slug



Right. This is Chapter 11 which means a reorganization of the company's debt with its creditors but the writing is clearly on the wall. Liquidation will be coming within the next year or so.
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