Sears-Kmart Death Watch

[sbeaver44]

I went to the Carlisle, PA K Mart on Sat, Dec 29th, it and Hummelstown are both closing as the last K-Marts in the Harrisburg area. 

There were rumors that this store was built with the possibility that it would become a Super KMart, but that never happened.

When it was built, it would have been years, probably at least a decade, until Walmart and Target came to town.

[cl94]

He could squeeze a buffalo until it farts a nickel.

Don't you mean "squeeze a nickel until the buffalo farts/shits"? That's the saying that's common.

[SectorZ]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-said-prepare-possible-liquidation-043659764.html

While not official news yet (as its per sources), it looks entirely likely that this week Sears will make a final and irrecoverable march towards liquidation. I imagine, if this is true, by the Spring Sears/K-Mart may likely be no more.

[LM117]

He could squeeze a buffalo until it farts a nickel.

Don't you mean "squeeze a nickel until the buffalo farts/shits"? That's the saying that's common.

I'm not common.

[thenetwork]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-said-prepare-possible-liquidation-043659764.html

While not official news yet (as its per sources), it looks entirely likely that this week Sears will make a final and irrecoverable march towards liquidation. I imagine, if this is true, by the Spring Sears/K-Mart may likely be no more.

It is ironic that the franchise (Sears) is the one who was the primitive version of today's Amazon.  At one point, you could order damn near anything from them -- including houses*  (*assembly required).   How they couldn't or didn't modernize that business model into the 21st Century surely is the fault of Lampert's failure to embrace and adapt to the future. 

They had the distribution centers and delivery networks already in place.  They could've converted the Kmart stores into neighborhood pick-up and delivery centers and move most of their products on-line for purchase, while keeping the Sears stores the places for people to touch and feel the tangibles that usually need to be seen in person (appliances, furniture and clothing).

I'm surprised how many stakeholders and board members drank the Fast-Eddie Kool-Aid and let him get away with what he did for so long without ousting him. 

[ErmineNotyours]

Perhaps the last innovating Sears did was sell their own brand of the Atari VCS (2600) as Tele-Games.  They even retitled some of the individual games for their own stores.  If only they had held on as the exclusive seller of Winnie the Pooh merchandise, they may still have been healthy today.

[catch22]

Sears lines up liquidator:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sears-bankruptcy-liquidation/sears-picks-liquidator-should-rescue-talks-fall-through-sources-idUSKCN1P103R?il=0

[Max Rockatansky]

Sears lines up liquidator:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sears-bankruptcy-liquidation/sears-picks-liquidator-should-rescue-talks-fall-through-sources-idUSKCN1P103R?il=0

About time, the ESL bid was just a money grab.  There isn't anything left to salvage outside of liquidating.

[inkyatari]

Perhaps the last innovating Sears did was sell their own brand of the Atari VCS (2600) as Tele-Games.  They even retitled some of the individual games for their own stores.  If only they had held on as the exclusive seller of Winnie the Pooh merchandise, they may still have been healthy today.

It goes back even a little further than that.  Atari had a home pong console they wanted to get into stores, but didn't have the money to do so. They reached out to sears, and they fronted the money. Years later, Nolan Bushnell approached sears for backing for the VCS / 2600, and the rest is history.

There was a Japanese version of the 2600 called the 3200 (if I am not mistaken,) which was not released in the US.  Sears released it as the Telegames II system.

(At one point Sears also sold the Intellivision as the Sears Super Video Arcade)

[SP Cook]

Perhaps the last innovating Sears did was sell their own brand of the Atari VCS (2600) as Tele-Games.  They even retitled some of the individual games for their own stores.  If only they had held on as the exclusive seller of Winnie the Pooh merchandise, they may still have been healthy today.

It goes back even a little further than that.  Atari had a home pong console they wanted to get into stores, but didn't have the money to do so. They reached out to sears, and they fronted the money. Years later, Nolan Bushnell approached sears for backing for the VCS / 2600, and the rest is history.

There was a Japanese version of the 2600 called the 3200 (if I am not mistaken,) which was not released in the US.  Sears released it as the Telegames II system.

(At one point Sears also sold the Intellivision as the Sears Super Video Arcade)

This was standard Sears procedure for all items in all market segments until, IIRC, about the late 80s.  Sears sold Sears (and Craftsman, Kenmore, et al) branded items.   If you bought a TV, it was a "Sears".  Now a quick study could figure out it was really a rebadged RCA or whatever, but that was Sears' way of doing things.  Same with clothes, hardlines, everything.

[abefroman329]

(At one point Sears also sold the Intellivision as the Sears Super Video Arcade)

Were Intellvision games compatible with the Sears Super Video Arcade and vice versa?

[inkyatari]

(At one point Sears also sold the Intellivision as the Sears Super Video Arcade)

Were Intellivision games compatible with the Sears Super Video Arcade and vice versa?

Yes. It was just a rebranded Intellivision.  Radio Shack also sold the Intellivision under their own name, the Tandyvision.

[mgk920]

Perhaps the last innovating Sears did was sell their own brand of the Atari VCS (2600) as Tele-Games.  They even retitled some of the individual games for their own stores.  If only they had held on as the exclusive seller of Winnie the Pooh merchandise, they may still have been healthy today.

It goes back even a little further than that.  Atari had a home pong console they wanted to get into stores, but didn't have the money to do so. They reached out to sears, and they fronted the money. Years later, Nolan Bushnell approached sears for backing for the VCS / 2600, and the rest is history.

There was a Japanese version of the 2600 called the 3200 (if I am not mistaken,) which was not released in the US.  Sears released it as the Telegames II system.

(At one point Sears also sold the Intellivision as the Sears Super Video Arcade)

This was standard Sears procedure for all items in all market segments until, IIRC, about the late 80s.  Sears sold Sears (and Craftsman, Kenmore, et al) branded items.   If you bought a TV, it was a "Sears".  Now a quick study could figure out it was really a rebadged RCA or whatever, but that was Sears' way of doing things.  Same with clothes, hardlines, everything.

And before then, before television (mainly during the 1930s and up to WWII), they sold broadcast radio receivers under the 'Silvertone' brand name.  They are regarded as good quality sets in antique radio hobbyist circles.

Mike

[PAHighways]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

SM-G965U

[US71]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

SM-G965U

Been over for a long time, but Fast Eddie didn't want to turn out the lights

[SP Cook]

It's dead Jim. 

The "intelectual property" to brand names like "Sears" and its brands have a value and will be bought by someone, and many of the stores are owned by Sears and, depending on local conditions, many have value and will be sold, other will lie abandoned forever.

[ErmineNotyours]

Sears also innovated by partnering with IBM on Prodigy, an early online service that offered, among other services, shopping.

[abefroman329]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-said-prepare-possible-liquidation-043659764.html

While not official news yet (as its per sources), it looks entirely likely that this week Sears will make a final and irrecoverable march towards liquidation. I imagine, if this is true, by the Spring Sears/K-Mart may likely be no more.

It is ironic that the franchise (Sears) is the one who was the primitive version of today's Amazon.  At one point, you could order damn near anything from them -- including houses*  (*assembly required).   How they couldn't or didn't modernize that business model into the 21st Century surely is the fault of Lampert's failure to embrace and adapt to the future. 

They had the distribution centers and delivery networks already in place.  They could've converted the Kmart stores into neighborhood pick-up and delivery centers and move most of their products on-line for purchase, while keeping the Sears stores the places for people to touch and feel the tangibles that usually need to be seen in person (appliances, furniture and clothing).

I'm surprised how many stakeholders and board members drank the Fast-Eddie Kool-Aid and let him get away with what he did for so long without ousting him.

It's also ironic that a chain that once relied heavily on in-store pickup of items purchased from the catalog bungled in-store pickup of orders placed online so badly.  For some ridiculous reason, I could pick up items purchased at kmart.com at Sears, but couldn't return them at Sears - and, at the time, the nearest Sears was a hell of a lot closer than the nearest Kmart.  That was the first and last time I purchased items at kmart.com or sears.com.

[Brandon]

It's dead Jim. 

The "intelectual property" to brand names like "Sears" and its brands have a value and will be bought by someone, and many of the stores are owned by Sears and, depending on local conditions, many have value and will be sold, other will lie abandoned forever.

Actually, this only affects the Kmart and Sears full-line stores.  Sears Outlets, Sears Appliances and Hardware, and Sears Hometown Stores are completely unaffected and will continue use of the name, having been spun off into a separate company a few years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Hometown_and_Outlet_Stores

[PAHighways]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

SM-G965U

It appears a bankruptcy judge has granted a stay of execution:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chairman-eddie-lampert-to-get-another-chance-to-save-sears-sources-say.html

SM-G965U

[Brandon]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

It appears a bankruptcy judge has granted a stay of execution:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chairman-eddie-lampert-to-get-another-chance-to-save-sears-sources-say.html

What is this?  The execution skit from You Can't Do That On Television?

[thenetwork]

IHeartRadio is another company this week that may be saved for the umpteenth time in court.  Considering how they've ruined the radio medium, letting go hundreds if not thousands of jobs, they deserve to go under.

[catch22]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

It appears a bankruptcy judge has granted a stay of execution:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chairman-eddie-lampert-to-get-another-chance-to-save-sears-sources-say.html

What is this?  The execution skit from You Can't Do That On Television?

Or perhaps Monty Python's dead parrot sketch.

[inkyatari]

As "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over":  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

It appears a bankruptcy judge has granted a stay of execution:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chairman-eddie-lampert-to-get-another-chance-to-save-sears-sources-say.html

What is this?  The execution skit from You Can't Do That On Television?

Now I think that Eddie Lamprey will request to keep fewer stores open - say 100 - for the same financial offerings.

Just kill it already.

[LM117]

So it looks like that Sears is going to be liquidated as there is disapproval of Fast Eddie's plan. Can't say I'm surprised. RIP Sears.

I'll believe it when it's offical. Knowing Eddie, he'll find a way to string this along a little bit more. He could squeeze a buffalo until it farts a nickel.

It appears a bankruptcy judge has granted a stay of execution:  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chairman-eddie-lampert-to-get-another-chance-to-save-sears-sources-say.html

SM-G965U

I see my skepticism was well-founded.