Sears to stay open, for now

[addyguy]

Eddie Lampert won the 'auction' to keep Sears and K-Mart open:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-remains-open-1.4980223

So weird to see this in Canada - both stores are both dead and gone, K-Mart so long ago it's like ancient history.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Yes Little Fast Eddie will milk Sears to its death!

 

[anndel]

That was his plan all along since day one when he bought shares or Sears, Roebuck & Co.

 

[PimTac]

Mr Lampert's hedge fund supplied the money to keep it afloat. Owners of that fund must be thrilled.

Eddie Lampert and Elon Musk play the same game.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Yes Little Fast Eddie will milk Sears to its death!



Isn't Sears milking Eddie?

 

[CKN]

There is absolutely nothing he can do to keep the doors open for any length of time. Their problems run too deep and even him and his hedge fund will not be able to throw enough money at it,

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Shoot it and end it.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Isn't Sears milking Eddie?


Nope. As a creditor, Eddie will have access to Sears and Kmart real-estate when the company folds. THAT is where the money is. Those buildings/lots/store fronts are worth hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars and his company will get it for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Mr Nice]

Bubba,

Amazon is already eyeing the closed Sears and Kmart stores in the nicer areas to expand their Amazon Go stores and Whole Foods locations.

There are Sears and Kmart stores in nicer neighborhoods that have shoppers with a higher income levels.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Isn't Sears milking Eddie?


Nope. As a creditor, Eddie will have access to Sears and Kmart real-estate when the company folds. THAT is where the money is. Those buildings/lots/store fronts are worth hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars and his company will get it for pennies on the dollar.




That is the theory but there are a couple of things to note.

One, many of the Sears locations are in malls. Malls are going through a big downturn. Traffic is way down.

Two, a lot of Sears locations at those malls are at the ends. Malls used to put their bigger stores at the ends and fill the middle with smaller stores. Now the prime locations are in the middle, not the ends.

Of the two Sears locations here I'm my area, both closed by the way, they are both on the ends of malls. One is scheduled for demolition as the mall tries to revamp itself in a newer design, the other is empty with no buyer in site because the location is very poor.

The biggest reason Sears stores were at the ends of the malls was the auto centers.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Isn't Sears milking Eddie?


Nope. As a creditor, Eddie will have access to Sears and Kmart real-estate when the company folds. THAT is where the money is. Those buildings/lots/store fronts are worth hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars and his company will get it for pennies on the dollar.




That is the theory but there are a couple of things to note.

One, many of the Sears locations are in malls. Malls are going through a big downturn. Traffic is way down.

Two, a lot of Sears locations at those malls are at the ends. Malls used to put their bigger stores at the ends and fill the middle with smaller stores. Now the prime locations are in the middle, not the ends.

Of the two Sears locations here I'm my area, both closed by the way, they are both on the ends of malls. One is scheduled for demolition as the mall tries to revamp itself in a newer design, the other is empty with no buyer in site because the location is very poor.

The biggest reason Sears stores were at the ends of the malls was the auto centers.


Agreed. A beautiful outdoor mall opened here about three years ago. The store mix is constantly changing over-with a minimum of a 30% vacancy rate. There will be Sears locations that will be conducive to a new purpose-but not all. Eddie is ether brilliant-and purposely did nothing to improve Sears-so he could pickup the real estate-or a turn around artist that wasn't successful, at least up to this point.A Whole Foods store-sitting at the end of a mall-IS NOT a good location. Who wants to go to the mall to buy groceries? Especially during the holiday season-when even the most of all mundane malls are busy.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Isn't Sears milking Eddie?


Nope. As a creditor, Eddie will have access to Sears and Kmart real-estate when the company folds. THAT is where the money is. Those buildings/lots/store fronts are worth hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars and his company will get it for pennies on the dollar.




That is the theory but there are a couple of things to note.

One, many of the Sears locations are in malls. Malls are going through a big downturn. Traffic is way down.

Two, a lot of Sears locations at those malls are at the ends. Malls used to put their bigger stores at the ends and fill the middle with smaller stores. Now the prime locations are in the middle, not the ends.

Of the two Sears locations here I'm my area, both closed by the way, they are both on the ends of malls. One is scheduled for demolition as the mall tries to revamp itself in a newer design, the other is empty with no buyer in site because the location is very poor.

The biggest reason Sears stores were at the ends of the malls was the auto centers.


Agreed. A beautiful outdoor mall opened here about three years ago. The store mix is constantly changing over-with a minimum of a 30% vacancy rate. There will be Sears locations that will be conducive to a new purpose-but not all. Eddie is ether brilliant-and purposely did nothing to improve Sears-so he could pickup the real estate-or a turn around artist that wasn't successful, at least up to this point.A Whole Foods store-sitting at the end of a mall-IS NOT a good location. Who wants to go to the mall to buy groceries? Especially during the holiday season-when even the most of all mundane malls are busy.





The outdoor mall concept is the trend right now. Done right, they look classy. The streets are for pedestrians with parking situated so you can park close to the area you wish to visit.

Funny thing, a lot of downtowns shriveled up When malls started coming in 50 plus years ago. Now they are remaking these malls into small downtowns. Back to the future.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by CKN
There is absolutely nothing he can do to keep the doors open for any length of time. Their problems run too deep and even him and his hedge fund will not be able to throw enough money at it,




Throwing money will not solve anything but a top down restructuring with innovative marketing and retail could. All likelihood is this is postpoing it's death roll.