Sears/Kmart to close 120 stores.

[editec]

Sears USED to be the WALMARTS of America.

then the business model changed but Sears did not.It really could not as its employees owned most of its stocks. So it created a two-tier emplpoyee system and the good employees found other places to work and most just retired from retail.

Sears USED TO BE the best place to work in retailing thanks to profit sharing

Now Sears is sitting on fortune in real estate.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Does no one on this forum realize the consequence of "low price is everything" mentality of consumers?
It is fascinating to me that everyone assumes greed is the only reason why companies make cheap products. Jesus Christ people - WE DEMAND THEY MAKE CHEAP PRODUCTS.
If a company making a band saw with quality as the number one priority and pays their employees well etc. etc. etc. - the price of that band saw is going to be higher than the plethora of Chinese made shitty saws. A lot cheaper....and Americans buy those Chinese shitty ones 10 to 1 to the higher quality ones. And what the heck do you think this means to the better company? They are somehow miraculously supposed to keep making them top-notch when they can only sell a few of them? No. They have no choice, they either close up shop - or they begin to outsource parts to China so they can stay in business.

 

[Douger]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUd5DUlVdD4]Osprey's history: an interview with owner and founder Mike Pfotenhauer - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Douger]

Osprey at REI.com

 

[Douger]

Made in murka.
McHale Alpine Style Packs

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Osprey's history: an interview with owner and founder Mike Pfotenhauer - YouTube

You made my point.
Here is a guy who obviously preferred to manufacture his products in America. But to sell to Americans, the back packs had to be as cheap in price as the offshore made products. As he said - in order to stay in business he also had to move production off shore.
Thus - he moved his factory to Vietnam. The laborers probably make no more than $1 an hour with no benefits. Yet another example of American jobs lost because Americans demand cheap price over everything else. There is a reason that a wholesale company that sells mostly foreign products is the nations largest employer. The same reason the nations largest employer pays terrible wages and bare minimum benefits.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Douger what is your point?
You do realize Osprey back packs are made in Vietnam right?

 

[Douger]

Douger what is your point?
You do realize Osprey back packs are made in Vietnam right?

Yes. My point is to compare an Osprey Alpine pack to an equivalent made in murka.
Mike explains his scenario in the video.

Osprey high end $300-400
MaHale $800-1000

Which one would uh murkin go for ?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Douger what is your point?
You do realize Osprey back packs are made in Vietnam right?

Yes. My point is to compare an Osprey Alpine pack to an equivalent made in murka.
Mike explains his scenario in the video.

Osprey high end $300-400
MaHale $800-1000

Which one would uh murkin go for ?

What the heck is murka? And what is murkin?

 

[rightwinger]

Douger what is your point?
You do realize Osprey back packs are made in Vietnam right?

Yes. My point is to compare an Osprey Alpine pack to an equivalent made in murka.
Mike explains his scenario in the video.

Osprey high end $300-400
MaHale $800-1000

Which one would uh murkin go for ?

What the heck is murka? And what is murkin?

That is what people who have been chased out of the country call us

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Yes. My point is to compare an Osprey Alpine pack to an equivalent made in murka.
Mike explains his scenario in the video.

Osprey high end $300-400
MaHale $800-1000

Which one would uh murkin go for ?

What the heck is murka? And what is murkin?

That is what people who have been chased out of the country call us

Illegal immigrants call us murkins?

 

[waltky]

Closing some stores may not be enough to save Sears...

Sears closings: After store closures, little hope for a rebound
December 28, 2011 - Kmart and Sears closing will effect 120 stores nationwide. But these Sears closings might not save the company, says one analyst.

Sears' decision to close up to 120 Sears and Kmart stores shows a retailer struggling to draw shoppers at a time of increasing competition, Credit Suisse retail analyst Gary Balter told CNBC. "I don't know how they're going to turn it around," he said Tuesday. "This was a company making $3.6 billion in Ebitda four years ago," compared to $400 million this year "at a time when others are turning things around." Balter, with a $20 price target and "underperform" rating on the stock, said Sears has been losing market share to Home Depot and Lowe's on sales of power tools, and Wal-Mart and Target on drawing shoppers seeking discounts.

Home Depot and Lowe's in particular stand to benefit from Sears closing stores because they've already been aggressively pricing appliances, which make up about 7 percent of Home Depot sales and 10 percent at Lowe's. Those who won't benefit are Sears suppliers, such as Whirlpool, one of the companies that makes Sears' Kenmore appliance. "They’ve done a very nice job online," Balter said of Sears' website, "but they can’t get people into the stores, and that’s where most of their asset base is."

He said Chairman Eddie Lampert has limited choices. Land's End, which Sears bought in 2002, is a well-managed subsidiary with $1.5 billion to $2 billion in sales that can "be easily separated from Sears," Balter said. After that, however, the problem is "how do you separate the other assets without destroying the franchise?"

Source

 

[Luissa]

Christmas sales for these two outlets were down over 5% - which is of course horrendous.
Kmart closures is not the most surprising thing of the week...Sears...sad.

Sears is actually in worst shape than Kmart...There is a reason they took Craftsman out of Kmart a few years ago.

Kmart should really close those stores, and update the ones they keep open. Going into a Kmart is depressing, but that could also be because I worked there. LOL One thing I noticed though, Kmart seems to be stuck in the 60s, and they never update anything.

 

[uscitizen]

I disagree.
It is sad. Sears did well for over 100 years by selling quality products with exceptional service. Those of us old enough to remember Sears prior to Americans choosing price over everything will remember Sears as a name you could trust. Flat out truth is their stores generally sold higher quality items - it is what they did....and it worked until the "WalMart mentality" gripped America and no one was willing to buy a $30 socket wrench when you could buy a whole set for $25. This obviously over the years had a dramatic and terrible consequence to Sears.
Which BTW - is why Sears switched their revenue away from retail to finance.

Closing more stores means Craftsmen customers will have to drive further to swap out that broken wrench. Lowe's Kobalt guaranteed tools will become even more convenient for customers.

Screw the broken wrench. That I could live with.

My latest and biggest gripe with Sears was the snow blower that costs me $1200 and lasted only two years and died an unrepairable death of a cracked head casting to which Sears answer to me was that I should have bought the extended warranty.

And there's been others. A weedwacker, a leaf blower, a drill, a power miter. All of which should have lasted a lot longer than they did.

If Sears goes down the tube, it's because they sell crapola.

Everyone sells Chinese crap now.