Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2016 10:08:03 GMT -5
www.cnbc.com/2016/12/08/sears-reports-wider-third-quarter-loss-as-sales-continue-to-suffer.html
No surprise here, if you follow business news. But it got me musing.
On the one hand, I hate seeing an historic brand disappear. In particular, Sears is tied up with my childhood. It was one of the major department stores in our area. I remember shopping for my first "big girl" bedroom set there when I was three years old. It's where we got all our appliances and a lot of our back-to-school clothes.
On the other hand, I was in that same store a couple of years ago. It was dirty and messy. The carpet was worn out. I wasn't clothes shopping, but I noticed that a lot of the clothes on the racks looked like they'd been there for years. We had a hell of a time finding a salesperson to ring us up -- all of the registers seemed abandoned, and there didn't seem to be any employees hovering around the floor.
I mean, I know they were short on cash, but no one wants to shop in a store like that. There was still time for them then, maybe, and they had a couple of solid brands (Kenmore, Land's End) to draw people in. Time to get brutal, close a lot of stores, and invest in the remaining ones. I can certainly say no investment was being made in the store near my parents. If all the stores were anywhere near like that, of course they weren't making money.
Still. It sometimes feels like things from my childhood that felt so solid and eternal are disappearing one by one. And it makes me sad.
Things aren't getting any better at Sears. In fact, they're getting worse.
The once-venerable department store chain on Thursday reported a wider third-quarter loss than the prior-year period, as sales continued to slide.
The results were the latest indication that revenue and operating performance at the iconic retailer continue to deteriorate, despite its efforts to get rid of underperforming stores, lessen its dependence on categories that are struggling in its shops, and make money from its real estate footprint.
"In the movie Titanic there is a line where, realizing chaos is about to ensue, one character helpfully notes 'it's starting to fall apart; we don't have much time,'" Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders said. "Such a sentiment could well be applied to Sears. The analogy with Titanic is also apt; not least because while Sears was once a titan of US retail, it now looks set to sink."
The once-venerable department store chain on Thursday reported a wider third-quarter loss than the prior-year period, as sales continued to slide.
The results were the latest indication that revenue and operating performance at the iconic retailer continue to deteriorate, despite its efforts to get rid of underperforming stores, lessen its dependence on categories that are struggling in its shops, and make money from its real estate footprint.
"In the movie Titanic there is a line where, realizing chaos is about to ensue, one character helpfully notes 'it's starting to fall apart; we don't have much time,'" Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders said. "Such a sentiment could well be applied to Sears. The analogy with Titanic is also apt; not least because while Sears was once a titan of US retail, it now looks set to sink."
On the one hand, I hate seeing an historic brand disappear. In particular, Sears is tied up with my childhood. It was one of the major department stores in our area. I remember shopping for my first "big girl" bedroom set there when I was three years old. It's where we got all our appliances and a lot of our back-to-school clothes.
On the other hand, I was in that same store a couple of years ago. It was dirty and messy. The carpet was worn out. I wasn't clothes shopping, but I noticed that a lot of the clothes on the racks looked like they'd been there for years. We had a hell of a time finding a salesperson to ring us up -- all of the registers seemed abandoned, and there didn't seem to be any employees hovering around the floor.
I mean, I know they were short on cash, but no one wants to shop in a store like that. There was still time for them then, maybe, and they had a couple of solid brands (Kenmore, Land's End) to draw people in. Time to get brutal, close a lot of stores, and invest in the remaining ones. I can certainly say no investment was being made in the store near my parents. If all the stores were anywhere near like that, of course they weren't making money.
Still. It sometimes feels like things from my childhood that felt so solid and eternal are disappearing one by one. And it makes me sad.