Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears Stores

For all the numbers being supposedly high for sales this Christmas, there comes the announcement early today that Sears will be closing many Kmart and Sears stores due to low sales numbers over the year of 2011. Seems some ATS'ers predictions are coming to pass. 4,000 more jobs will be lost, yet we are in recovery?? PSHAW!!! Yes it really looks like we're in a recovery.
Sears announces 100-120 Kmart and Sears stores will be closing their doors

From the source:

(AP) NEW YORK - Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores to raise cash after a weak holiday shopping season for the retailer.


The closings fueled speculation about whether the 125-year-old retailer can turn itself around.


The closings are the latest and most visible in a long series of moves to try to fix a company that has struggled with falling sales and shabby stores as rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. spruced up their looks and turned into one-stop shopping sources.

So should we be worried now?
I wonder if TPTB will finally admit that we should panic???


I searched and didn't find anything so if it's been posted, I apologize.
~Serenity

Those stores have had trouble distinguishing themselves in the modern market. They are having to close stores as a result of a poor business model rather than the economy at the moment.

Can't compete with Wal Mart.

In time, there will only be wal marts for everything... And nothing else!

By then, the dollar will be worthless and it will take a shopping cart full of $20s just to buy a loaf of Chinese imported bread.

Doesn't help that the majority of the products they sell are of the higher price range....especially in clothing.

Over-satuating.

That's what too many stores period are doing.

How many other businesses will soon be following suit?
I realize their business model has a lot to do with it, but there is a lot more to it than that. I have a feeling there will be more companies that will be soon to follow!

K-Mart is still around?

I always forget that they still exist; they closed the stores in my area several years ago.

Originally posted by ldyserenity
How many other businesses will soon be following suit?
I realize their business model has a lot to do with it, but there is a lot more to it than that. I have a feeling there will be more companies that will be soon to follow!

Drive across America, take routes through places where it is mostly small towns, and you'll see that almost EVERYTHING (retail) in these towns on the main streets are closed, but they always have a Walmart.

The downside of this is that what was a great part of America is lost, almost completely now, and with the economy getting worse this kind of consolidation of business (all into walmarts) will only continue to erode the things away that once built this nation and economy.... And along with them has gone most of the "Made in America" products.

Don't worry, it is all almost over, except the crying now... We can all live through the worst of times together, and thanks to walmarts everywhere we can still buy cheap foreign made products, when we have any money to spend.

Aah yes the new year and all the bankruptcies that accompany it.
We'll hear of the Sears' etc. closings but unfortunately the numbers of small businesses that are sadly forced to close won't make near the headlines that the big boys do.

Agreed that walmart is taking over.
About a year ago I read where walmart is being groomed to be the stores left after all is said and done.
I read how it was going to be the one-stop shop - the article(s) were relating it to FEMA somehow, couldn't remember. At the time it seemed a bit far-fetched (only a bit), and then I see where walmarts now have doctor and dentist offices within their doors.

And this in the country with medicare... doesn't seem so far fetched anymore.

STOP shopping at wal-mart!
This quote is more true than we want to know:

Fractured.Facade: In time, there will only be wal marts for everything... And nothing else!

By then, the dollar will be worthless and it will take a shopping cart full of $20s just to buy a loaf of Chinese imported bread.

We could in all honesty all go at least a year without buying anything consumer-driven. We have more than enough STUFF.
I'll say it again - a knowledgeable audience such as the ATS crowd should know shopping at walmart is feeding the machine in numerous ways. I understand the argument about their prices; not all is cheaper there, and I am sure research would help cure the perceived "need" to shop with their "low prices".

This can't be said for the plethora of smaller centres where walmart has forced the remainder of the city or town's retail stores to close already.

Where is that 60 Minutes episode of about 15 years ago that addressed the problems of walmarts taking over US cities - the shots back then of empty main streets was a warning that no one appeared to heed. I've searched for it on the net, to no avail so far.

The job loss that accompanies these takeovers of America and all the other countries invaded by walmart is simply deplorable.

Well I guess there is always walmart.

reply to post by ldyserenity


It's well-deserved too.

Because the K-Mart near me is abysmal. They are always out of stock, have a piss-poor selection and they just can't compete with Wal-Mart. They had a golden opportunity to renovate the place into a Big K but chose to remain in a run-down strip mall that used to house a theater, a drug store and other businesses.

I won't miss K-Mart. The days of box stores are coming to an end. Long live Amazon and the internet.

Originally posted by ldyserenity
How many other businesses will soon be following suit?

I think several other retailers, at least, will follow suit.

There are two main factors:

First, many consumers have held onto what little discretionary income they have had since 2008. Sure they have spent here and there where needed, but not much. After 3 years of financial retraction, basic things like clothing, home goods and small electronics were bound to need replacing. So, the spending we've seen this holiday is really out of necessity or savings fatigue. It won't last.

Second, retailers have had to run at such tight margins, for so long, there is no way that there are assets enough to absorb the deep, deep discounts they have had to take in order to move the goods. It's simply unsustainable. Some simply won't survive a fourth holiday season like that.

My husband works for Target. Here in the West a week before Christmas he was not even called in for overtime!

It used to be mandatory overtime months before Christmas AND They hired in more workers. Not this year.

In fact the stores here in our town mall, were not that busy considering the time of year.

Target was slow. Dillards was dead. 5 cars in front of that store a weekend before Christmas. I went in there to get some Croscill and could not believe how dead it was.

Acoss the street wallmart was booming. I hate that store. They do not sell quality. It is getting harder and harder to
find quality home products.

Sure you get get a quilt for 50 bucks at wallmart and it falls apart the first time you wash it.
No joke. Even JC penny had crap like this. I payed $200 for something ruined after first wash. IT was cheap China stuff with a large price tag.

So when I need bedding, off to Dillards. Croscill may cost $250, but it will last me ten years! Soon I may not have that choice any more.

I wonder if my husband will have a job in a couple years. Target is doing ok in the EAST, but here in the West they are not. Scarey times,.

Originally posted by Fractured.Facade
Can't compete with Wal Mart.

In time, there will only be wal marts for everything... And nothing else!

By then, the dollar will be worthless and it will take a shopping cart full of $20s just to buy a loaf of Chinese imported bread.

Very true. I try hard to avoid WalMart and would rather shop via local merchants but it is difficult when the big chains have what you want, in the size/color/model you want and at a discounted price. I still like Sears and they have sales as well but the competition is clearly killing them.

brill

reply to post by brill


There isn't much that I can get at Wal-Mart that I can't find for less on Amazon or EBay.

I hate going shopping and it's nice to have the option of doing it from my computer. I don't like long lines, rude people and a limited selection.

Then again, I do not buy many big-ticket things. My niece got both a mp3 player and a small video camera for christmas. She does not even need either but for some reason, she got both. I don't like it but I have no say in the matter.

Originally posted by brill

Very true. I try hard to avoid WalMart

In many places you simply can't avoid them, for almost anything you need.

But that is the whole point, ultimately.

Face it, the majority of average people shop regularly at walmart, and many are finding it increasingly impossible to "avoid" them.

In the end, walmart as a business model has contributed greatly to the economic decline in the USA, perhaps not intentionally, but they have nonetheless.

When you are shopping at a walmart, have you ever stopped to consider what percentage of anything you buy is made in the USA?

Have you ever thought about all of the small businesses that were forced out by walmarts?

The people, families and communities that those small businesses were a part of?

The USA will never be the same, welcome to the global economy, and way of life, whether you like it or not.

If it hasn't hit your budget yet, it will soon....

See you all at Walmart.

As others have mentioned, figured news as such would hit despite the MSM figures. At home family and friends shopped and gave less gifts this year.
Can't stress enough to shop local, at local business. That's IF you have the option to do so(also, posted above). Sure... prices may be higher but in the long wrong it helps the community. Especially if you have to drive to Wal Mart you may be paying more in gas than shopping local. Wal Mart stuff(junk?) also doesn't last very long... why buy something 3 to 4 times a year in replacement when you can have it for 3 plus years-plus might save money that way too. Buying cheap products keeps you stuck in that loophole.

Locally the Wal Mart here charges more for food, has a higher sales tax too and products are not that much cheaper. 'Always' compare and contrast because Wal Mart is not 'Always' cheaper.

reply to post by amatrine


Lack of quality is really what is killing most stores. We bought a Cuisinart coffee maker with grinder..last xmas it was like 130 bucks..it broke the other day spilling water out the bottom of it. Things are just crappy..I have found some really good products made in Germany. I am trying hard to avoid wal mart too. JCPenney sucks as does Sears..Kmart is a run down h3LL hole. Kmart is like a bigger dollar store only the crap doesn't cost a dollar.

Everything is just so expensive in my opinion. Everything is made so cheaply yet they want a pretty penny for it..and trying afford everything high quality is nearly impossible.

Ames closed when Kmart showed up.

Kmart will close when Walmart shows up.

Walmart will close when the next thing shows up.