Goodbye Sears?

[mamadogmamacat]

Visited the local mall Sears for the first time in eleven years yesterday. As of the fall, before the latest Sears news, it was not yet on the closure list but was curious anyway and had some time after running other errands.

Parked at the closet mall entrance as the direct into Sears door did not have more than a couple cars near it, so wondered if it was already closed. I went at about 4 pm, so expected to see some crowds in the mall. But it was virtually empty save for the hair dresser near the entrance. In Sears, there were no customers save for a couple at the Lands End, which had a closing sale. Most of the items were already picked over for the more common sizes, but I did find a nice pullover for 10 dollars. The Lands End employee at checkout told me Sears was not closing yet as far as she knew.

I wandered about a bit after that purchase, but there was nothing of interest and no big sales yet, and the escalator up (only two floors at this store) was broken and no employee in sight to tell me where the elevator was, assuming it was working. As i was heading for the exit, i did see a very pregnant and very young employee, who was clearly pleased to see me with a bag, until I got closer and she saw it was Lands End.
Felt bad for her. Hopefully she will have coverage via COBRA or ACA if the store closes prior to the birth. Really not sure its worth it to return once the store is closing. Sad, but Sears really no longer has much of interest for me, i guess that was true of so many consumers for so long that this end was inevitable.

What was interesting is that of the somewhat larger number of shoppers who were in the mall when I left at about 4:30 pm, all were at least 20 yrs younger than me, and most were just wandering and socializing. i saw almost none in any of the stores.

 

[imoldernu]

A broader view

This Washington Post article, looks at Sears and GE as a wider part of corporations that were built on a structure that has changed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/capitalisms-tough-love-the-real-lessons-from-the-fall-of-sears-and-ge/2019/01/13/fef2d576-15df-11e9-803c-4ef28312c8b9_story.html?utm_term=.699d9eb2a427

General Electric and Sears have fallen on hard times, and that tells us a lot about U.S capitalism. Both were once great enterprises — symbols of American ingenuity and imagination. The temptation will be to blame their troubles on mismanagement. The real lesson is starker. It is that no business, no matter how historically innovative or powerful, is guaranteed immortality.

Much to consider in the times of mergers and consolidations. In most cases, decline is previewed by stock prices. The DEW line.

 

[Breedlove]

Sad but we have not been into a Sears in years . I remember as a kid the big Sears catalogs. Father in law bought everything from Sears from a Craftsman lawn mower to all of his work uni's.


As far as GE go's I have no love for GE . I worked for a company GE took over and they were the most arrogant disrespectful managers I ever experienced in my career . Pound their chest all day long about being GE as everyone including customers passed them by and most laughed at them .

 

[ncbill]

If you miss Sears just head south of the border...you'll find Sears stores well-staffed with eager-to-help employees (most seem to be middle-aged men.)

 

[Another Reader]

Sad but we have not been into a Sears in years . I remember as a kid the big Sears catalogs. Father in law bought everything from Sears from a Craftsman lawn mower to all of his work uni's.


As far as GE go's I have no love for GE . I worked for a company GE took over and they were the most arrogant disrespectful managers I ever experienced in my career . Pound their chest all day long about being GE as everyone including customers passed them by and most laughed at them .

My GE refrigerator is having all kinds of problems at six years. Will probably have to replace it soon. So much for six sigmas or whatever that was...

 

[aja8888]

My GE refrigerator is having all kinds of problems at six years. Will probably have to replace it soon. So much for six sigmas or whatever that was...

I think you get one Sigma per year of ownership. Looks like you are almost out.

 

[Texas Proud]

My GE refrigerator is having all kinds of problems at six years. Will probably have to replace it soon. So much for six sigmas or whatever that was...

One of the problems with six sigma is the measurement they were using... if they used the wrong measurement it still could be in that six sigma...

 

[ERD50]

One of the problems with six sigma is the measurement they were using... if they used the wrong measurement it still could be in that six sigma...

You can say that again (unfortunately).

The Six-Sigma concepts are excellent, and can definitely lead to improved quality if taken seriously. But it's hard, so managers get creative with the numbers, just find another way to define the denominator, or another way to count the errors.

Some of us smart-alecks might comment (on the side) on why we need to budget for all this repair equipment for a new production line if it supposed to be at Six-Sigma? One repair station should be idle most of the time? I didn't know if the VPs were expecting to be lied to so everyone could say we met the goals (wink-wink-nod-nod)? Yep, it mostly turns into a game.

-ERD50

 

[MRG]

You can say that again (unfortunately).

The Six-Sigma concepts are excellent, and can definitely lead to improved quality if taken seriously. But it's hard, so managers get creative with the numbers, just find another way to define the denominator, or another way to count the errors.

Some of us smart-alecks might comment (on the side) on why we need to budget for all this repair equipment for a new production line if it supposed to be at Six-Sigma? One repair station should be idle most of the time? I didn't know if the VPs were expecting to be lied to so everyone could say we met the goals (wink-wink-nod-nod)? Yep, it mostly turns into a game.

-ERD50

+1

I pushed it on the sales side. If customer's knew they had a quality problem we could produce data to help solve it. What they did with the data was their issue. I did get to see some imaginative problem solving; most were imaginary problems that didn't need solving, but hey.

 

[JoeWras]

One of the problems with six sigma is the measurement they were using... if they used the wrong measurement it still could be in that six sigma...

Ah yes, using a 1 sigma plan.

Seriously, those of us in tech that are recently retired went through at least 3 or 4 of these fads. I remember my Megacorp1 rolled it out because Motorola (where it originated) was one of our competitors AND partners. Since they did it, so we had to keep up and they required it for the partner part. Those training meetings go down as some of the most painful meetings I've ever attended.

 

[CaptTom]

Six Sigma was still in fashion during my last few years at MegaCorp. Out in the trenches, we all knew it was just another BS "flavor of the month" fad program.

We found it hilarious how the lemmings at the home office ate it up. Mostly young people, ambitious to climb the ladder and willing to brown-nose to get there. They were so proud of how many days, weeks and months they spent going to these training sessions, earning belts and generally not doing any productive work. It's all good. It kept them out of the way and allowed us to get our real work done.

 

[Chuckanut]

There is an interesting article in today's WSJ (01/28/2019) about Sears and the PBGC. Among other things the Sears pension plan is 64% funded - maybe Kentucky and Illinois can work their way up to the Sears' standard at some point.

Also, it seems that PBGC doesn't like the proposed buy out since it leaves them with a $1.7 billion dollar funding gap. In a pro-active move the PBGC has already obtained an interest in the Kenmore and Die-Hard battery trademarks. Who knew? . Mr. Lampert's proposed settlement will strip away the protection. The unsecured creditors are also not happy with Mr. L's proposal according to the article.

But unsecured creditors, including the PBGC, want to sue him over his dealings with Sears going back years, saying he stripped the company of assets and cash and shouldn’t be rewarded with the chance to hive off yet more value once it emerges from bankruptcy.

It's behind a paywall but for those who can get over it:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-pe...rs-11548637068?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3

 

[imoldernu]

similar from Chicago Tribune Jan 28

The federal agency preparing to take over Sears’ pension plans is opposing Sears Chairman Edward Lampert’s plan to buy the retailer out of bankruptcy.

Lampert’s $5.2 billion bid to buy the Hoffman Estates-based retailer’s 425 stores seeks to keep the company in business and says it will preserve 45,000 jobs. A committee of Sears’ unsecured creditors on Monday filed an objection to the proposed sale to Lampert.


The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a member of that committee, added independent objections in a Saturday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The agency covers individuals’ pensions, up to certain limits, if an insured pension plan shuts down without enough money to pay all benefits.

The PBCG said earlier this month it would seek to take over Sears’ plans, which cover more than 90,000 people, by Jan. 31 after concluding the retailer’s continuation of the plans was “no longer possible.” The agency estimates Sears owes it more than $1.7 billion, according to the Saturday court filing.

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