Sears, Kmart closing up to 120 stores

I heard a story on Marketplace Money the other day about Wal-Mart's busiest period--when they call in a second and, in some places, a third shift: Midnight on the first day of the month. That's when all the government check cards are activated, and the stores are swamped.

As the reporter noted, that says a lot about America these days.

 

From today's WSJ, via LAObserved:

From the outset, [CEO Eddie] Lampert's strategies for reviving the fading Sears and Kmart brands confounded retail experts, who especially question his decision to scrimp on renovating aging stores. While store chains typically spend $6 to $8 per square foot on annual maintenance according to retail experts, Sears is spending a fraction of that amount--about $1.90, according to investor research firm International Strategy & Investment Group. Mr. Lampert's bare-bones décor frustrated some of his business partners, notably Martha Stewart Omniliving Media Inc., whose relationship with Kmart ended acrimoniously in 2009. "Have you been to a Kmart lately?" Ms. Stewart said in a CNBC interview around that time. "It's not the nicest place to shop."

 

Not sure if you folks are aware or not, but Lampert is a scum-sucking hedge fund manager, despised by most in these parts.

Whatever decisions he makes, the retail consumer is about the last person he's interested in.

 

Sears and K-Mart are mere names that bring up nostalgic feelings but are nothing like the prior iterations. Sad but true. They do not act like they care about the past nor should the consumer.

Wal-Mart? I am confounded that people worry about the dying "middle class" and lack of meaningful jobs yet cue up 36 hrs early for the first "deal buster" made in China at Wal-Mart. They provide minimum wage jobs with marginal, if any, fringe benefits, and are packed with the cheapest, most unenvironmental friendly products. There is not even the hint of green.

You are not going to get green products without paying the premium. That's the reality. People make your choice.

 

My second job was at K-Mart. Summer of 1990, right before my senior year of high school. So fucking awful I declared right then and there I'd never have a job outside of sportswriting again. Lasted 20 years. Pretty good run.

I was in there a few months ago with my nephew, and while the landscape has changed a bit--the cafe is by the cashiers instead of at the back of the store--I swear to freaking God the store still smelled the exact same. It made me cringe as I walked in there. And there was at least one employee there with whom I worked in the summer of 1990. Holy shit, do I feel bad for her.

Christ did I hate that place. But I hope it stays open in my hometown, mostly b/c it's been a staple for more than 30 years and anchors a strip mall. There's no way anything will come in and replace it. And my hometown doesn't need another strip mall with a giant gaping anchor hole.

 

When unemployment is at an all-time high and gas and food prices are killing the budget of families, paying for "green" products isn't a priority.

For most of America, there is no choice.

 

So which K-Mart are ya working at now?

 

Without K-Mart, where would we have been without this gem:

 

Green? I'd settle for products made here again. But Mr. Fatass SUV Driving Middle America doesn't wanna' pay $5 more for a shirt so everybody gets what they get.

 

Lasted all of eight seconds.

 

The only thing Target has going for it over Wal-Mart is that, shopping in a Target, I don't feel like I'm face-to-face with utter human despair, if that makes any sense. I can't even qualify what's so unpleasant about the place, beyond linking to www.peopleofwalmart.com again.

But I concur with the experience that the K-Marts in my area are even more irritating to shop in than soul-deadening Wal-Mart. Smaller selection of crap, longer wait to check out your crap...if I'm going to suffer through a big box store experience, I'm taking the lesser evil I can manage.

I suspect Sears'll be fine once they unload it. They probably should've let it die rather than buy it.

 

I worked at a Sears Hardware store that was exactly this. No crappy clothes and other shit. Just appliances, tools, paint and lawn and garden stuff. We were packed every weekend because we had quality shit. This is what sears should be. Nobody wants clothes from sears.