# Is there any way for Sears to reverse their decline or be salvaged? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855 "2018-09-06T03:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/41 "2018-09-07T15:22:14Z")
Sears was in decline, but the point where everything hit the shitter was when the hired an Ayn Rand worshiping libertarian named Eddie Lampert for their CEO. (non-paywall) > **[Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire](https://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/ayn_rand_loving_ceo_destroys_his_empire_partner/)** > > The invisible hand waves bye-bye to Eddie Lampert, whose business plan has run Sears into the ground (paywall) [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-11/at-sears-eddie-lamperts-warring-divisions-model-adds-to-the-troubles](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-11/at-sears-eddie-lamperts-warring-divisions-model-adds-to-the-troubles) Lampert believed that humans do best when competing against each other for scarce resources. So he took Sears & Kmart, merged them (laying off thousands in the process). Then he divided them into departments - each with their own board of executives - and made them compete for company resources. I’m not just talking executive salaries, here. The basic necessities for operating a retail business were all apportioned according department performance and the degree to which executives toadied up to him. Advertising, cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, floor space - if you weren’t bringing in the numbers and/or giving Lambert rimjobs, your department received no corporate support in any of the areas where unified corporations are supposed to be more efficient than a dozen competing businesses. Lampert believed that this would lead to department heads acting in selfish yet rational ways to bring out the good in their own departments. What happened was that Sears devolved into a dozen armed camps that spent more time sabotaging the other departments than they did vacuuming their floors (the vacuum was restricted, too, naturally.) Sears and Kmarts became filthy and run down and started lousing business in droves. What money they were making for Lampert and his favorites was put into stock buyouts. [https://www.alternet.org/economy/ayn-rand-sears-and-eddie-lampert](https://www.alternet.org/economy/ayn-rand-sears-and-eddie-lampert) > [@Alternet article](#): > > What actually happened is that units began to behave something like the cutthroat city-states of Italy around the time Machiavelli was penning his guide to rule-by-selfishness. As Mina Kimes has reported in Bloomberg Businessweek, they went to war with each other. > > It got crazy. Executives started undermining other units because they knew their bonuses were tied to individual unit performance. They began to focus entirely on the economic performance of their unit at the expense of the overall Sears brand. One unit, Kenmore, started selling the products of other companies and placed them more prominently that Sears’ own products. Units competed for ad space in Sears’ circulars, and since the unit with the most money got the most ad space, one Mother’s Day circular ended up being released featuring a mini bike for boys on its cover. Units were no longer incentivized to make sacrifices, like offering discounts, to get shoppers into the store. > > Sears became a miserable place to work, rife with infighting and screaming matches. Employees focused solely on making money in their own unit ceased to have any loyalty the company or stake in its survival. Meanwhile, Eddie Lampert taunted employees by posting under a fake name on the company’s internal social network. That Kenmore detail still amazes me. Lambert is still at Sears, which is drowning in billions of dollars in debt. He wants to peel off Kenmore now and sell it to his personal hedgefund since Kenmore is still the Sears brand with any hope of profitability. The rest of Sears will presumably be set on fire and kicked to the curb in what is basically “a slow motion liquidation”. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/reality-sets-in-at-lampert-s-sears-with-another-1-billion-due](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/reality-sets-in-at-lampert-s-sears-with-another-1-billion-due) So to answer the OP: Sears is doomed and you can thank Ayn Rand for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/42 "2018-09-07T16:04:00Z")
Another thing that Lampert did was to [sell off some of the stores to another company that he controls](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/business/sears-seritage-edward-lampert.html). I get the impression that he’s never put someone who knows anything about retail or merchandising in charge. Because looking at the success Target has, Sears or Kmart could have had the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/43 "2018-09-08T02:16:51Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Sears was in decline, but the point where everything hit the shitter was when the hired an Ayn Rand worshiping libertarian named Eddie Lampert for their CEO. Wow, that Alternet article is terrible. It confuses some very ordinary, and even quite decent business practices, and can’t seem to distinguish between Lampert’s Randianism and the Leveraged Buyout game. There are legitimate reasons to think that Lampert has questionable management instincts, and many to think that Leveraged Buyouts are bad, but the two don’t really overlap. In any case, Lampert is probably making out good off of K-Mart and Sears. It’s an ugly practice, maybe, and potentially even morally wrong, but he’s likely to end up with a nice wad of cash. This is a pattern with people in that biz - just see Carl Icahn or Ron Perelman. All three have a mix of very successful business deals, combined with occaisionally blowing the companies they got their grubby mitts on for private gain. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/44 "2018-09-08T05:03:11Z")
The Alternet article relies on the reporting from the Bloomberg article, which is currently paywalled. (The original article used to be freely available. I remember reading about it five years ago when it was first published.) The Alternet article is not paywalled, which is why I included it. The Salon article, also unpaywalled, is basically a reprint of the Alternet article. For the purposes of the OP’s question, I think all the articles explain why Sears is hopelessly doomed due to Lampert’s stupid libertarian management style. As for Lampert’s outlook in the future - he was a white collar billionaire when he got the job - so, yeah, he’ll be fine. This article from April outlines his performance numbers: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/reality-sets-in-at-lampert-s-sears-with-another-1-billion-due](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/reality-sets-in-at-lampert-s-sears-with-another-1-billion-due) > [@Bloomberg link above](#): > > The numbers tell the story. About $1 billion of Sears debt will come due within the year, according to the company’s latest results. It has promised pensions to about 100,000 retirees, but its plan was underfunded by $1.47 billion as of Feb. 28. Its bonds are trading well below face value, with some selling for less than 50 cents on the dollar – a sign many investors doubt Sears will pay its debts in full. > > \ > > According to ESL’s latest SEC filing, the firm had just $1.3 billion as of Dec. 31, and about $433 million of that was in AutoNation, Lands’ End and Sears-related stocks. The firm didn’t indicate what price Kenmore could sell for, or what Lampert’s other holdings are. > > The biggest chunk of Lampert’s net worth is made up of cash, so he’s been fairly insulated from Sears’s performance. Since June 2013 when Bloomberg Billionaires Index began tracking Lampert, his net worth has dropped by 20 percent to $3.7 billion from $4.6 billion. Meanwhile, shares of Sears have plummeted more than 90 percent in the same period. He’ll still have his golden parachute when this is over, but it’s hard to say it’s been any kind of success for him. Oh - just happened to find this link about Lampert’s declining hedge fund: > **[How Sears Ruined Its CEO’s Hedge Fund](https://fortune.com/2017/03/31/sears-eddie-lampert-net-worth-hedge-fund/)** > > He's lost 93% since its peak Again, he’s still personally a billionaire, but this is not an endorsement of his business philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/45 "2018-09-08T14:49:01Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Yes, seriously. There are growing economies in nations that US business historically brushed off as Third World. Who serves them right now? In nations that are just now achieving prosperity and building modern infrastructure, I doubt many of the residents just go online, order shit from Amazon, and have UPS drop it at their house the next day. No it really isn’t serious. And the basic reason before even considering the merits of _a_ major US retailer making that their theme is it takes capital. Either that the company has, or markets have the confidence to newly invest via new issuances of stock or bonds at a reasonable price. Sears/K-mart lacks that. Non-starter for them. Beyond that, the natural trend in consumer businesses in emerging markets is not to replicate where the developed world was decades ago, but where it’s going now. A lot of businesses are in fact much more internet, and particularly mobile phone, oriented in developing countries than developed ones. Replicating in the developing world old business models formerly successful in the developed world is generally a losing idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/46 "2018-09-08T14:49:28Z")
No. Thirty years ago I experienced lack of spare parts availability for Craftsman snowblowers. That happened again 25 years ago. I’ve never considered purchasing a Craftsman product since. Craftsman lawn mowers have always been known as Crapsman in the lawn care industry. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/47 "2018-09-16T01:06:09Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > There is website here that has complete scans of Sears Christmas Wishbook Catalogs: > > [http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/](http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/) > > The last Sear Wishbook listed is from 1991 and has all 811 pages available to browse. It looks like they have Wishbook catalogs dating back to the 1940s. Wow. I just lost about 3 hours in this maze. Transfixed by the absolute crazy fashions from the 1969 Sears Wishbook. Especially the men’s and boy’s stuff. Matching pajamas and robes. Did boys really dress like that? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/48 "2018-09-16T04:02:25Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > Wow. I just lost about 3 hours in this maze. Transfixed by the absolute crazy fashions from the 1969 Sears Wishbook. Especially the men’s and boy’s stuff. > > Matching pajamas and robes. Did boys really dress like that? Not me! ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/49 "2018-09-16T17:20:09Z")
Sears does still have salesmen on commission, or they did two years ago which was the last time I bought anything there (I never would again). They had a policy of beating any advertised price and a salesman reported that a woman had found a great deal from a retailer in Maine. The sales manager first said no, then okayed it as long as the woman bought the full extended warranty. Utterly shameless, the whole conversation took place right in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/50 "2018-09-17T04:29:49Z")
No. They’re in a death spiral. In any organization, 10% of the staff (including execs and management) are responsible for 90% of the income/profit. At Sears, almost all of them have already jumped ship. For my entire life they’ve offered good and reliable quality and service. It’s very depressing. Sic transit etc. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/51 "2018-09-17T05:27:17Z")
About 15 years ago, my SO and I had this discussion. At that time, we figured that Sears needed to drop their clothing, jewelry, makeup and similar departments, and keep their appliances, tools and automotive departments. They needed to leave the big city malls, and move into small town strip malls. I think they could have stayed in business, with a pared down size and selection. They could have kept selling this kind of stuff, and the vacuum cleaner bags, water filters, dehumidifier filter, etc, that go with them. Today, it’s way to late. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/52 "2018-09-17T17:08:48Z")
It looks like Sears had a plan in its back pocket to become just a franchise name for a bunch of local retailers. > [@](#): > > Most Sears Hometown stores are run by independent dealers and franchisees. In March, Sears Hometown started a print, digital and television marketing campaign, including the company’s first-ever national TV ads, to highlight its stores, emphasizing that the locations are independently owned and run by people who don’t work for Sears. Now [those stores are closing, too.](https://www.wsj.com/articles/sears-hometown-to-close-90-to-100-stores-in-second-quarter-1528491570) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/53 "2018-09-17T22:16:17Z")
It’s amazing to me Sears lasted this long. They are the epitome of complacency and resting on your laurels! ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/54 "2018-09-19T18:00:04Z")
Ah, well…out with the old; in with the new. Costco and Home Depot seem to be doing pretty well. I’ll be sticking with those guys from now on. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/55 "2018-09-19T18:34:38Z")
FYI, JC Penney now has appliances. The Kmart in my town finally bit the dust last year or so. We buy our appliances at Lowe’s now. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/56 "2018-09-19T19:26:16Z")
Well, I did my part this week to keep Sears in business. I bought several pairs of pants and a belt (the pants I wanted were unavailable elsewhere and not readily obtainable even online) - Lee colored jeans. It was a bit eerie in the cavernous and nearly empty men’s department. True, it was Monday afternoon, but still… ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/57 "2018-09-19T20:33:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I bought several pairs of pants and a belt (the pants I wanted were unavailable elsewhere and not readily obtainable even online) - Lee colored jeans. Obviously Lee isn’t dumb enough to have an exclusive with Sears, so is the reason you couldn’t find them other places due to being sold out or old seasons/discontinued? ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/58 "2018-09-19T20:58:07Z")
I’ll miss them and seeing the Wishbook archive was awesome. Now where are Brenda and I going to find paintings? Though truth be told we’d had it already over 40 years ago. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/59 "2018-09-19T21:25:02Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Obviously Lee isn’t dumb enough to have an exclusive with Sears, so is the reason you couldn’t find them other places due to being sold out or old seasons/discontinued? Could be. So, you’re saying I shouldn’t have gone to Sears but instead waited for other stores to stock them again? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855/60 "2018-09-20T05:45:22Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The purpose of Sears Holding and the Kmart Holding it came from is to make money for people at the top… deals that Sears/Kmart makes with companies the top people have an interest in. **As long as those people are in charge** nothing will happen until it is completely gutted… > > Look at what happened with Kmart. They kept borrowing heavily … Eventually the debt outweighed the value of the company and bankruptcy ensued. The debt holder got the company, , borrowed money against the Kmart assets and took over Sears. **The Kmart stockholders got squat.** Don’t stockholders have a say on who the CEO is? Why do they let him stay on the job, when year after year they see their own money going down the toilet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-for-sears-to-reverse-their-decline-or-be-salvaged/820855.md?page=4)