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PSA: Sears notified SEC their survival is doubtful


Lanny
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Honestly, I could not understand why Land's End associated themselves with Sears in the first place. If they wanted to have store presence, I would have thought they pick something like Macy's or at least Mervyns (which sadly are also gone from my part of the world at least). Land's End was everything Sears was not, excellent customer service and a matching product quality.

Sears purchased Land's End, that's why. It isn't an association, Land's End is a Sears subsidiary.

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There was a surveyor in the parking lot of the giant Sears in Bellevue when I drove by last week. Even if Sears survives, the land at that location has got to be worth way more than they can possibly earn there.

 

Across from Fred Meyer?  Even when I lived there (14 years), I think I only went in that store once.  We were in and out of the Fred Meyer frequently.

 

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Sears purchased Land's End, that's why. It isn't an association, Land's End is a Sears subsidiary.

 

But didn't Land's End CEOs have a choice? Were they so desperate to get supported that they failed to analyze the viability of this company who was purchasing them?

I am a long time LE customer but have not ordered much since they meshed with Sears as quality has suffered somewhat. From various sources I am reading, it appears LE is determined to reverse this course. I hope they do.

Edited by Liz CA
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I ordered items from Lands End recently and have been very pleased with the purchases.  No complaints versus I did not like something I ordered about six years ago.  I thought it was poorly described and not as promised though I did keep it..  I have been ordering items from them these last two years and didn't even realize that they had split since they are still in Sears Stores and have the same value card.  

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Honestly, I could not understand why Land's End associated themselves with Sears in the first place. If they wanted to have store presence, I would have thought they pick something like Macy's or at least Mervyns (which sadly are also gone from my part of the world at least). Land's End was everything Sears was not, excellent customer service and a matching product quality.

I miss Mervyns. They had the best bras.

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I haven't been in a Sears in at least 15 years .  But I do remember my sister and I fighting over who got to look at the Christmas catalog first.  And how we loved going to the big Sears in East Brunswick, NJ because it had a candy counter (our local one didn't) and we would each get 1/4 lb of chocolate stars after shopping.  And those jeans with the roller skate design on the pocket?    Those were the must have item in elementary school.

 

I feel really old.

Edited by Pink and Green Mom
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But didn't Land's End CEOs have a choice? Were they so desperate to get supported that they failed to analyze the viability of this company who was purchasing them?

I am a long time LE customer but have not ordered much since they meshed with Sears as quality has suffered somewhat. From various sources I am reading, it appears LE is determined to reverse this course. I hope they do.

 

Lands' End was sold to Sears for around $1.9 billion.

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I remember reading the Sears catalog when I was a kid and imagining how I would decorate my bedroom if I had money for things like curtains and sheets. I loved that catalog.  

 Yes!  We got a similar catalog - not Sears I think but something like it.  All those matching sets of comforters and pillow shams and curtains and a matching rug.  Way out of the realm of anything that my parents could ever afford, but I loved imagining it.

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Anyone sitting on a Sears gift card should spend it right away.  When Babystyle and The Right Start went out of business, I know a lot of people lost their gift card balances.  Once they were in clearance/closeout mode, they stopped honoring them.  I had a $200 Right Start gift card that I used the last day they took them. 

 

But who gives Sears gift cards?  Therein lies the problem.   :lol:

 

This was the only reason I opened the thread. I have a Sears gift card that I was given in 2009. Checked the balance a few times since (including just now), so it still appears to be valid. Guess I need to use it.

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Penney and Macys are struggling here as well.

 

Kohls is doing quite well.

 

I think that for me Target and Kohls being stand alone is a big boon. I am too busy, too heavily scheduled to park a bazillion feet from an entrance and then wander the mall looking for what I need. I think I am not alone in this. Additionally, here in Michigan many malls have high crime rates which discourages shoppers.

 

Sears lowered the quality of their craftsman tools plus their Kenmore brand. These were brands that people used to be quite loyal to and drew big bucks. People would shop for the tool or appliance, and for the sake of convenience then grab their towels or kids jeans while there. But if you lose the people that were brand loyal because you cheapen up in order to increase profits massively in the short term, you shoot yourself in the foot in the long term once your customers abandon ship.

 

I get my 28x32 skinny boy jeans/pants from Old Navy, American Eagle, or Levis at the outlet strip mall. Often I have to shop online due to the fact that these get picked over very quickly. Moguls doesn't often have them in the store, but sometimes online so again my business ended up elsewhere. And there really is not any point of going to Penney, Macy, or Sears to wander around and hope to still find a pair on the rack. It is a waste of my time.

 

I think that if these types of stores are going to survive, they need to be independent of malls so more convenient for the fast shopper, and then better stocked...pretty much with some of everything that their online warehouses provide or turn some of their department stores into actual regional warehouses so they can advertise faster shipping times. In this way, they could compete better with Amazon.

That's interesting to me because our basically brand new Kohls closed. It was in a development that is doing extremely well. It did flood in August, but the whole development did. Kohls is the only one that didn't come back. They gave the reason as being the chain itself is having trouble. (I live in South LA and we had a *major* flood in August.)

 

Kohls had terrible customer service, was overpriced for what it was, and quite unpleasant to shop at though. Even though the development is booming, with even more currently building, they weren't. It's an outside type development, so not in a mall.

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