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| Member |
Lampert got his seed money for his hedge fund ESL from Richard Rainwater , who was the financial brains for the Bass family. Rainwater parted with Lampert shortly after ESL had begun its obsession with Sears and K Mart. The handwriting on the wall was apparent to a few years ago that this was not going to end well. | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process  |
Take the balance sheet apart piece by piece. There is stock, maybe several different issues. There is debt, long term, short term, maybe some debt is secured by specific pledge of specific assets. Start valuing each item. What is cash worth? What are receivables worth? Inventory? Debt holders are usually institutions which do not enjoy having bankrupt securities, and may even be under some legal obligation to get rid of them. Eddie Lambert may have seen that Sears and Kmart were worth more dead than alive, and may have pulled a large part of that value out already. There is a lot of real estate left. What’s that worth? Maybe buying debt for pennies on the dollar could give control, or at least influence, in repurposing that. Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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| Knows too little about too much  |
Damn! Sear was a reliable retail asset when I was growing up and as a young adult. At one time Kenmore appliances were great products and Craftsman were THE tools to buy. RIP Sears. RMD TL Davis: “The Second Amendment is special, not because it protects guns, but because its violation signals a government with the intention to oppress its people…” Remember: After the first one, the rest are free. | |||
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| wishing we were congress |
I am an older guy. Grew up with Sears as the "go to" Dept store. We got the 2" thick Sears catalog twice a year. The Wish Book. | |||
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| Member |
Went to our Sears looking for a torque wrench. They were marked down 10%. Guy told me to check Sears on line. $30 cheaper than the store. | |||
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| Member |
I stopped buying Craftsman hand tools when they were no longer made in the USA. ********* "Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them". | |||
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| Member |
Bought a washer and dryer at Sears back in 2009. Seem to be well built. You could tell they were in trouble back then. Still rocking a DieHard Ranger battery in my old Isuzu that I bought in 2000/2001. Full Craftsman tool set and box from the 1990's I enjoyed going into their stores back when things were good. Sad to see this happen to them. "And I think about my loves,well I've had a few. Well,I'm sorry that I hurt them, did I hurt you too" I Was Wrong--Social D. | |||
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Member |
They aren't the only one. From Border's Books, to Blockbuster movies, to Sport Authority, they were all lethargic and in denial about where their markets were moving. By the time they got around to trying to change, they'd been all but eliminated from the market. The name of the game today is to be acutely aware of trends in your market(s) and culture, aggressive in changing to meet those trends, and never letting tradition stand in the way of progress. Sears failed on all counts. ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
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| Member |
My bet is you're describing the Florida Mall. I no longer go there, but my understanding is, tourist activity is all that's keeping that mall alive. I no longer visit the Best Buy near that mall because its wall to wall with tourists. ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
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| Leatherneck |
He bought Kmart just for that reason. The real estate they owned was worth more than the asking price for the company. “Everybody wants a Sig in the sheets but a Glock on the streets.” -bionic218 04-02-2014 | |||
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| Member |
Here’s one example to support that argument. Colorado's largest industrial building(owned by Sears)sells for $40.75 million https://www.bizjournals.com/de...-property-sells.html | |||
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| Member |
I remember maybe 20 years ago when sears fired all the guy who worked there that knew anything about fixing their products or how they worked. They had guys working there that knew something about their products and how to help you get and use what you bought there. They wanted retail sales people instead. That is the same thing that Radio Shack did at one point. A big mistake in my book. A lot of times I need to buy something, I hate to go to Menards or Lowes because to get help in purchase and installation, sometimes there is none there. NRA Life Endowment member Tri-State Gun collectors Life Member | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
I just realized that the bankruptcy filing is Ch. 11, which is a reorganization, rather than the Chapter 7 liquidation. The Ch. 11 stops creditors from enforcing their claims while a plan of reorgabization is drawn up, rather than selling off the assets, paying that to creditors and winding up. Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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Knowing is Half the Battle |
My dad worked for Sears in the 1970s and early 1980s, back when they sold guns. EVERYTHING in our house of that vintage was Kenmore, Craftsman, Die Hard and whatever other Sears line there was. The guns were all licensed by Sears from other companies like everything else they do and were of acceptable quality but aren't worth much. However, the sentimental value far exceeds their monetary worth. My dad worked for the credit department and always imparted the ideals of credit being a privilege and not a right, back when not many people had credit cards. This was the pre-internet, carbon rub machine receipt deal with the old IBM electronic cash registers, the same ones I think Sears still uses. I have great memories of those days, but quit buying Sears stuff in the last decade as it got more and more inferior Chinese-spec. It feels weird seeing Craftsman tools at Lowes. | |||
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| Member |
A good friend of my parents is one of those guys. A Sears mobile appliance repairman. That guy can fix anything and we still call him to pick his brain when something shits the bed. At least he wasn’t there long enough to get a pension and then get hosed by this BK. 100,000 pensioners about the get screwed hard. Thonknof all the REITs that own malls that are about to lose an anchor tenant that equals 10-15% of your entire building. | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
In the days before credit cards, Sears used a credit policy whereby a certain percentage of credit sales were expected to go bad. If less than the target that meant the credit aproval was too tight. If more than the target, too loose. They were missing sales. Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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| Eschew Obfuscation |
Lost customers seems to be the one thing Sears excelled at toward the end. A few years ago, I was shopping for tires. I knew the specific tire I wanted and the Sears website showed they carried it. I called and the guy at Sears said they had the tires in stock. I asked him what the out-the-door price was - installation, fees, taxes, etc. The price he quoted was the lowest I'd seen and so I told him I'd be by that evening. I showed up as promised. Surprise, surprise, he *forgot* to include installation and fees in his quote. Oh, and by the way, he didn't actually have the tires in stock - but he had another brand of tires on hand that were "just as good". I told him he was full of shit and walked out. That was the last time I went to Sears for anything. _____________________________________________________________________ “One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell | |||
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| Member |
Not shocked but it is still sad...Sears was a big part of my childhood...the various specialty catalogs, shopping for Craftsman tools with my Dad....lots of good memories Now I just use it as the most convenient "cut thru"to go from parking lot to apple store | |||
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| Like a party in your pants  |
I had the Fox business show on as back ground noise while doing something else so, I was not really paying attention UNTIL, I THOUGHT, I heard,That Sears pension funds are under funded and the TAX payers will have to make up pension shortages. Is this possible? | |||
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| Savor the limelight |
^^^ The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation would take over if the Sears pension plans were terminated. The PBGC is a federally chartered corporation owned by the federal government. It was created by the ERISA of 1974 for which 87% of congress voted yes, 208 D 167 R, only 4 congressmen voted no. President Ford signed it into law. I don't believe my kids have ever been in a Sears. I used to shop there out of habit. My mom did all of our back to school shopping there and my dad bought tools and appliances. I'm not sure when I stopped shopping at Sears. | |||
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