Sears Canada (1952-2017)

[Skeezix]

Sears still has some very good malls, even if the most prestigious are gone (Yorkdale, Eaton Centre, Sherway, Square One and the like). Fairview, Bramalea City Centre, Upper Canada Mall, Erin Mills Town Centre, Oakville Place, Mapleview, Limeridge, Masonville, for example are good, strong malls that other retailers would really like to get their hands on.

Agreed. Whoever buys Sears is likely going to help finance the acquisition by selling off some of those leases, to the extent that the lease terms permit it.

 

[officedweller]

Whoever takes over Sears will have to focus on its smaller community stores and won't be looking to establish an urban presence (that ship has already sailed with Sears monetizing its urban shopping centre leases). That doesn't sound like something a trendy store like Simons would be interested in (i.e. opening a store in Thunder Bay, Sudbury or Sarnia).

My guess would be Loblaws.

 

[ShonTron]

Whoever takes over Sears will have to focus on its smaller community stores and won't be looking to establish an urban presence (that ship has already sailed with Sears monetizing its urban shopping centre leases). That doesn't sound like something a trendy store like Simons would be interested in (i.e. opening a store in Thunder Bay, Sudbury or Sarnia).

My guess would be Loblaws.

I wonder if Loblaws will resurrect the Sayvette brand, or at least the concept?

 

[DavidJamesTO]

Does Sears still own the rights to the Simpsons brand name? Maybe whoever buys the chain will revive the name. Might cause confusion with Simons, though.

 

[Skeezix]

Sears Holdings in the U.S. announced this afternoon that its holiday sales dropped 7.4% from last year. The share price is, not surprisingly, dropping rapidly.

I suspect the purchase of Sears Canada, and/or the sale of Sears Holdings' 51% interest in Sears Canada, will occur sooner than later, and perhaps sooner than anticipated, if only to keep the lights on a little longer at U.S. corporate HQ in Illinois.

Sears: Ouch! (Wall Street Journal)

 

[devjohnson]

They just need to close shop already....

Sears Canada is ready to sell its 27 Quebec store leases
http://www.retail-insider.com/2014/01/sears-canada-is-ready-to-sell-its-27.html

 

[donoreo]

Does Sears still own the rights to the Simpsons brand name? Maybe whoever buys the chain will revive the name. Might cause confusion with Simons, though.

I think HBC took over the rights when the agreement ran out. HBC bought Simpsons but after that there were still Simpson-Sears locations (Oshawa Centre being one) but they did all rebrand.

 

[ShonTron]

I think HBC took over the rights when the agreement ran out. HBC bought Simpsons but after that there were still Simpson-Sears locations (Oshawa Centre being one) but they did all rebrand.

HBC was on a department store buying kick in the 1960s and 1970s, it only had department stores in the three Prairie Provinces. Along with Simpson's, it also picked up Montreal-based Morgan's, Ottawa-based Freimans, the Ogilvy's-Robinson's (merger of Hamilton-based Robinson's and Ottawa-based Ogilvy's) and (much later, in 1993) Vancouver-based Woodward's.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Sears owns Lands End, and I wonder what took them so long to start promoting the products here in Canada.

Follow the money... it goes to Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Chicago, not to Sears Canada.

Years ago when my family discovered Lands End we liked how you could buy online, and then return any unwanted purchases to Sears Canada's retail stores for refund. Once they stopped this a few years ago, there was another reason not to go to Sears Canada.

Sears, Roebuck will continue to do very well in Canada through their other businesses. They've got Lands End for online clothing sales and HomeSense for furniture and deco. Then they own Allstate Insurance and Discovery Card for financial services.

Outside of direct retail sales, Sears, Roebuck has strong brands that can be sold elsewhere. See the list of Exclusive Brands at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears For example, Craftsman tools are sold at Costco USA, the #2 retailer in North America with likely plans to expand into Costco Canada. Diehard car batteries http://www.diehard.com/, Kenmore appliances, etc. are brands that can be sold anywhere.

Sears Canada may be a dead man walking, but Sears will live on.

 

[Skeezix]

Follow the money... it goes to Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Chicago, not to Sears Canada.

Years ago when my family discovered Lands End we liked how you could buy online, and then return any unwanted purchases to Sears Canada's retail stores for refund. Once they stopped this a few years ago, there was another reason not to go to Sears Canada.

Sears, Roebuck will continue to do very well in Canada through their other businesses. They've got Lands End for online clothing sales and HomeSense for furniture and deco. Then they own Allstate Insurance and Discovery Card for financial services.

Outside of direct retail sales, Sears, Roebuck has strong brands that can be sold elsewhere. See the list of Exclusive Brands at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears For example, Craftsman tools are sold at Costco USA, the #2 retailer in North America with likely plans to expand into Costco Canada. Diehard car batteries http://www.diehard.com/, Kenmore appliances, etc. are brands that can be sold anywhere.

Sears Canada may be a dead man walking, but Sears will live on.

Sears doesn't own HomeSense. TJX does. Do you mean Sears Home Stores? I may be wrong, but I don't think Sears has owned Allstate or the Discover Card for years now.

I'm not as optimistic about Sears' fortunes in the U.S. Lands End, the only profitable arm of the company, is being spun off, yet most analysts predict it won't come close to generating enough capital to be of much use, given how much cash Sears is burning through. Kenmore has dropped from the number 1 appliance brand in the US to third, and sales have dropped 25%. The Sears financial reporting from last week, which was disastrous even in the context of a tough X-mas season, identified both appliances and tools are areas of weaknesses. Craftman tools are not going to save the company - although the brand might be sold off by Sears to raise cash (or later sold off by the liquidator). The stores suffer from a decade of underinvestment. Some of the brand names might live on, and maybe even a radically downsized company, but the Sears we know today is likely toast.

 

[Skeezix]

Interesting.

The Assorted Reasons Why Sears will Die and JC Penney will Live

 

[Admiral Beez]

Some of the brand names might live on, and maybe even a radically downsized company, but the Sears we know today is likely toast.

True. Yet, even the Woolworth Company survives to this day with its Footlocker division. Let's see what Sears Canada morphs into in the next 5 years, once the dust has settled.

 

[donoreo]

Interesting.

The Assorted Reasons Why Sears will Die and JC Penney will Live

that is interesting.

 

[Skeezix]

Death watch continues with more job cuts today:

Struggling Sears cuts another 624 jobs

 

[Ex-Montreal Girl]

So bummed out about this.

We bought all our appliances from Sears. Solid stuff. Knowledgeable salespeople who could help you decide on what you needed, and what you didn't, and could even get you a deal. With all my Sears points I was able to buy a Dyson Animal Vacuum.

It's like losing Zeller's was for me. I used to rely on it for certain items, much better than Canadian Tire or WalMart. Now gone.

Last week I went into the nearest target out of desperation because I had to get something I used to get at Zeller's. The only retailers that sell this item now are Target and WalMart, both of which i avoid and despise. Anyway, when i got to the Target, they had an empty display wall where my item was supposed to be. An entire wall. Empty. Really P7ssed me off.