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Sears Canada (1952-2017)

  • Thread starter CanadianNational
  • Start date
It was in the Financial Post, appropriately titled "What's left of Sears Canada?"

What's Left of Sears Canada?

Interesting quote:

Mr. Caicco noted that Sears Canada has monetized a number of its best assets and now only has five or six primary properties left with low-cost leases.

“The most likely buyer would be a consortium of private equity, real estate and asset management companies that could quickly liquidate and flip another 20 or 30 properties, downsize the retail infrastructure, and operate the remaining Sears chain as a suburban/rural mass merchant with a thriving online business,†the analyst said in a recent report.
Click to expand...
 
Skeezix said:
It was in the Financial Post, appropriately titled "What's left of Sears Canada?"

What's Left of Sears Canada?

Interesting quote:
Click to expand...

I think I have commented on this before: Bummer.

The Sears house brand tended to offer the best. In 1991, I bought a icemaker fridge that chugged on, without a single fail, until our kitchen reno in 2011. In 1993, a Kenmore dishwasher. Same deal.

In 2012, when we bought the condo and redid the kitchen, we tried a few other places but ended up at Sears where we bought five top quality appliances from a very helpful and informed salesman and earned so many points we were able to get a Dyson Animal free. I can put the filthiest pan in the dishwasher and it comes out sparkling clean.

I still have points. What will become of them?
 
I personally like the Amazon play, this way they acquire much needed product fulfillment centres. Since most of the spaces are leased, they can downsize if necessary and operate their centres accordingly across the country.
 
Ex-Montreal Girl said:
I think I have commented on this before: Bummer.

The Sears house brand tended to offer the best. In 1991, I bought a icemaker fridge that chugged on, without a single fail, until our kitchen reno in 2011. In 1993, a Kenmore dishwasher. Same deal.

In 2012, when we bought the condo and redid the kitchen, we tried a few other places but ended up at Sears where we bought five top quality appliances from a very helpful and informed salesman and earned so many points we were able to get a Dyson Animal free. I can put the filthiest pan in the dishwasher and it comes out sparkling clean.

I still have points. What will become of them?
Click to expand...

Marina Strauss did an article in the past few days ago in the Globe (there seems to be an article on Sears' slow demise at least every few days) which specifically addressed the fact that some of Sears' house brands (Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard) still have value. If I recall correctly (the Globe search function was just acting disagreeably for me, so I could not put my finger on the article, but someone else pls post a link if they wish), the article quoted analysts who expected Sears Holdings in the U.S. to sell off the brands, or at least license them to a much greater degree than now (I understand you can buy Craftsman tools at Costco?). The analysts also said that the longer Sears holds onto these brands, the less value they have (the "going down with the ship" theory, I suppose). Interesting (and again IIRC), the article also said that if Sears Holdings sells all or some of its interest in Sears Canada, such that Sears Holdings owns less than 25% of the Canadian company, Sears Canada would no longer have a right to sell those brands (it would need to negotiate a licensing agreement and pay a fee, neither of which it is required to do today).

In other words, you might be buying your next Kenmore fridge at Lowe's.

Use your points quickly. Soon they will be the modern equivalent of Confederate banknotes.

bAuHaUs said:
I personally like the Amazon play, this way they acquire much needed product fulfillment centres. Since most of the spaces are leased, they can downsize if necessary and operate their centres accordingly across the country.
Click to expand...

Didn't Amazon eventually say that it had no interest in Sears? Wouldn't there be cheaper ways to establish a network of fulfillment centres?
 
Skeezix said:
Well said.

There was an interesting article yesterday analyzing what was left of Sears Canada's assets, and who would likely buy the chain. I'll try to find it.
Click to expand...

The day they announced they would listen to offers to buy Sears Canada...this was my comment on twitter:


Toarea Fan @TOareaFan · May 14

If I were thinking of selling a retail company...i would have tested the market before closing its most valuable locations #sears
 
"Hopes for an auction of the controlling stake, which is being run by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, have been muted, with many insiders predicting a holiday season liquidation of the 61-year-old franchise, which employees roughly 20,000."

I was surprised that winding down the chain by the end of this year was a realistic option. I knew things were bad, just didn't realize that things were that bad.
 
Skeezix said:
I knew things were bad, just didn't realize that things were that bad.
Click to expand...

Lampert stripped it bare of anything of any value. All the best people went elsewhere (places like HBC) and the only people left working there are the people who weren't attractive enough to be hired elsewhere (in attractive I mean talented and/or experienced).
 
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