Sears Canada (1952-2017)

[Skeezix]

I have no idea where any of these are located... I guess all in the typical North American suburban strip malls.

None of them are strip malls. All are fairly high profile malls.

 

[Skeezix]

maybe instead of "Sears", use "Sears Canada Inc." in a non-familiar colour/font. Consumers will generally not be interested in any Inc.

?

 

[PinkLucy]

None of them are strip malls. All are fairly high profile malls.

to ksun, those are all remote, rural locations

 

[gabe]

I think ksun is just trolling. I remember his other banned user names kkgg7, Blu. He's not fooling anyone.

Last time i was in Sears at Erin Mills, it needed a lot of work. I don't know if they have any major renovations planned. It would be nice to have an updated Sears with the newly renovated mall.

 

[Skeezix]

I think that's the issue. Calvin Macdonald tried to revitalize the Canadian stores, but left when it became apparent he wasn't going to get the funds to do so. Lampert has been starving the stores in the U.S. and Canada of cash. Sears' capital investment in its stores is a fraction of the industry average. All of the money from the sale of the Toronto Eaton Centre lease, Yorkdale lease, and all the other key stores, went to dividends - not a cent was reinvested in the company.

I strongly suspect that the Erin Mills store will not be renovated any time soon.

 

[Bruno Republic]

I think that's the issue. Calvin Macdonald tried to revitalize the Canadian stores, but left when it became apparent he wasn't going to get the funds to do so. Lampert has been starving the stores in the U.S. and Canada of cash. Sears' capital investment in its stores is a fraction of the industry average. All of the money from the sale of the Toronto Eaton Centre lease, Yorkdale lease, and all the other key stores, went to dividends - not a cent was reinvested in the company.

I strongly suspect that the Erin Mills store will not be renovated any time soon.

Exactly. Lampert is draining every penny he can from the business regardless of long-term impact. The result is that the chain is in a death spiral, and I can't see any way they could pull out of it as long as he's in charge.

Sears stores were never fancy (not that there's anything wrong with that), but so many of them now have that faded, depressed, dying "we've completely given up" look and feel to them, which is the death knell for a retail business regardless of what demographic they're aiming for. Rich or poor, nobody wants to shop at a place that looks like it's been abandoned by its owners and left for dead. At this point I think it's only a matter of time before the chain is just a memory.

And just like Eaton's, people will talk as if the fall of the company was inevitable due to some nebulous change in shopping habits, and not the result of blatant, colossal mismanagement.

 

[Skeezix]

And then here's today's disastrous news:

Sears Canada braces for possible bankruptcy as CEO leaves
James Covert, NY Post, 26 September 2014

"The cash-strapped department store chain has begun to reach out to top law firms in Canada in a desperate search for restructuring advisers as it weighs a potential Chapter 11 [sic] filing, The Post has learned."

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Is it a disaster? Or just the inevitable?

 

[Skeezix]

Good question. It might be inevitable (only in the sense of what has occurred at Sears these past few years), but I'd also call it a disaster. Sears Canada (still) employs thousands of people, with a significant number of head office jobs in downtown Toronto. That's a sad number of pink slips. The company has roots in this country, dating back to Simpsons Sears, and we are seemingly about to lose that. One more option for consumers in Canada disappears, not because the chain could not have competed had it been given the tools to do so, but rather because its owners in the U.S. were incompetent and treated the chain as a cash cow rather than an ongoing concern. To me, it's a sad, sad disaster (and arguably didn't have to happen this way).

 

[Bruno Republic]

One more option for consumers in Canada disappears, not because the chain could not have competed had it been given the tools to do so, but rather because its owners in the U.S. were incompetent and treated the chain as a cash cow rather than an ongoing concern. To me, it's a sad, sad disaster (and arguably didn't have to happen this way).

Agreed. I believe that Sears downfall isn't mainly an inevitable outcome of changes in the retail landscape, but that it is simply being run right into the ground. While the loss of Sears is not a big deal for most people in large urban and suburban areas (pretty much anything they sold can easily be found elsewhere), it's a serious problem for many smaller communities where Sears is the most popular -- and sometimes only -- local provider for several types of merchandise and services. These places will be hit hard both by the loss of services and local jobs.

 

[sixrings]

Agreed. I believe that Sears downfall isn't mainly an inevitable outcome of changes in the retail landscape, but that it is simply being run right into the ground. While the loss of Sears is not a big deal for most people in large urban and suburban areas (pretty much anything they sold can easily be found elsewhere), it's a serious problem for many smaller communities where Sears is the most popular -- and sometimes only -- local provider for several types of merchandise and services. These places will be hit hard both by the loss of services and local jobs.

Does anyone have access to The Bays sales figures at Yorkdale or Eaton Center before and after renovations. I have been in the Yorkdale bay a couple times since they reopened. Once to check out the renovations and the second time to buy something. They must have spent a fortune renovating and when I go into the yorkdale one it is almost a ghost town. In fact everything was on sale and when I bought a dress shirt the man thanked me for helping keep a Canadian company in business. All I am saying is that maybe the boss at sears saw the writing on the wall and said why pour more good money into a company that is going under.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Ford using Sears Canada land at Rexdale & Islington for FordFest. Scapping the bottom of the barrel?

 

[Skeezix]

Does anyone have access to The Bays sales figures at Yorkdale or Eaton Center before and after renovations.

They don't release those figures publicly AFAIK, but they've said in the press a few times that they are very pleased with sales and are using it as a model for other stores. I honestly don't think that has anything whatsoever to do with the decisions Lampert made.

 

[taal]

Interesting about Yorkdale's expansion and it feeling less busy, I can attest to this ! (Not the Eaton center ... but that was merely a renovation, not an expansion). But I don't think it matters, these stores are selling very high priced items, so it doesn't take a lot of sales. As far as I'm aware yorkdale is still one of the best per square foot malls in NA.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Good question. It might be inevitable (only in the sense of what has occurred at Sears these past few years), but I'd also call it a disaster. Sears Canada (still) employs thousands of people, with a significant number of head office jobs in downtown Toronto. That's a sad number of pink slips. The company has roots in this country, dating back to Simpsons Sears, and we are seemingly about to lose that. One more option for consumers in Canada disappears, not because the chain could not have competed had it been given the tools to do so, but rather because its owners in the U.S. were incompetent and treated the chain as a cash cow rather than an ongoing concern. To me, it's a sad, sad disaster (and arguably didn't have to happen this way).

A friend of mine retired from Sear Canada about five years ago after almost 30 years in the corporation, working up from store staffer to a senior role at HQ. He's likely concerned for his DB pension if the firm goes bankrupt.