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Sears Canada (1952-2017)

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There's nothing really surprising in that article that we dont already know about. Some interesting facts of the article would be:

Yeah, I wasn't clear, but my reason for posting the link wasn't for surprising new details, but rather Willis' description of what went wrong. A surprising number of other journalists seem to be using the same template that they use for any article about a retailer that goes belly up.
 
40 years private sector work life here. Businesses come and go. They hire and let go. When they close down a lot of noise is made about severance but that money is always subject to EI clawback. And tax at source. Practically speaking, your severance will be taxed as income. Then you spend the rest and decide to go on EI; EI will account for that against your EI payment schedule. You may be waiting months for EI to begin.

Sometimes the severance is a generous lump sum that can be as much as a years pay. I knew a lady who was pregnant. They didn't want her. Two years severance bought her off. She was a lucky one.

Sometimes the severance is paid out monthly for a set term. Let's say 6 months. Evil part about about this is if you get back into the job market at 3 months.. your old employer will stop your 'package'.

There is a solution in this and I see it being forced on a growing part of the working and professional population. North American society is going to look and feel different. It does already in many smaller centres. Some will make do with less. Some will make do with not enough.

I witnessed the gutting of entire blocks of North Toronto in the late 90s [ok, that is an exaggeration] when Nortel folded. North Toronto was an enclave of Nortel senior technical managers.

When Abitibi paper folded - pun - a couple hundred minor and middle execs in Montreal found themselves degree-d, experienced, mortgaged in a nice Colonial style house, 50 and jobless for the rest of their lives. Many made enough money to support their grown children in homes of their own and even internet startups for their youngsters. When it all ended, some cleaved to prior respectability by calling themselves 'consultants'.

Both organizations workers mostly found themselves with pay and benefits ended just like that, a surprise, like the Sears folks.

Most of my friends who weathered this best were the ones who by nature housed, ate and consumed modestly, even like cheapskates, and invested since their youth, wisely or luckily.
 
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40 years private sector work life here. Businesses come and go. They hire and let go. When they close down a lot of noise is made about severance but that money is always subject to EI clawback. And tax at source. Practically speaking, your severance will be taxed as income. Then you spend the rest and decide to go on EI; EI will account for that against your EI payment schedule. You may be waiting months for EI to begin.

Sometimes the severance is a generous lump sum that can be as much as a years pay. I knew a lady who was pregnant. They didn't want her. Two years severance bought her off. She was a lucky one.

Sometimes the severance is paid out monthly for a set term. Let's say 6 months. Evil part about about this is if you get back into the job market at 3 months.. your old employer will stop your 'package'.

There is a solution in this and I see it being forced on a growing part of the working and professional population. North American society is going to look and feel different. It does already in many smaller centres. Some will make do with less. Some will make do with not enough.

I witnessed the gutting of entire blocks of North Toronto in the late 90s [ok, that is an exaggeration] when Nortel folded. North Toronto was an enclave of Nortel senior technical managers.

When Abitibi paper folded - pun - a couple hundred minor and middle execs in Montreal found themselves degree-d, experienced, mortgaged in a nice Colonial style house, 50 and jobless for the rest of their lives. Many made enough money to support their grown children in homes of their own and even internet startups for their youngsters. When it all ended, some cleaved to prior respectability by calling themselves 'consultants'.

Both organizations workers mostly found themselves with pay and benefits ended just like that, a surprise, like the Sears folks.

Most of my friends who weathered this best were the ones who by nature housed, ate and consumed modestly, even like cheapskates, and invested since their youth, wisely or luckily.
Several of my former colleagues were booted by our Chicago headquartered office in Markham, with up to a years severance. What they smartly did was spend their year of paid unemployment developing a business, or partnerships with others, but not taking a dime in pay until the severance was over. A brilliant move IMO.
 
I wonder what will become of the massive Sears lands and warehouse at Islington and Rexdale Blvd. I smell a highrise jungle coming...
 
^Without a doubt. Some developer will scoop up the lands apply for it do be re-zoned from employment lands to mixed use, which the city will allow which will ultimately lead to a high-rise jungle. Exactly the thing Rexdale doesn't need.
 
I thought that was an odd article. It's like saying one's grandparents won't celebrate your birthday after they die. There is no entity to honour the warranties, not that the entity won't honour them.

At least that farce of having the CEO's wife in the head office comes to a close, basically a case of income sprinkling.
 
^Except that they wont because prices will be jacked up to MSRP and additional "discounts" will then be placed on items. Let's put it this way, the prices that are on items right now will be cheaper then the early rounds of the liquidation sales but people these days lack common sense, they will get suckered into the sales and waste unnecessary money.
 

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