“I have to say this sounds more and more like a pathetic charade every day. I find this all to be tragically pathetic. Very, very sad.”-Mark Cohen, Sears Canada CEO from 2001-04, now at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business
tbnewswatch.com: Sears plans to close all Canadian locations
bloomberg.com: Court approves shutdown, 12-thousand jobs gone by Xmas as Sears Canada dies!
Globalnews.ca: Sears Canada won’t honour warranties after Oct. 18
Market Insider: RioCan REIT Announces Agreements With Sears Canada
bloomberg.com: Berkowitz Liquidates Hedge Fund That Owned Sears Holdings
Lowell Sun: Three men charged in Sears appliance scam that covered three states since 2008
Crain’s Chicago Business: Lampert floats Sears another $100 million
Chicago Tribune: Sears borrows additional $40-million from Lampert
Bloomberg: Sears burns through latest $200-million USD loan
Business Insider: Sears borrows another $60-million from Lampert
From now on you can blame IBM’s Internet of Things (IoT) for problems getting your Sears warrantied appliance fixed: Sears, Golden State Foods Drive Field Services with IBM IoT
But wait, Sears just stopped selling appliances? The Wall Street Journal: Sears Stops Selling Whirlpool Appliances
CNNMoney: Sears’ iconic Craftsman tools coming to rival Lowe’s
It’s been revealed that Sears Holdings ramped up selling-off active stores. Those stores that’ve sold are not being counted as part of this year’s Sears Holdings shutdowns as they are now legally owned/operated by property re-developing companies, who plan on shutting them down in the near future.
It’s been revealed that evil GGP (General Growth Properties, I know they’re evil ’cause I worked for them, they’re the ones who ran-off most of the stores in the Pine Ridge Mall with outrageous rents/fees) bought eight more Sears stores from Sears Holdings-Seritage Growth Properties, and bought a 50% stake in another five Sears stores. GGP’s plan (as with their past purchases of Sears stores) is to redevelop those stores.
Arkansas: The Jonesboro Sears Auto Center suddenly shutdown on 14 OCT 2017, without warning. Sears Holdings stated they were not willing to renew the lease. The Jonesboro Sears store shutdown earlier this year, but at that time Sears Holdings claimed they had no intentions of shutting down the Auto Center.
California: The new owner of the iconic Boyle Heights Sears building (on 13 acre property that at one time employed 1-thousand Sears employees) is about to embark on a radical re-development of the property which will include 3-thousand new residential units, an artificial lake, a luxury hotel, event center, etc. The Eureka Kmart shutdown at the beginning of October, but local news media posted video showing it’s already vandalized. Local news media reporting that the Santa Rosa Kmart joined the many victims of the raging wildfires in The Golden State. In Corona and Ontario, the franchised Sears Outlet stores are now under direct management of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, no explanation given.
Florida: Sears Holdings lackey Seritage Growth Properties announced it will shutdown its huge Sears store and Auto Center at the Westfield Broward (aka Broward Mall) in Plantation. It’s part of a $20-million USD plan to turn the 55-thousand square meters (180-thousand square feet) store into smaller retail and restaurant spaces, which will include a much smaller Sears operation (the Auto Center will not return). No word on when the shutdown/redevelopment will take place as the plan must be approved by city zoning, but Seritage Growth Properties boasts that it already has new, smaller, tenants lined up.
Georgia: It was revealed that the active Northlake Mall Sears store, in Atlanta, is owned by Texas based re-developer ATRCorinth who plans on major redevelopment of the building at some undisclosed time.
Guam: A 21 years old female Kmart employee charged with left after being caught trying to walk out of the store without paying for underwear and body paint.
Illinois: The 41 years old Orland Park Sears is about to get smaller as Sears Holdings-Seritage Growth announced the top section of the huge store will be turned into an ten screen AMC movie theater, no estimated date for completion was issued. The city of Pekin has convinced the state to include the vacant Kmart property in the taxpayer funded Southern Tazewell County Enterprise Zone, which gives businesses a five years tax break for setting up shop ‘in the zone’. In Tinley Park the franchised Sears Outlet store on Harlem Avenue is now under direct management of Sears Holdings-Hometown and Outlet Stores, no explanation given.
Kansas: In Lexana the franchised Sears Outlet store on Mauer Road is now under direct management of Sears Holdings-Hometown and Outlet Stores, no explanation given.
Kentucky: In Louisville, the Sears store in the Oxmoor Center shutting down by mid-January 2018.
Massachusetts: The operator of the nine years old Hadley Sears Hometown Store has laid off his two employees and put the store, and the land, up-for-sale. Local news reports say the franchise owner/operator once had ten Sears Hometown stores across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but the Hadley location is his last one.
Michigan: Saint Clair Shores Kmart shutting down, 127 jobs gone in January 2018, after the lease was transferred to grocery store operator Kroger, who plans on redeveloping the property!
Minnesota: The 50 years old Saint Cloud Sears store in the Crossroads Center shutting down by mid-january 2018, ending 90 years of Sears in Saint Cloud.
Missouri: In Fenton the franchised Sears Outlet store on Gravois Bluff Boulevard is now under direct management of Sears Holdings-Hometown and Outlet Stores, no explanation given.
Nebraska: Local news media reporting that the franchise owner-operator of the North Platte Sears Hometown Store suddenly quit after the landlord refused to renew the lease, Sears Holdings took over the store and claims they will find a new location. In Omaha, the Kmart on 50th and L Streets shutting down right after Xmas, local news media say its the last Kmart in the city, and apparently there’s only one other Kmart in the state.
Pennsylvania: The Whitehall Kmart in the MacArthur Towne Center shutting down right after after Thanksgiving, the property was sold to a retailer called At Home Stores. Yet more proof the shutdowns are part of what I call the REIT conspiracy as local news media revealed that the owners of Millcreek Mall had already developed plans to chop up the Sears store by the time the official shutdown announcement was made at the end of 2015.
Tennessee: Taxpayers are being raped of $7.45-million USD as Nashville Metro is buying a vacant Kmart for the purpose of creating a massive police-state police precinct! It’s been revealed that the blighted city of Memphis is putting all bets on economic recovery on taxpayer burdening apartment projects and piddly retail developments like a new Sears Hometown Store. Sears Hometown stores typically employ less than a dozen people with part time hours at minimum wage.
Texas: The active Richardson Square Sears store was just sold to re-developer ATRCorinth, who plans on shutting it down when the short-term lease expires. In Houston, the iconic Sears at 4201 Main Street shutting down by the end of January 2018.
Washington: The Tukwila and Tacoma franchised Sears Outlet stores are now under direct control of Sears Holdings, no explanation given.
West Virginia: Kmart is paying the state Attorney General’s office $100-thousand USD as part of a settlement for violating the state’s pharmacy laws. Kmart still denies it violated the law. Rite Aid, Kroger, CVS and Walgreen also made settlements.
Wisconsin: The Caledonia (Racine) Kmart in danger of being shutdown as it just made the ‘for sale’ list. Local news media discovered the property is being offered at two-thirds less than the assessed value! It was revealed that during a closed-to-the-public meeting the ‘elected’ officials of the city of Brookfield discussed using a $6.55-million USD property tax funded grant to help redevelop the vacant Brookfield Square Sears, the money would be used for road construction and environmental cleanup of the site.
SEARS KMART DEATH SPIRAL, SEPTEMBER 2017: “REMORSEFUL”, list of store closures since 2011