Lake Charles, Louisiana, is moving forward with plans for the former site of Sears.  They’ve awarded a contract to a property developer who will build a $20 million USD luxury apartment complex.

In Cleveland, Ohio, hopes are high that someone will bring Sears back to the Bradley Square Mall.  Mall owners say all they need is an independent Sears Hometown & Outlet operator to come in and pay for the lease!    The inventory will still come from Sears, but the store will be independently owned.  So how much will it cost to get started? “The store costs $100,000. The cost breakdown includes $60,000 for furniture and fixtures; $25,000 for store buildout and $15,000 in miscellaneous startup costs.”–Cleveland Daily Banner

Sears Canada (partly owned by Sears Holdings/Hoffman Estates) admits it has an image problem. Despite being recently voted the favorite department store of Canadians, the CEO says it needs to stop catering to the old fogies:   “Our brand personality is older. It’s traditional. It’s less popular and some would say uninspiring. Sears needs to recreate an image and redefine what we stand for….”-Calvin McDonald

Sears Canada is starting the image make over with a new slogan: “Make every day a great day”  (I wonder if that’s what they tell the people they layoff?)

To increase internet sales, Sears and Kmart will offer free shipping as part of their Shop Your Way Max membership program, or if you buy more than $49 worth-o-crap off their website.

And while Sears and Kmarts are being closed, supposedly because there’s no money, Sears Holdings is spending big money on Apache Hadoop, a high scale, open source data processing platform, in order to track everyone who’s part of the Shop Your Way program.

The Motley Fool is warning investors to stay away from Sears and Kmart stocks: “Foolish investors should follow Buffett by staying away from Sears and loading up on shares of its rival, Walmart.”-Jonathan Yates

By the way, why does the main stream media always add a dash between Wal and mart? There’s no dash between Wal and mart, and mart is not capitalized. It’s Walmart.  I hates Walmart, but at least I spells it correctly.  Actually here’s the history: From 1962-64 there was no dash.  From 1964-92 there was a dash.  From 1992-2008 there was a star.  Since 2008 Walmart has gone back to no dash or star upon thars (but there’s like an astric following Walmart*).

The inventor of the Bionic wrench is suing Hoffman Estates. He says he patented his bionic wrench in 2005, it’s made in the United States. He claims that the Sears Craftsman brand is selling their own version called Max Axess, and it’s made in China.

So you’re thinking of ways to make more money, probably to make up for your decrease in wages or benefits. If you’re lucky enough to still be in the home you’re buying (or even luckier, the home you own) then why not rent it out to advertisers?

A home in Naperville, Illinois, was used in June for upcoming Xmas advertising for Kmart.  Here’s what the advertisers are looking for: Newer homes that don’t have a lot of trees or bushes, because it’s easier to “dress up” the home for a particular add.  Quite neighborhoods, and for some reason they like porches.  Also, the local governments must be willing to work with the advertising companies doing the production shoots, meaning they better not charge outrageous city fees for such work.  Advertisers claim they try to respect neighbors and keep production noises down, and try not to block the street for too long.