Thread regarding Sears layoffs

The liquidator is in for a nasty surprise at our store

We probably have a semi truck trailer and a half of junk. Literally. Our store is huge. Our warehouse alone is almost as big as a smaller Sears store and there are lots of huge rooms in our warehouse packed with anything you could imagine. There are even a pair of spare toilets in one of them and an ancient meat saw, of all things, in another – don't know why or how that got there or why we would have it, but it's definitely a meat saw. Says "Hobart" right on it in big red letters. There are even drums to washers and dryers and parts to stoves and refrigerators. We won't even talk about this really long room with hundreds of drawers filled with so much assorted c-ap that some of them won't even open since they're jammed shut. I think we've kept every single promotional material sent to us since 1987. We have more filing cabinets than the Internal Revenue Service, all in the back. Maybe our store was a dumping ground? Of course we have all these other little rooms scattered throughout the store, some of them haven't been opened in years so who knows how much more stuff is behind those doors.

I think it would take weeks to clean out, sort and price everything. Doesn't the liquidator take ownership of anything that's not bolted down once they take over the store? Who's responsible for hauling everything that won't sell to the dump?

by
| 2025 views | | 13 replies (last ) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+10Yt9eVk

13 replies (most recent on top)

At least during liquidation they’re trying to sell everything. I remember during “quick and bright” we threw out everything that wasn’t new. Hundreds of mowers, tools, you name it, it went into the trash. Our district used 200,000 hours during that little stint. Sad

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @1vdy+10Yt9eVk

They definitely DO NOT donate the left over merchandise! My Kmart store had to collect the remaining product (approx. 5 pallets worth and it was boxed up and sent to genco. I have heard that the liquidator sometimes buys it and brings it to the next job, just depends I guess. We had some really c-appy stuff at the end that the liquidator didn’t even want to deal with like a freezer that was bashed in on the side. He told us to put it out on the sidewalk in front of the store and let it “walk away”. We were closed to the public at this point and that freezer didnt even last an hour lol. Cheaper for the liquidator then having “hazardous” waste to deal with. We did the same thing with random fixtures, the ghetto quickly took care of the stuff we left outside lol

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @1uid+10Yt9eVk

@hoj - Thanks for your reply. I never thought of that. My thought was they would donate the items in exchange for a tax write-off. Guess I was a little naïve there. LOL

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ahh+10Yt9eVk

@oao- the liquidation company buys the remaining merchandise and then will try to sell them at their next job. That's why you suddenly see things from brands you never carried suddenly appear at liquidations.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @hoj+10Yt9eVk

I remember the Hobart meat saw. The Kmart fine dining establishments used to sell sliced baked ham to our poor unsuspecting customers. At last, an answer about the meat saw.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @drh+10Yt9eVk

Holy cow, this site censored the word that defines the people that collect unwanted or discarded items to sell to recycling companies. LOL

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @mvt+10Yt9eVk

The conditions at your store will not surprise your liquidator; they encounter these situations all the time. Our store's condition was similar to yours and when our liquidation was finished only the bare walls remained. After your store closes the liquidator will contact sc-appers to remove any remaining fixtures or junk items. If the sc-appers won't take it, then the liquidator arranges for its disposal. After we closed for our final time, the liquidator had us collect all of the remaining merchandise, about seven full shopping carts, and the liquidator purchased those items. The items were then boxed up, but I don't know what their final disposition was.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @oao+10Yt9eVk

The only person in for a surprise is you because the liquidator doesn’t do any work. You will be doing all of the grunt work. They may hire a few temp people but it doesn’t affect the job load. Went through it twice, have fun.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ebv+10Yt9eVk

If you're wondering why you had a bunch of appliance parts in your stockroom, the A&E service guy may have dropped them off there for disposal since a lot of them don't have a way to do so. From time to time, the A&E service guy would drop off all kinds of bad/broken appliance parts at our store and we would send anything potentially hazardous (like refrigerator compressors or control boards) through MDO for recycling and toss the rest.

You really shouldn't have whole appliances (returns) piling up in your stockroom. Those should have had a service order opened so those could be serviced/inspected by A&E and put on 991 or sent to MDO to go to Sears Outlet. If your stockroom has a bunch of appliances, chances are your store has lost some serious money. Same goes for any other kind of returned merchandise (RTV).

Not sure about the meat saw in your stockroom though, AFAIK A&E does not service commercial or industrial equipment, nor is it something that Sears has ever sold. That's a very strange and random thing to find in the stockroom if you ask me.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @wfa+10Yt9eVk

Sounds like my Kmart. When we were closing I compared the process to going though a loved ones belongs after they passed away. My Kmart opened in 1971 and we had a store full of employee pictures, trophies, awards, Santa suits, Easter bunny customs, promotional materials, and so much more! We had to hire temp help near the end to haul most of it to the sc-ap yard/dump. Very sad and wasteful. (I’m just happy our HR saved the photos)

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @vym+10Yt9eVk

The liquidator manager is usually pretty laid back he's just there to manage and the liquidator company gets there cut of the sales after. They really don't care Sears is making more on liquidation sales then when they're trying to pretend to run a business

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @hch+10Yt9eVk

Sears is getting paid on the selling of the remaining inventory they just pay the liquidator a percentage of sales to manage it....and liquidation sales are very profitable hence why they've been saving inventory for liquidation and not bothering with shipping anything to the go forward stores when a member wants them if it's not cost effective because people will buy them during liquidation for usually more than the average sales price

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @tjy+10Yt9eVk

Store staff will be moving everything out onto the sales floor. That includes all those filing cabinets and parts cabinets.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @sum+10Yt9eVk

Post a reply

: