Thread regarding Sears layoffs

Great post- could I add that Sears has to make $400 million or so of pension contributions in this quarter and something like $600 million next year alone just to keep the pension deficit at over $2 billion. Where is that money coming from....

I work for a supplier of Sears. Sears is at their credit limit with us and I know terms are getting ready to get cut significantly. Additionally, Sears just isn't really ordering anything anymore. I'd say weekly sales volume for us to Sears is down 75% over the last 3 months. It kind of makes me a bit sad-- I work with some great people at Sears and I'd hate for them to be outta work.

Btw... the Hoffman Estates hq... holy crap!! Definitely a leftover from better times. That place was like buildings inside of buildings!

You DM is full of crap. He's towing the company line to keep associates as long as possible since many are leaving and no one wants to work at Sears or Kmart to replace those who leave. Our district has lost 4 store mangers in the last 2 months as they moved on to other companies and there is no one to fill the positions. Those stores are running with no store manager, just the assistant having to do the job at assistant mgr pay. So either the company can't find anyone qualified who wants to be a SM or they figure why hire someone new when the company is close to bk and they can use the assistants to do the SM job at ASM pay until the whole company implodes.

Obviously a DM isn't going to say anything negative. Even store managers and some leads go out of their way to dance around the truth and put sprinkles and icing over it.

i'd like to see eddie try and refute the bullet points of the O/P on pebble.

he he- ask yoru dm how pushing new ideas to transform the company worked out in the 3rd quarter- they lost 3/4 of a frigging billion dollars- or over $8 million a day. EVERY DAY. With ideas to return to profitability like that who needs competitors.....

yeah ask your dm whether he is aware that sears no longer owns the rights to kcd and that any money raised goes to the pension fund.

to the person who's dm said they have enough assets- tell your dm about the O/P's post- also how could anyone in hq know that they have enought assets - in order to do that you'd need to know what your losses are and i can guarantee no one on hq thought they'd see a $750 million 3 rd quarter loss- remmeber as late as last quater they were saying they'd go ebitda positive this quarter...... lets see how you dm feels after a $1 billion 4th quarter loss. i cannot believe that yoru dm really believes that sears will ever be profitable- either they are a liar or a sociopath.

Everyone I know at Hoffman is leaving or looking to leave, those who have not have no choice (they are old with no alternative career prospects or have been at the company so long they don't know how to look elsewhere) so in response yes, everyone is concerned about the stability of their roles and this is being shown by the high turnover. Mass layoffs are coming next month.

According to our DM Sears has enough assets to sell to stay in business a long time. He told us that the people in corporate know this and that is why they continue to push new ideas to "transform" the company and make us profitable. He said that no one at Hoffman is worried and that we should just continue to give members a "Wow" experience. What is it like at corporate and is he right or wrong? So many mixed signals.

Great post O/P- could we add that Eddie cannot take it private and no one is stupid enough to do so as well.

Eddie's last payday loan of $300 million was borrowed against the current inventory. Something like $1.5 billion of inventory had to be pledged vs that loan. This post was an excellent summary of the position SHLD is in. I do think "Eddie's leadership" deserves to be a line item above, but that's a quibble.

Good post - thanks

All good points and after possibly the longest decline in corporate history, it appears Sears is about done. I would add that the real world value of the so called Sears brands is near zero, since no retailer in their right mind would buy anything associated with this dying company while it's still operating. After bankruptcy the names will be available for peanuts. The company claims they have 3.9b in liquid assets consisting mostly of inventory, but it will be hard to continue operating as a retailer with no merchandise for the customers to buy, and no employees to ring up the sales. This of course won't stop SHC from continuing to cut inventory and personnel. The stores already look like they are halfway through a going out of business sale. They might as well put up the liquidation signs and get this sad saga over with.

Very, very good post. I'd add that EVERYONE is leaving, which is more damaging than the existing crop of useless senior leaders leaving - those lower down the rungs are at least doing work and are present - senior leaders are 'working from home in another state' when u know they are just sitting on a beach somewhere

Great post