Thread regarding Sears layoffs

URGENT confrence call for SGM yesterday

We had a conference call yesterday that was strange, we had stores from different states, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Chicago, but only about 10 stores on the call. They were asking these questions

  1. Who is the typical shopper?

  2. What are the BUs you see as you enter the store? Home/Apparel/F&D

  3. Who is your nearest competitor (Dollar General/Macy’s/Walmart/Target)

  4. What does your inventory look like TY vs. LY in key categories (Apparel/Footwear/Tools/F&D/Home)

  5. Any free Cash chat from associates or Members?

  6. What are your shoppers asking for in general?

  7. What are you seeing competitor wise locally – campaign wise?

  8. What is the current staff coverage in apparel, footwear, tools, HA etc.?

This in my opinion they are figuring out what stores to close next. September seems to be the last month to announce closing before the years end. any thoughts on this ??????

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @OP+PheoAwL
Comment! It's anonymous!

9 replies (most recent on top)

I think 1scy was trying to ask/suggest if being "told the store has no print ads and was a different type of Kmart" is an indication of a store that will be ending up on the next round of closures.

They have stopped issuing print ads in lower-performing Sears stores' areas, wouldn't be surprised if they're doing that with Kmart too. But quite a few Kmart closures this year have been better-performing stores (e.g. in a city that had 2 Kmarts left, they closed the busier one first). The closures are often more about the real estate lease terms now. (But not just 'when does the lease end', since according to previous posts, some Kmarts have lease deals that base their rent amount on how much income that store is bringing in, so it's much cheaper if left to sit empty for the remainder of the lease.)

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @5gfq+PheoAwL

@scy did you even read this post it's about people trying to get some info to figure out if their store is closing. It is not about how you couldn't use your coupons and you couldn't get the same price as online. They were probably online only prices, whatever we are worried about loosing our jobs!

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @2ukq+PheoAwL

I looked at an ad online for a Kmart store in IL. The date on the ad was Sept 6-30. There were coupons for toys and I tried to use several of the coupons online and received a message the coupon was expired. I went to the store Thursday morning and asked for the ad. I was told the store has no print ads and was a different type of Kmart. Don't know what 'different' means. The store is not on a list of store closures. The store was full of Christmas items. Did not make a purchase. The instore prices were several $ higher than the online prices and they would not honor the online price. The week before they honored the online prices as I am a SYW member. I guess they don't care whether they have my business or not.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1scy+PheoAwL

Possibly for closing or possibly they're trying to attempt to fix whatever problems they can for your stores or others. There's really no telling.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1rgd+PheoAwL

yes ,the 3 ... I personally know are the bottom of the heap here in michigan

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1wur+PheoAwL

Were all the stores on the call underperformers?

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1dyn+PheoAwL

We do not have print adds in our area ... im the OP

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1ywv+PheoAwL

It is likely data points being gathered for marketing. As for the stores from different states, they had similar revenue stores in the same call. Stores doing much better still have print ads in their areas, btw.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1hxx+PheoAwL

Yep

They are evaluating what store to close

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @gyw+PheoAwL

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