Thread regarding Sears layoffs

"What am I missing? Why would Sears survive and Kmart would fold? Sears is responsible for 66-75% of the operating loss quarter after quarter. Kmart stores posted a positive ebitda in July. What am I missing? Seems like Kmart should cast off Sears."

Because unfortunately Kmart was about to go belly up over ten years and they were desperate to look for someone to bail them out. At first it was Kmart that was in control for awhile but slowly and steadily Sears Holdings took over and now they run the show.

They want to kill Kmart mostly because it is stores have good property value above all else and that in the eyes of many shoppers, Kmart is already a heavily tarnished brand so why hang on to it?

What am I missing? Why would Sears survive and Kmart would fold? Sears is responsible for 66-75% of the operating loss quarter after quarter. Kmart stores posted a positive ebitda in July. What am I missing? Seems like Kmart should cast off Sears.

@1pek. Nice. Are you so miserable that you need to try to scare people or just being sarcastic? You know it doesn't happen that way.

@1pek No, large retail businesses don't just lock the doors and disappear. The need for liquidation sales will inevitably give employees a couple months' notice, as @huf explained. Plus there are federal WARN Act notification requirements that a shutdown of enough Sears/Kmart stores at the same time should trigger.

Only time I've seen retail businesses lock the doors and disappear like that is a small mom-and-pop-owned franchise or one-off that the local government seized for failure to pay property taxes, sales taxes, etc.

No one answered the original question. Almost every company closing works the same. There will be zero notice. There will be notice to the SEC of filing. The Stock will drop to zero in minutes, doors are locked and nothing will move.

One day you will report for work and the door will be locked. SHLD is $4 Billion Plus in debt. Eddie has exhausted any way of borrowing. They are currently paying partial loan payments from Eddie with more loans from Eddie. Those loans are fully tapped. No lender in the world will front money to a company with no assets left to pledge and no profits. I would bail out now. If you wait for the boot, you will be in line with all of the employees left trying to get the same Retail replacement job.

Be proactive and good luck.

Got it. I think all of us want the company to survive for the people not the higher ups. That is natural. I am not supporting a family so I can imagine that would be very scary at a retail job. I have only had a couple of bosses over the years who have been nasty but I think that is par for the course anywhere. I dont understand the threat to severance as even though I supposedly have a small pension I never have believed I would ever actually get it. Outside of that what sort of severance did you think you would get? I have worked for the company for 25 years, but I have never banked on getting anything if something happened to the company. It would be a pleasant surprise if I actually got something.

@pjo again. I am also angry at having had to work every thanksgiving as a "volunteer".

@pjo here. I am angry and hurt at the way we were treated. I am angry at the threats to our jobs before the axe fell, and the threats to our severance after it did. I am angry at the fact that my store would probably still be going if management had made investments to keep the stores in good condition and stocked with merchandise people want to buy. And I am angry at myself for not having had the courage to go find better employment elsewhere before I did. I am angry at all the times I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep because I was worried about how I was going to take care of my family.

I don't care about the survival of the company. I care about the survival of the individuals who form the backbone of the company. The pain I feel is very personal.

@pjo Why are you angry? If something happens, I won't be angry. It just is what it is. You move on as best as you can and try to find another job.

OP, you take care of yourself, just as everyone should. Waiting for the ball to drop will result in the most pain. Don't hold out, out of some sense of loyalty or belief that things will get better. Sears is the worst retailer in an already declining field. There are better options. That is the truth, regardless of what the cheerleaders and shamers will say.

I wish I had listened, rather than go through the last 2 years. My store closed in June, and I regret not having listened to what everyone was telling me. It took a bit of time to recover, and I am still deeply angry about it. But I landed elsewhere, and what a night and day difference it is. Life is better outside of Sears/Kmart.

-drv how can u be so stupid?

You see any closing forever signs? No? Ok then.

But maybe you see the tv ads that are everywhere, or the lines of customers at every store. We are killing it right now. You will eat your words

Okay this is not the place to get true "facts" about anything. If you are really that worried about bankruptcy, then search online as this post is a bunch of nonsense. And then weigh what you read online too....some sites are reliable and some aren't. Don't take what is being written on here as in any way fact.

@fwb ..

Where do you work?

Are you delusional or plain stupid. People are only buying because they think we are closing. I was in a store that closed , we were a B store and made 100k a day once announced, kicking everyone in the districts butt. We're NOT turning around the business wr are in liquidation

-fvq I saw your post about the share price. Again, if you work with the rest of us why are you rah rah ing for bankruptcy ?

Unless you don’t work here, in which case, please leave and find your amusement somewhere else.

The rest of us here are trying to save the company

fwb- Have you checked the stock price today? Lowest ever!!! Looks just like what happened to Sears Canada.

You guys are wacked, this is not going to happen. Not this year, not next. The remaining KMart stores are almost all profitable, online is picking up. In store sales are booming, its going to be our best holiday in years.

Stop with the stupid talk (Shorts must really be desperate)

It depends on if you work in HE, a DC, or a Store...

Store associates will be likely be kept on to liquidate the remaining merchandise in the stores, just like a typical 'Store Closing Sale' today. Most store closings can last between 8-10 weeks, but it depends on the amount of merchandise in the store, and if the store will receive merchandise from other stores (clearance, discontinued, etc) and the DC. In a 'going out of business' situation, the DC's will need to clear out any remaining merchandise.

Liquidation sales are not fun. They will attract the worst customers, and the people who purchase fixtures are typically a pain the rump. It's chaos... Think your store looks terrible now? A flea market looks better than a store in liquidation. After working one store closing, I will not work another and would rather walkout after the announcement then deal with that BS again.

Yes, the store manager and liquidator will pry on your loyalty to stay with the company. While store closing sales today will give FT employees a small severance, don't expect that during a bankruptcy or going out of business situation. Unemployment will still be offered, but your best bet is to find something while the store is liquidating... I will say, most employees will leave during the liquidation process (the store I worked at went from 83 employees at the start, to just 23 three weeks before closing)... So you can get some decent OT if you wish.

For those in the DC, your services will be needed while the merchandise is cleared out which will be a few weeks after any BK or GOB announcement. Once the DC is cleared out, you'll be given your walking papers.

For those at HE, a majority of the employees will be terminated the day of, or within the week of, a GOB or BK announcement. Only 'critical' positions will be retained (payroll, IT, etc.) to help facilitate the GOB process and the after closure wind-up. Those in marketing, merchandising, inventory management, purchasing, etc will likely be left immediately.

If you work in the stores, you probably won't be let go for awhile. Many will flee so they will probably try to encourage you to stay preying on your loyalty and the promise of unemployment based on if you stay to the end.

If the liquidator comes in to run the All Sales Final Everything Must Go Sale, then they are in charge. Not your store manager! He has to do what they say. His power is gone. If I am still with Sears at that time and I hope I'm not, that will be unspeakably excellent.

@krf - Everything you have mentioned is planned for online sales during the holiday season per the mail sent out by Lena. They have a new concept 'Member Plan' don't know what that is supposed to mean. They have introduced some kind of free shipping was not able to follow, used some complex jargon.

Bankruptcy filings and layoffs are two separate things. A layoff will likely occur, because a bankruptcy is a result of a cash-flow problem, and the easiest way to lower your cash needs is to eliminate employees. But if the company is unable to determine a way to still run the business profitably, and convince a bankruptcy judge, then it will have to liquidate, and stop doing business. Then, all employees are gone. But it takes a while for that to happen. At least a few months, if not a year. But just like eof said, it may mean that they fold the kmart business, to keep the sears business running. All but the essential people needed to close the stores will be let go (buyers, fulfillment, advertising will go). It will be, for a short time, a complete madhouse, as people rush in to snap up perceived bargains, and moving in and out merchandise in order to close sites and maximize traffic. But that will only last 3-4 months. Then the hammer will drop.

So in a nutshell, yes, some will likely be let go immediately, but most will likely be kept for at least a while.

If Sears does cast off kmart, then it will prolong the operation, but even then, the company might squeeze out another year at most.

Nothing happens immediately, it can take weeks/months for the bankruptcy plan to be approved by regulators and the board, and then they'll almost certainly go through the usual store liquidation process that takes a couple months - necessary to grab the most cash possible on the way out to pay off some of the company's massive debts.

Sears would love to pull off a Chapter 11, and of course the media will tell us it's going to happen, but it won't. This ship is sunk, Sears is in FAR too much debt and revenues are collapsing simultaneously.

Eddie knows this full well, which is why he's just been playing for time. Don't kid yourself, Sears is done.

Chapter 11 means they will try to reorganize probably closing some stores and keeping others open . I would expect KMart will be shuttered completely