“We don’t need more customers. We have all the customers we could possibly want,” Lampert told shareholders at the Sears annual meeting on Wednesday, speaking of the Shop Your Way program. His comments were confirmed by a Sears spokesman.
“Every time people use the word bankruptcy, somebody who reads that doesn’t get past that word. It makes it very unfair for us, and it’s a very uneven playing field for us,” he told the Chicago Tribune in a rare interview ahead of the shareholder meeting. He added: “We’re fighting like hell.”
Last year, Lampert had flagged some execution problems with Shop Your Way, on which he is betting Sears’ future, but noted in the Tribune interview that this year the program had lined up new partnerships (Uber among them.) He did acknowledge on Wednesday that improving the program, and thus Sears’ transition “is taking a lot longer than it should and that may be a fair argument.”
As for the company’s sales declines, Lampert told shareholders he was keenly aware of the retailer’s problems.
“I give you my assurance I am not in denial,” Lampert added.