discussion Sears Canada going the way of the dodo

[FreeKnight]

Sears Canada wants court's permission to liquidate all remaining stores - Business - CBC News
I don't think anyone's going to be surprised, but sears is now looking to close all remaining stores. Liquidations are expected to begin shortly for anyone looking for deals (at the usual inflated prices at the start).

It's kind of funny that the company that should have been best suited for transitioning to online in the early days made half-hearted efforts much too late. They could basically take the Sears catalogue, put it on a decent website, have actual inventory and it could have been a hit in the late 90s to early 2000s.

There's obviously other factors, even within just the brick and mortar retail competition that help push them into bankruptcy, but it's just funny to me that it's such a missed opportunity in hindsight. The Sears 'wishlist' christmas catalogue was my some of my favorite reading in the 80s 90s as a kid :haha:

 

[sswilson]

I'm pretty sure this was one of the cases where something like a hedge fund bought it out and then proceeded to sell off/devalue all of the real assets while giving themselves massive "performance" bonuses for stripping the assets.

edit: As far as the online presence goes.... they never really did manage to seamlessly merge their storefront and catalog sales in the internet age. If anything it got worse when they switched from a telephone ordering platform to an online one.

 

[Jokester]

I'm pretty sure this was one of the cases where something like a hedge fund bought it out and then proceeded to sell off/devalue all of the real assets while giving themselves massive "performance" bonuses for stripping the assets.

edit: As far as the online presence goes.... they never really did manage to seamlessly merge their storefront and catalog sales in the internet age. If anything it got worse when they switched from a telephone ordering platform to an online one.

Spot on. Literally gutted for bonuses. And as you said they never made it into the age of online shopping properly.

 

[Inik]

It's sad to see it goes. They were equipped to perform at the age of online shopping.

I can still remember the excitment of receiving the Christmas catalogue every year!

 

[turtletrax]

Reading the news about this over time has been the strangest. All the employees not seeing the writing on the wall was strange, then to lose all thier benefits, then an executive pledged half a million for a benefit fund, only to put half the funds in. Then any applicants find out they will give any money the would have recieved back to EI.

The whole thing sums up the chaos of our current world. I have no clue how our kids will navigate the work landscape.

 

[Sagath]

The whole thing sums up the chaos of our current world. I have no clue how our kids will navigate the work landscape.

They wont have to navigate anything, the shareholders will tell them the best way to drive a company under for maximum pocket dollars. :thumb:

 

[chrisk]

It's sad to see it goes. They were equipped to perform at the age of online shopping.

I can still remember the excitment of receiving the Christmas catalogue every year!

A case of a big old company who could not be nimble enough. Their catalog business should have been primed for the new landscape..a shame. The poor employees who thought their pensions and severance were assured...

I wish that I had a few old Wishbook's around for the nostalgia to show on the coffee table at Christmas.

(I also fondly remember the spring and summer catalog with the swimsuit and underwear sections as a young fellow but thats another story.....)

 

[b1lk1]

A case of a big old company who could not be nimble enough. Their catalog business should have been primed for the new landscape..a shame. The poor employees who thought their pensions and severance were assured...

I wish that I had a few old Wishbook's around for the nostalgia to show on the coffee table at Christmas.

(I also fondly remember the spring and summer catalog with the swimsuit and underwear sections as a young fellow but thats another story.....)

LOL! You speak the truth, all of it. I fell in love with that catalog in so many ways, LOL!

I still have my original Craftsman mechanics tools I bought almost 30yrs ago in Worcester, Massachusetts. They all still work awesome and I never did have to warranty anything. I did have to buy a few pieces over the years for replacements and the quality suffered.

Not surprised, but sad.

 

[chrisk]

LOL! You speak the truth, all of it. I fell in love with that catalog in so many ways, LOL!

I still have my original Craftsman mechanics tools I bought almost 30yrs ago in Worcester, Massachusetts. They all still work awesome and I never did have to warranty anything. I did have to buy a few pieces over the years for replacements and the quality suffered.

Not surprised, but sad.

I bought a dryer a few years ago and bought an extended warranty. I sold it last winter with the 'fully transferrable' warranty....