Sears has another chance to avoid closing down • Hacker News Board

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#121

Post by monochromatic » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

Sargos wrote: post #91

neurobashing wrote: post #25

My parents were young, and broke, and opened a Sears "charge card" to buy their wedding rings. "Craftsman, so it'll last forever!" I mean, intellectually, I get why Sears is going away, but it still kinda tugs at the ol' heartstrings a little, you know?

This makes me wonder... what happens if you open a Sears card (yesterday) and max it out with all kinds of fun stuff and then Sears goes out of business? Does someone come after you for money?

The trustee in bankruptcy could sell that debt to a collection agency.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#122

Post by wil421 » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #87

samfriedman wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upper class? It's true that those living in poverty often don't have the means to buy in bulk or pay a Costco membership, but I don't think the designation of "upscale" describes the store either. Many working class and middle class people shop there.

The poorest people in the US are still upper class. Except for a few homeless who refuse all support services perhaps.

Your other comments contradict themselves.

Comparing the poor of a rich nation to everyone else is an apples to oranges comparison. The poop still struggle hard in the US.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#123

Post by sct202 » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:25 PM UTC

arbitrage wrote: post #2

Eddie Lampert is a monster.

Yup, he spent $6b in stock buybacks and raided the company for assets. Not saying anyone could have saved the company, but with $6b someone could have given it a real shot.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#124

Post by everythingswan » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:25 PM UTC

alexhutcheson wrote: post #24

Neil Saunders wrote a good Twitter thread last week about how mid-scale US department stores don't execute the basics of retail very well: https://twitter.com/NeilRetail/status/1079785924966445058 Others have pointed out that Target seems to do a much better job with organization, presentation, and flow. Not coincidentally, it seems to be performing much better than legacy department stores that historically targeted…

Good thread, found it really interesting!

I am processing some research on DICK's Sporting Goods, 750 stores and 90% are their core brand. I knew the reality was something along these lines but just didn't expect the % to be so small: "The Company's eCommerce sales penetration to total net sales has increased from 2.8% in fiscal 2010 to 10.3% in fiscal 2015."[1]

It's certainly growing every year for them, easy to see since it's a public company, but not at a tremendous rate like my news bubble or profession would have me believe. It furthers your point that brick & mortar are certainly not dead, or even dying, since many people still shop in-store.

Of note, a good portion of their 10k was devoted to omni-channel experience, which is the thinking that customers are customers and not defined by online or offline alone--they use both. Omni-channel strategies seem pretty basic at this point but also well worth their investment.

[1] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1089063/000108906316...

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#125

Post by bluGill » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

Sargos wrote: post #91

neurobashing wrote: post #25

My parents were young, and broke, and opened a Sears "charge card" to buy their wedding rings. "Craftsman, so it'll last forever!" I mean, intellectually, I get why Sears is going away, but it still kinda tugs at the ol' heartstrings a little, you know?

This makes me wonder... what happens if you open a Sears card (yesterday) and max it out with all kinds of fun stuff and then Sears goes out of business? Does someone come after you for money?

Yes, debt collection is big business and someone will happily buy your balance for the privilege of getting you to pay it to them.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#126

Post by Spooky23 » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #16

bluedino wrote: post #11

How much of Sears's demise was due to Walmart? It's not like retail completely died. The home improvement chains hurt them too, once they started selling tools and appliances. We bought everything at Sears in the 80's. Electronics (including computers), appliances, toys, clothes, tools, lawn and garden... Was Sears too 'friendly' with their suppliers? When I worked at Sears at the end of the 1990's (the store was a g…

It's a good example to those that claim companies should pay employees liberally. Unless you're in a niche that people are willing to pay a margin for or serve upscale customers who also don't mind paying margins (Costco, Whole Foods, Nordstroms, Apple, etc), then you're going to lose business to competitors offering lower prices. In this situation, the only way to improve the well being of those whose labor isn't as…

If you pay a premium for labor, you need to deliver operational excellence.

I worked for a company in high school whose philosophy was to pay 150% of the local average for retail/foodservice work. They did this because they worked you 2-3x harder, and their operational framework was able to turn that into money.

Many places are designed to be on some scale of mediocrity because it's hard to the excellent. I ran into a Walmart cashier who couldn't identify broccoli the other day. That's evidence that a warm body that doesn't walk off with the till is what they hire for.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#127

Post by wil421 » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

alexhutcheson wrote: post #73

wil421 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is an upscale place to shop? I’ve never seen them lumped together with Whole Foods or even Apple. Edit: Wow I didn’t realize Costco’s profit margin was higher than Whole Foods, Wal Mart and almost a full percent above Kroger’s.

Costco's average customer is definitely higher income than the average American, although I've seen different attempts to quantify this. The first result from a Google search gives me this: https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/17/who-is-costcos-fav... A couple of factors act as a "filter" that makes Costco less worthwhile for lower income shoppers: - Buying in bulk requires a bunch of cash up front, which not every…

People on food stamps can buy in bulk since they get a bulk distribution once a month but the $50 membership is likely a deal breaker for them.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#128

Post by mark-r » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:27 PM UTC

I honestly thought they were gone already.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#129

Post by philwelch » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:27 PM UTC

erikcw wrote: post #45

wil421 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is an upscale place to shop? I’ve never seen them lumped together with Whole Foods or even Apple. Edit: Wow I didn’t realize Costco’s profit margin was higher than Whole Foods, Wal Mart and almost a full percent above Kroger’s.

This was years ago so I don’t have a reference. But one of my business professors in college assigned a case study that contained the memorable (to me) stat that the average Costco shopper had a higher net worth than the average Nordstrom shopper. Something to do with small business owners vs people going into debt to look more affluent than they really are...

Net worth, versus annual income.

Shopping at Costco is often a wise financial decision, and hence people who shop at Costco tend to be the type of people who make wise financial decisions, and the net result of making wise financial decisions is a higher net worth.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#130

Post by baddox » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 5:28 PM UTC

krustyburger wrote: post #40

wil421 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is an upscale place to shop? I’ve never seen them lumped together with Whole Foods or even Apple. Edit: Wow I didn’t realize Costco’s profit margin was higher than Whole Foods, Wal Mart and almost a full percent above Kroger’s.

Their margins are high like the others because many households renew memberships each year but do not make much use of them. I also think their membership does skew more affluent than many other retailers.

Wouldn’t an unused membership be worse (for Costco) than a used membership? Perhaps barring some rare edge cases like customers who would only buy loss leaders, or stores that are congested with shoppers.