[ylee]

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

They were both owned by the same vulture capitalist who had it in his head he could save any retailer. He merged them to save overhead costs. Even with that ....

Yeah, trimming overhead is a necessary part of running a business, but so is revenue which only comes from customers. He seems to have forgotten about that. Most Sears I've walked into the last five years were obviously worn and even dingy - rather depressing. We're in the "experience economy" now. Cutting costs to where customers stay away because the buying experience is unpleasant makes the problem worse. Also, selling Craftsman and Kenmore was stupid. I would have done the opposite. Strip Sears of everything but the money making brands and stick with why customers still come see you. Those two product lines involve commodities that people still visit brick and mortar stores for. Lampert will go down in history for destroying one of the most storied department stores in business history.