Wow Sears is a Goner

And it doesn’t look like its gonna go away quietly. Some serious shit going on there with their pensions and their Chairman’s hedge fund company being lined up as the first creditor who will get paid. Steve Mnuchin has been on their board for years as well. I’m sure he gave awesome financial advice during his tenure.

Its hard to believe how big Sears was in my generation’s lives. My Mom ordered all of our school clothes once a year from a big old Sears catalogue. Including those fabulous double knee jeans where the jeans wore completely out but the knees would still stand up in the corner. And I’ll never forget the CPO jacket in the sixth grade.

People used to order houses from Sears, no shit.

We went to Sears for our annual kid pictures. Craftsman tools were the gold standard. Kenmore was the gold standard for appliances for years.

I wore out the lingerie section of the Sears catalogue in my teenage years. They got pretty risque’ back in the 60’s-70’s. I remember my cousin would tell me page numbers to look at.

I wore out the toy section as a younger kid.

They were the Amazon of my generation.

And now they are bankrupt, ran by a ship of fools, and they’s sold off what made them so good.

Wow.

BKB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BarryBobPosthole

And now they are bankrupt, ran by a ship of fools....

BKB

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Au contraire, Posty my friend. The bankruptcy of Sears was not an unfortunate accident or a case of being run over by the changing times. This was a premeditated murder of a company that was going to have to hustle hard to begin with.

These are not fools they are unscrupulous thieves.

The goal was to steal the money that would have otherwise been tied up in real estate and pensions. It was accomplished all above board and legally which just goes to show you how rigged the financial system has become. None of this should be legal. Nor was it until we changed all of the laws over the last 40 years.

In essence you take over a company and pay yourself outrageous "consulting fees" to help "reorganize" it. You sell off the assets and pay yourself handsome fees to facilitate it. Load up the company with debt that allows them to pay you more exorbitant fees. Then you sell back your stake in the now debt laden company and walk off to allow it to go under.

It has been going on for decades now. How in the hell this is still legal baffles me. I think it is because some forms of thievery don't fit into a 30 second sound bite.

Will

And regardless of your view of pensions, a commitment is a commitment. I can’t believe Sears retirees could lose their income from their pensions. That’s what their dumbass board is blaming for Sears’ demise.

BKB

A lot of truth in what you say once the hedge funds and buy out specialists got involved. But, Sears has also been headed the way of Montgomery Wards for years as folks just weren’t buying what they were selling. Or, at least “how” they were selling it.

They really were iconic. Like Barry, I’ll always remember the “Wish Book” at Christmas time. The “Tough Skins” jeans that my Mom would still put iron on patches in the outside of the knees as well. As a kid, I spent a few years overseas, but we could still get stuff from Sears through the APO. It was like a lifeline to home.


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I can believe that. It is easier than to say "We intentionally allowed our company to be strip mined and pillaged so that we as individuals could become filthy rich."

One part of the swindle:
1) Start up a real estate trust that you as the CEO own a major stake in.
2) Have the corporation you run sell prime real estate to your real estate trust at a lowball price.
3) Rent some of it back for pretty hefty rates.
4) Take the other portion and begin huge business developments with partners who purchase the land at premium prices.

The company has lost its resistance to market fluctuations as it now rents instead of owning. You as CEO are handsomely paid. You as major share holder in the real estate trust get filthy rich via buy low and sell high. The company suffocates as it loses more and more stores and picks up higher and higher monthly rental bills.

A filthy business.

Will

Eddie Lampert (Sears CEO) was college roomies with Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin was named to the board in 2005, the same year Lampert became Sears CEO.

Its the same sad old story of the fulfillment of Posthole’s Postulate: Wherever there is money, there are assholes.

This guy is running our nation’s monetary policy. Can I use a well worn word?

DISGRACE.

BKB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BarryBobPosthole

Eddie Lampert (Sears CEO) was college roomies with Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin was named to the board in 2005, the same year Lampert became Sears CEO.

Its the same sad old story of the fulfillment of Posthole’s Postulate: Wherever there is money, there are assholes.

This guy is running our nation’s monetary policy. Can I use a well worn word?

DISGRACE.

BKB

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But, isn’t your 401(k) winning? I thought that was all that mattered...🤮


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Its about time for a whataboutism!

BKB

It’s almost as if you can’t even get a rise out of anyone on here any more.


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Post a pic of a nekkid Hillary Clinton and they’ll be on it like a duck on a june bug.

BKB

Attachment 10298


:hair:hair:hair

Bingo! Straight from the taco bar!

BKB

We used the Sears catalog in the outhouse back in the day.....when the bra and panty section started disappearing we knew it was time for a new one to come in.

That or either Uncle Joe stole them and they were stuck together probably somewhere?

The very first year I deer hunted I borrowed a Sears shotgun from one of my uncles. It is truly the loss of a major American icon.

It has been coming for years though. Other than tools or appliances, what’s the last thing you bought from them?

Every time I would go the the nearest Sears, of course it was in a big mall, the only customers outside of the room or appliance departments were Hispanic. Not trying to bring race into it, but that is not a huge percentage of the population in this area, so it is just a way to show that they weren’t carrying lines that the majority were all that interested in.


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tid bit:
Craftsman (tools) Craftsman is a line of tools, lawn and garden equipment, and work wear. Originally owned by Sears, the brand is now controlled by Stanley Black & Decker. Craftsman tools were first sold in 1927.

Can I still take my 1/4 in ratchet in and get a new one? The guts finally fell out of mine last week when I was replacing a garage door opener. I suppose years of using the back of it as a hammer finally did it in.

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Originally Posted by Arty

Can I still take my 1/4 in ratchet in and get a new one? The guts finally fell out of mine last week when I was replacing a garage door opener. I suppose years of using the back of it as a hammer finally did it in.

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Yes https://www.craftsman.com/customer-c...ty-information

I remember the story of the guy who was a Sears employee when he invented the little button on their ratchets that releases the sockets. He won several million dollars in a lawsuit against sears.

BKb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Roberts_(inventor)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BarryBobPosthole

I remember the story of the guy who was a Sears employee when he invented the little button on their ratchets that releases the sockets. He won several million dollars in a lawsuit against sears.

BKb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Roberts_(inventor)

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Big corporate tryin to
Screw the little guy.

Yep, they paid him like ten bucks for his invention and made millions off of it.

BKB

I believe Craftsman tools have been made in China for quite a few years now. That was the beginning of their downfall imho. I can’t remember the last time I walked into a Sears store. I did buy my first shotgun there many years ago. A Ted Williams 12-ga. auto.

The last time I went to Sears it was to buy a couple of tires. that must be 20 years ago? I don’t even remember why I got them there as its not my normal tire shopping place. Must’ve been a sale!

BKB

my neighbor bought a craftsman self-propelled mower last year from sears .....1 pull and the dam thing fires right up! ....no pumping some plunger...bitch runs good!

I have no clue who makes it but the motor is Briggs & Stratton...talk about exercise!.... try to keep up with it!....it must go 10 miles an hour at least when you hit the thingamajig to Go!

Just don’t let him put that infernal ethenol in it!


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chicken Dinner

Just don’t let him put that infernal ethenol in it!

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you mean this stuff?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS8NUnMpllc

That’s a way better use of corn.


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