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I would not focus on one competitor. Sears sank themselves. They had everything, more so than JC Penny, but they were also heavily invested in mall locations wh
by Shivetya 8y ago
I would not focus on one competitor. Sears sank themselves. They had everything, more so than JC Penny, but they were also heavily invested in mall locations which as the people spread out the mall orientation hamstrung them. Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and more, were in strip malls everywhere and everywhere usually meant closer to you.
Sears could have put some of that aside with a better and stronger online presence but unless they decided to wholly shift to that medium they had to get out of the big monolithic type malls and into the more in number strip malls.
- reaperducer 8y agoOne of Sears remaining valuable assets, though, is the real estate left over from its standalone stores. That's one of the bones that the creditors are salivating over.
- wvenable 8y agoNo, this was true when Sears was viable retailer. They owned very valuable properties in malls. But the process of destroying the retail portion of the company to extract value from the real estate actually devalued the property. Sears was the anchor that made a lot of that property valuable in the first place.
- reaperducer 8y agoStores don't own locations in malls. The mall owners lease that space to stores.
- wvenable 8y agoSears owns a huge amount of the property -- remember they've been at this for over 100 years.
- mark-r 8y agoWhat is it that makes the real estate valuable though? A mall with a big hole in it doesn't seem like a good investment. If Sears couldn't make a go of it it's hard to see how anybody else could.
- cr0sh 8y agoMaybe the fallout shelters? Virtually every Sears standalone store - at least up thru the 1980s, was also a fallout shelter (with air raid siren and everything).
- mulmen 8y agoHow is this a business? I’m not tuned in to the preppier community but from what I gather they would not be huge fans of rushing to a centralized location in an emergency. Also they’re a tiny market.
- reaperducer 8y agoA mall with a big hole in it doesn't seem like a good investment. As specified in the comment, not mall locations. Those were rented from mall owners. But Sears had/had many many standalone stores. Many of those stores were built in urban neighborhoods at a time when city neighborhoods were thriving. Now those properties are gaining value again as more people move into cities. Also, the Sears Auto Care locations are supposed to be doing well financially, and tend to be located in desirable locations.
- mark-r 8y agoI guess I've been living in the suburbs too long. Your comment reminded me of the perfect example, the store where my dad worked - a block away from the Minnesota State Capitol building.