......the last Sears store in company home state of Illinois, closing Nov. 14th.....


Sears is shutting its last store in Illinois, its home state

The last Sears department store located in the retailer's home state of Illinois is getting ready to close its doors for good.

The shop, located in Simon Property Group's Woodfield Mall, is scheduled to shutter on Nov. 14, the company confirmed to CNBC.

....The last Sears department store located in the retailer's home state of Illinois is getting ready to close its doors for good.

The shop, located in Simon Property Group's Woodfield Mall, is scheduled to shutter on Nov. 14, the company confirmed to CNBC.

A spokesman for the department store chain's parent company, Transformco, said it will look for ways to revive the space with another tenant because it also manages the real estate.

"This is part of the company's strategy to unlock the value of the real estate and pursue the highest and best use for the benefit of the local community," Transformco said in a statement.

Sears Holdings, which also owned Kmart, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2018. Transformco later acquired Sears out of bankruptcy and has since closed dozens of the remaining Sears and Kmart locations across the United States.

Kmart's last location in Manhattan recently shut. It will be replaced by a Wegmans grocery store.

A spokesperson for Transformco declined to confirm how many Sears and Kmart stores are still open.

The company's websites list 35 Sears locations, including the one at Woodfield Mall, and 22 Kmart stores.

Sears was founded in Chicago in the 1890s. Its business blossomed through much of the 20th century, as it sold everything from homes to apparel. Sears was once the largest retailer in the nation, boasting thousands of stores.

The company had about 700 stores, many of them barren of goods, when it filed for bankruptcy protection.

Scott Carr, president of Transformco's real estate division, said in a statement that the company plans to maximize the value of the Woodfield Mall property through a redevelopment.


who can say, if I've been changed for the better......because I knew you......I have....been....changed.....for good......?!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2021 10:54AM by NewtonMP2100.

It's just the last store in Illinois, not the very last Sears store.

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Skill without imagination is craftsmanship. Imagination without skill is Modern Art.

Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

They did so many things wrong it was just ridiculous.

Friend of mine worked there in corporate for 20 years, she was a manager in their POS system division. She told me it was 20 years old at one point and they were not able to keep it modernized because it would cost so much to do, and it was a terrible security hole and went down constantly, causing tons of lost sales in stores because they'd be down for an hour or two every week. Not just at one store but everywhere. It was a nightmare for her, having to deal with being on the hot seat because of the failures that were truly out of her control.

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

Transfomco - still an Eddie Lampert operation milking the Sears and Kmart real estate for all its worth. Once hailed as a financial genius for taking Kmart out of bankruptcy, but this just shows he knew nothing about retailand didn't bother to learn either in the last 15 plus years.

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

I remember I thought the exact same thing as Amazon started to expand beyond books. Hire a team to put that catalog online....oh well. I'm sure the management was well compensated!

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

One thing Sears did have was hella valuable real estate. Of course, they sold off most of it years ago for a fraction of its current worth. They should have become a landlord, if nothing else.

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Hurts like a bastid...

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.[/quote

They owned an Internet service. Remember prodigy? Also bank. Also everything else.]

One of us is missing the point here, and I'm not sure which...
Instead of CLOSING their catalog sales division, they could have converted it to BE Amazon before Amazon was Amazon... They had already DONE the hardest parts - they just needed a team (a big, smart one, sure...) to turn their catalog into a web site.
They'd only have been competing with themselves - remember, we're talking about 1993 when they dropped the Sears Catalog!

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vision63

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

---

Paul F.
-----
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

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Paul F.
One of us is missing the point here, and I'm not sure which...
Instead of CLOSING their catalog sales division, they could have converted it to BE Amazon before Amazon was Amazon... They had already DONE the hardest parts - they just needed a team (a big, smart one, sure...) to turn their catalog into a web site.
They'd only have been competing with themselves - remember, we're talking about 1993 when they dropped the Sears Catalog!

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vision63

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

So you're thinking spinning it off as it's own independent company?

That real estate could be distribution centers...just like Amazon is now buying up those big boxes!

[www.nbcnews.com]
Amazon is snapping up disused shopping malls and turning them into fulfillment centers
April 5, 2021, 4:25 PM CDT
Malls that buckled due to e-commerce or suffered during the pandemic are being given new life by the very entity that precipitated their decline — Amazon.
Over the last several months, the retail giant has gone on a shopping spree of its own, buying up disused malls across the country and turning them into distribution centers.

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

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vision63

Quote
Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

That has been analyzed to death, the tax argument holds no water and never did.

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JoeH

Quote
vision63

Quote
Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

That has been analyzed to death, the tax argument holds no water and never did.

If anyone thinks it doesn't hold water, then not analyzed to "death."

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JoeH

Quote
vision63

Quote
Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

That has been analyzed to death, the tax argument holds no water and never did.

I agree. Mail order companies never charged sales tax to out of state customers unless that customer lived in a state that had a reciprocal tax collection agreement with the state where the mail order firm was based.

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freeradical

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JoeH

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vision63

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Paul F.
Sad...

At the dawn of the "internet age", Sears had an opportunity. They could have moved their catalog online and OWNED internet shopping the way Amazon does today. They had ALL the rest of the logistics in place. They had the ordering, the billing, the warehouses, the shipping, the returns logistics... ALL of it.

Instead, they shut down their catalog sales entirely. Dumped 100 years of experience down the drain. In the end, it was the equivalent of putting a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger.

They did. BUT, people paid no taxes on internet purchases vs brick & mortar. Sears couldn't compete with that. Plus Amazon's free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. By the time they forced Amazon to collect taxes, game was over.

That has been analyzed to death, the tax argument holds no water and never did.

I agree. Mail order companies never charged sales tax to out of state customers unless that customer lived in a state that had a reciprocal tax collection agreement with the state where the mail order firm was based.

Where the firm had a physical presence.

This is a classic case of the Innovators Dilemma - except, Sears literally GAVE away their advantage when they cancelled their catalog.

That was strange to me, even in 1993.

So why did they do it?

Walmart was eating their lunch...

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sekker
This is a classic case of the Innovators Dilemma - except, Sears literally GAVE away their advantage when they cancelled their catalog.

That was strange to me, even in 1993.

So why did they do it?

Walmart was eating their lunch...

That was an aspect of it, but the publicly given reason was that Sears was going to concentrate on their big stores in malls. Sears had shown a small decrease in catalog sales that they used to justify shutting down its operation, but that was to be expected given the recession the US was going through at the time. As for big stores in malls, Sears upper management totally ignored that malls were already going out of favor for shopping by the late '80s.

The other decision at that time was to close all of their small Sears stores and outlets. Locally that meant the loss of their catalog and outlet store for scratch and dent items as well as discontinued stock, mostly appliances and furniture. The closest Sears after that was a 40-45 minute drive to Holyoke. So where I used to shop at Sears once or twice a month, and place several orders a year, after that it was maybe 2 or 3 times a year.

As a memento of that period, somewhere I have or had a copy of a large ad Sears placed in the local paper a few years later looking for someone who would sign on to run one of their franchised mini-store/outlets. No store ever opened up locally, I assume no takers. They burned their bridges in this area.

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JoeH
Transfomco - still an Eddie Lampert operation milking the Sears and Kmart real estate for all its worth.

^ this. Vulture capitalist bleeding a once-great institution dry. Screw the employees - not my problem.

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pdq

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JoeH
Transfomco - still an Eddie Lampert operation milking the Sears and Kmart real estate for all its worth.

^ this. Vulture capitalist bleeding a once-great institution dry. Screw the employees - not my problem.

He absolutely did this. He "still" tried to make it work. Nobody can say he did not. He sold off land as the company failed along the way. He had a foe, that he coudn't defeat.

Amazon is a pimp. They have everybody submitting to their will and making excuses for them all along the way. The history of how they had an advantage is submerged because people don't want that to "be" the history of why they abandoned retail.