Thread regarding Sears layoffs

"I am not sure what the jacket thing is all about. I never hide anything to get a better deal so it is not me."

It wasn't anyone. Some poster accused someone of hiding merchandise to get a good deal. I think the person proved pretty well that the accuser was full of crap.

Does anyone read the messages before they post???? If you follow the thread it would be clear.

I am the OP on this thread and the reason that another poster can't find the original statement is because it appeared on this thread.

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/JLGONBl or least the "Sorry Eddie" thread a few spots down from this one.

I am not sure what the jacket thing is all about. I never hide anything to get a better deal so it is not me. My whole thing is to work within the boundaries set by corporate for SYW and I have been quite successful but I have spent over $2700 at Sears over the last 4 months figuring it out one step at a time.

I just don't think that they thought that any member would take the time to figure it out. If you go back and re-read the two original posts that I wrote, the idea was to help Sears associates who am assuming have signed up for SWY. I have only worked at Sears since June 6 in Auto. I come with a quarter century of management experience in some similar industries. It is the young people who always get screwed and try to screw back. I am not young.

I know what Sears pays and it is not good for young people who must drive a car to get to work. Some markets have public transit but not all of them are time effective. I live 2.4 miles from my Sears and if I took public education....er, I mean public transportation from my domicile to work it would take me 1 hour and twenty minutes. I have have studied the routes so I know. It is hard to get between classes and work.

So when they pull in to the auto center running on a bent rim because of a flat tire and dragging a muffler what are we supposed to do? We can't give the place away but we can make it work if we we play our cards right. I gave away labor today... MY LABOR, to get someone going. We do it for twenty year employees and 20 day employees. I aired up one employee's tires this morning and I changed a battery out for another yesterday and I didn't charge anything for my labor because it was MY labor. I did have to charge for the battery though because the battery belonged to Sears. That is where SWY and associate discounts start to come into play as well as our auto barcodes.

Once you have to make a purchase, then you have some options that start to become available with SWY. The points and the barcodes are sometimes better than than the associate discount. Once you have the points you can use your discount and not only that it negates some sales tax.

This is how I bought a $150 DieHard Gold battery for my truck for $86 and it is all perfectly legit. I installed it myself at home on Monday and saved the $10 installation fee I would have had to pay if I had done it in the shop.

Sears still has something good to offer it's employees and it is in the auto dept. But don't just walk in there making demands. The full-line store manager has limited power over any of us in auto.

Google: Athletec Men's hooded athletic jacket kmart

The jacket will pop up with a price of $3.99. Online it listed the reg price as $19.98 not $24.99.

With an employee discount and any useable points its a good deal to protect from the rain in a very warm climate.

This is not stealing. The offer is available for anyone.

Apologies will be accepted.

Not sure where the troublemaker disappeared too. I scanned this thread and didn't see anything about anyone hiding anything. Apparently the person who made that accusation was bothered and made up something to fit his narrative even though it wasn't true. Shame on you. Now run along.

One more thing, there were a LOT of jackets and matching lightweight waterproof pants to go with them. Yep, they are all still hanging on the ADDITIONAL 70% off rack in full view for any shopper to purchase.

I hope the poster who accused people of hiding stuff was not referring to the jacket scenario that I posted about. NOWHERE DID I SAY THE JACKETS WERE HIDDEN. In fact I work for Sears and the jackets were found at Kmart. I went to Kmart as a SHOPPER not as an employee. I hope you didn't make a bad assumption. In fact I would never HIDE anything and wait for it to be discounted but the fact that it crossed your mind suggests that is how YOU think.

Who hid stuff?

I read a lot of this stuff and it bothers me.

If you have to hide things until it goes clearance and justify it that you aren't making enough money you are a thief. It's time to find a new job.

If you don't want to find a new job then you enjoy stealing.

If you enjoying looking for loopholes in the SYW program and once again say it is because you aren't paid enough, it is time to find another job.

I come to this thread to find out what is going on with lay offs and store closings.

Not to find out how to steal. Stealing is stealing.

That jacket scenario doesn't happen frequently. However based on what people have said in my store, there will be more of this happening since we are no longer sending back anything. It gets clearanced in the store or if damaged, it is slashed and thrown in the dumpster. The latter is common in our mall. Five Below and Torrid do just that on a much higher level than we do. Entire dumpster full of past season general merchandise and slashed clothing.

I don't think Eddie had any intentions on ever making the stores profitable. He saw an opportunity to get rich. Sell off the parts of Sears then sell off the real estate or lease it out. But there is the problem of inventory. SYWR helps to lure people in and buy things at a heavily discounted price. A good way to reduce a bulk of inventory before liquidation.

I just bought a perfect lightweight men's rain jacket with a hood that was exactly what my husband was looking for to take on an upcoming vacation. I couldn't decide if I should buy the large or extra large for husband. The jacket was $24.99 then 50% off then an extra 70% off found on the clearance rack. I decided to get both. Someone in my family would use the leftover size. With my discount it came to $3.00 and whatever tax per jacket. Then I happened to have $3.00 in points. It just keeps getting better! I got both jackets for $3.21. I was glad to help take the inventory off their hands.

SYWR is a total disaster for SHC. But these people are so far out of touch they can't admit the truth of what is going on. The intention was to use advanced computing capability to figure out how to squeeze more profit dollars out of "members". But instead gross margins have gone down the toilet since they introduced the SYW program. The only people interested in SYW are using discounts and points to game the system, such as the OP here. It's hard to blame employees for taking advantage of whatever discounts they can get. After all, SHC certainly doesn't pay a living wage.

They can't get people into the crappy stores without heavy discounts, and they can't make a profit with the heavy discounts. There really is no way out of this dilemma for SHC, unless Eddie Lampert steps aside.

Perhaps Sears is using SYWR to help them clear out inventory. It is still better than liquidating.

I have heard management in Pittsburgh say they shop for clothing at Macys

Except, I don't buy more & only buy loss leaders. So does everyone that uses the personal shopper I follow. We all are just buying the bare minimum from Sears/Kmart. Now, I do pile up at Target, grocery stores or even Costco but SHLD has a very limited assortment. Their website relies heavily on 3rd party vendors. I can google a better price online in 99% of the cases.

@1tbg the full picture is X number of stores operating at a loss and have been given many chances to turn that around based on the things that are within their control -- customer service, fulfilling orders properly, and consultative sales.

Either way, lots of stores have rewards programs and lots of stores offer coupons. I don't see the poster taking advantage so much as I see this person understanding the program and getting the full benefits out of it. He makes it sound like he is doing something "bad". The company wouldn't put these coupons out if they didn't want them to be used. I certainly would not use my position of authority to tell someone to override something for me to match the online price though or do any of this on company time. I don't care what sears/Kmart has done or if people think they have the right to get back at the company. Theft is theft and that is called theft of company time period. Personally, my ethics are worth too much. Although I don't like what's going on at SHC, I still would never go against my ethics.

@1fgj Okay, so Sears is putting out coupons and offers. According to your statements "The majority of those offers and coupons result in profitable sales" and "Incrementally, they buy more with each visit and shopping at Sears becomes a good habit for them and us." So then why is Sears operating at a loss and closing stores? I would say that you are the one not "seeing the full picture."

To the last commenter, it's very true that ALL retailers put out similar coupons and offers to entice shoppers. If you are an associate and think Sears' problems are centered on putting out coupons and offers just like all of the other retailers, then you aren't seeing the full picture. The majority of those coupons and offers result in profitable sales. Even with a $10 off $10 coupon, we got that person through the door to use the coupon... they buy an $11 item for a dollar, and while looking for that item they see other things that they like, that they may buy on a future visit. Incrementally, they buy more with each visit and shopping at Sears becomes a good habit for them and us.

I have always taken advantage of those coupons or points or discount depending on the bang for buck. Now, the best is download the win it app and play the instant games = free money without buying anything. I estimate you can easily pile up at least $10 or more before they expire. I also have a personal shopper who lets me know about freebie offers after points. They are also able to send suprise points for use on anything. I admit I leave a lot on the table but you know when JC Penny sends me $10 off of $10 I use those too. Same concept . I have always shopped loss leaders, it's just Sears doesn't have a lot of anything I want yo buy.

Since our jobs are always threatened if we don't "make the numbers", including SYW loyalty, why not take advantage of the points to the fullest extent possible. This is payback for all of the BS we have to go through as an associate!

Let's all get free or really cheap stuff as much as we can. Encourage customers to do the same. Maybe corporate and management won't be so pushy on SYW when they realize that serious money is being LOST through this rewards program.

Wow. Really got you you riled up didn't it, MOD?

Everything the OP said is true regarding the associate discount and SYW coupons/surprise points offers. In the store I work in, we have dozens of members who we know fully take advantage of as many aspects of SYW as they can. In return, our associates get jealous when they see high points balances or high value coupons coming through. Last week, watched a softlines associate call for a manager and loss prevention when a member wanted to redeem 15 bucks in surprise points with 90 bucks in base/bonus points, making the coffee maker they were buying "free". The associate kept banging away that the transaction was fraud -- in front of the member and other people who waiting on line to check out. Well, the transaction wasn't free because the member spent money in the store to earn those base and bonus points. Nothing is free in this world. The MOD apologized to the member and completed the transaction herself. In talking to other associates, this sort of thing happens quite frequently but doesn't escalate to embarrassing a member or getting a manager involved. There is just a lot of jealousy and hostility. And that also chases people away to competitors.

The biggest problem with SYW: Associates and management in stores don't shop enough in our own stores to understand how the loyalty program works.

I appreciated the information. Thanks.