If the quarterly results are as bad as we think they will be, we will hear about more layoffs and closings in the same breath as they are presented.
All the changes that have been mentioned but haven't come to fruition yet? Expect to hear about them during the call.
Things are about to get very, very ugly.
To 1esd... we all know 'ageism' is "against the law" but in reality it is alive and well across the US, just like racism and other 'ism's'. The resume coach tries to hide it on your resume but eventually when you go in for an interview the truth comes out. The job market is pretty good, it might take you extra time but I am pretty sure you will find another job, just be patient. You might have to settle for a little less that what you had, but anything is better than being on the deck of the Titanic watching it go down... I hope it works out for you.
@1esd Consider applying for church/charity bookkeeping positions. I've often seen older employees in those roles.
And try to stop being so biased against your co-workers based on their age; you wouldn't want them being biased against you just because of your age. There are plenty of lazy/whatever-other-insult people in all age groups. You see a disproportionate amount of younger people in general at your job, because of who's more likely to be forced to take jobs in a low-paying unstable retail environment like Sears, since they don't yet have the experience to get hired for better jobs.
Rumor circulating around Hoffman that 'major' layoff going to happen the end of September 2018. At this stage it's almost expected but wanted to reply anyway.
@1vft Online's budget sure did get clamped down. Clamped down enough that NO stores are allowed to order boxes. The stores are not getting any additional boxes to ship the orders beyond what was allocated - the manager says we can't order! It's been said on here before by many others that their stores do not have the supplies needed to ship online orders.
We depend on saving the empty boxes from our RRC freight. I think the other stores are doing this too, because there's just no other way and they are in the same exact situation. It's not very impressive to be shipping something like tools in a box that has something like "CRB girl's coats" stamped on it, or an order of a few pairs of shoes in a box of a Kenmore microwave that a customer returned, but that's where we are at!
SEARS still has billions of debt and hardly anything left to sell off. Doesn't matter if expenses are cut....Unless SHLD can start MAKING a few hundred million every quarter instead of LOSING $450 million every quarter there is absolutely no hope. SHLD doens't have billions of dollars in the bank anymore to keep waiting things out from year to year. There's nothing left of the can being kicked down the road any longer.....It's completely disintegrated.
It will be a good number this quarter. Not losing as much and as quick the money is a good quarter.
Spending is under control. Back to school season usually bring in more sales. The most expensive business unit, the online, got clamped down on their spending like the rest of the company.
Back to school starts in the beginning of the 3rd quarter and they are still burning cash like crazy
It will be a good number this quarter. Not losing as much and as quick the money is a good quarter.
Spending is under control. Back to school season usually bring in more sales. The most expensive business unit, the online, got clamped down on their spending like the rest of the company.
@ibfh Sales have actually increased at some stores, and while sales number DO mean beans, margin means a lot more. You can sell all the goods you want, but if the margin is below profitability, then you're not making money. Margin is very low on many items; some even below cost. And while expenses have been cut, there is still a huge corporate overhead of loan interest, if nothing else.
"Perhaps there is a chance we will see the continued revival?"... Are you kidding me? What imaginary, invisible revival have you dreamed up?
Our store is doing bad as well. Every one of us on commission is in draw pay. There are many days where the ENTIRE store barely breaks $2k after being open for 12 hours. I remember the days when I broke $2k and beyond that within an hour or two of starting my shift, and ended my 8-hour shift with $15k-20k, even $30-40k. I've been here for almost 15 years and over the past five years, our store has declined greatly along with the rest of the company. We are down to one or two person in each department with a big absence of customers. I've been trying to get out and have been applying for all sorts of jobs but since I'm knocking on the door of age 70 nobody wants to bother. I don't even get the courtesy of an interview.
I have sales and retail management experience INCLUDING bookkeeping. Before I came to Sears I was a general manager of a Mervyn's store for 10 years. I had to give that up since my husband wanted to move as soon as he retired (that was before my unit closed down and the company dissolved so I escaped that experience). Before that I worked various sales and supervisor positions with JCPenney and Montgomery Ward. When I joined Sears as a sales associate I was approached for ASM positions every time someone left but I declined because I was doing better selling in brand central than I would have just taking a salary as an ASM. Right now, it doesn't seem like a bad idea but there are no ASMs, only "zone supervisors" and "leads" who are paid maybe a couple bucks over minimum wage, which is not worth it for everything they have to put up with.
I have a lot to offer but it seems like most of the employers would bring in younger people who tend to have no work ethic and will leave the job in a New York minute if they perceive even just a smidgen of "adversity", or feel offended, even for something as trivial as being asked to park an extra 10 feet away (yes, there was a college-aged student who walked off the job when the store manager finally told her to move her car to where the employees are supposed to park after asking her several times before then).
Sales decreases don't mean beans. We cut expenses. Payroll and advertising being the biggest. Even with sales decreases, if other income holds strong , PAs being one of them you can still make a profit. Do you even know your stores bottom line? If you are not contributing anything back to company, then you will close. Store with sales increased, that haven't cut expenses and have a high overhead may still be losing money.
@1qgm - Because, if the results were even mediocre, Eddie would have shouted them from the rooftop over two weeks ago. Only terrible results are hushed up till the last possible minute. The only "revival" that SHLD associates are going to experience is at the preacher's tent down by the river, because SHLD doesn't have a prayer.
I could see them losing $500 million easily.
A $500 million loss for Q2 would certainly mean an almost immediate bankruptcy filing. That kind of loss would mean the cash on hand is pretty much completely gone. Unless some "magic money" comes from somewhere to limp it along somehow, but I don't know where that would possibly come from.
500 million dollar loss
No denying that 2nd quarter is going to be very ugly. Our store was one of the better performers and all this past months from negative 10% to month to as close to 20% (despite our numbers last year were low). The question is how ugly? Can it get as ugly as declaring BK? Are they going to close a bunch of stores and a lot of layoffs? I mean what can actually happen here is the thing. Anyone have an idea of how bad?