They're systematically shutting down so there isn't a glut of real estate hitting the market all at once

This was already planned probably back in September. They're systematically shutting down so there isn't a glut of real estate hitting the market all at once like there was for Toys R Us and all their properties. You shut them down in stages like this, it keeps their value high. Remember, Fast Eddie wanted them for their real estate, and the last few years their closings have been expedited. There's a reason for that, you shut them all down, you have 4,000+ properties suddenly on the market, but you shutdown a few hundred a year, only a few hundred are available. He's certainly a conman who used this to make himself richer. Thanks, Fast Eddie, you turned Kmart and Sears into your own real estate, not the iconic brands they could have stayed!

I gotta admit I never thought about this, but when @WQe5yhw-kvy pits it like this it makes perfect sense.

Comment! It's anonymous!

6 replies (most recent on top)

You don't get it at all. The Real Estate was never the play, look CLOSER.

@fvj maybe of that week included Black Friday! Remember, Eddie lost $950M in a quarter! What does Eddie have to show for his so called restructuring? Lost customers! No sales! Gutted advertising and marketing. Ruined vendor relationships. Ruined credit. Stores without maintenance staff, working escalators, working elevators, and in many cases without toilet paper or even working toilets. Even more assets sacrificed to borrow to pay bankruptcy administrative fees because Sears can't stay cash flow positive over freaking Christmas. Basic finance and accounting functions apparently broken down because of personnel leaving, having the lawyers file for extensions for more time to get the numbers ready. I could go on and on.

Yes, 13 Kmarts turning into Uhaul storage units is very impressive. That should cover about what, a week of Eddie's operating losses?

The only system is that sales are elevated during the holiday season and now that's over with, liquidations are constrained by liquidator resources to go around.

Except the major difference between Penney's and Sears is that Penney's doesn't have 4,000 stores, especially with place like U Haul wanting them: https://www.sparefoot.com/self-storage/news/7442-u-haul-scoops-13-kmart-sears-stores-62-million/

There's been tons of former Kmart's bought and renovated:

https://wnep.com/2018/12/27/changes-coming-to-former-kmart-in-d---son-city/

https://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/village-shopping-center-purchases-neighboring-la-crosse-kmart-site/article_95b76654-736a-512c-8deb-415494f44eb9.html

https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/U-Haul-to-buy-Queensbury-Kmart-13444495.php

https://wtov9.com/news/local/new-businesses-plan-to-move-into-former-kmart-spot-at-ohio-valley-mall

I could go on and on, but you see, there IS demand for this property.

The market's already glutted with dead mall space, and 3,000 former Sears have been on the market for years. That thesis is brain dead. In fact, with JCPenney's, Nordstrom's and Macy's all accelerating store closures, the longer you wait, the more you have to lose, because the price of mall leases are crashing. Of course, when it comes to Sears and throwing money down the toilet, Eddie's proven himself to be perhaps the worst investor of all time, so maybe he's really thinking that way.

Thread regarding Sears layoffs

They're systematically shutting down so there isn't a glut of real estate hitting the market all at once

6 replies (most recent on top)

Post a reply