Sears Is Hanging On For One Last Holiday Season?
After four long years, Sears' bankruptcy has been finalized at last, but the retailer will hang on for one more holiday season, but beyond that its fate remains unknown.
I was born into a time when Sears still reigned supreme as a pinnacle retail titan. As a young tot growing up in the brilliant decade that was the 90s, I not only remember Sears being THE anchor store at my local mall, but it was also THE place that distributed the annual Sears Wishbook. Sears was a holiday hotspot.
Ah, what a time it was to be alive and to be a kid, I can remember flipping through both Sears’ and Toy R Us’ holiday catalogs side-by-side and circling every toy that I desired. Now, however, Sears has become a sad shell of its former self, as it hangs on barely by a thread for what could be the former giant’s very last holiday season in business.
You may be one who thought Sears was already gone. And It’s easy to see why. After a years-long drawn-out bankruptcy, not many stores still exist. For instance, the giant Sears that once stood as a pillar at my local mall has been vacant for at least 5 years now. But a handful of locations have managed to stay open. (Let me know if you find one, spotting an open Sears is like spotting a yeti nowadays.)
So what ultimately brought Sears to its knees? And why might this finally be its last holiday season? Honestly, the answer is pretty simple. And it’s something that is currently causing the demise of other once prominent retail behemoths, too – a failure to adapt and modernize as the retail landscape shifted and morphed into what it is today.
It’s sad, but it’s true. Sears served itself it’s own undoing. For far too long, it stood by an aging business model that had less and less relevance as the years went on. And when they finally realized it had long been time for a change it was too late. It had reached the point of no return.
But it wasn’t just its failure to adapt. Sears’ demise was also influenced by poor investment decisions. Accorded to Bloomberg, the chain’s owner and primary investor Eddie Lambert’s hubris was the catalyst that ultimately caused all of Sears’ chips to fall, and then be stepped on and crushed into tiny little crumbs.
Being the one calling the shots at Sears, Lampert thought that he could control all of the companies and brands that the retail giant partnered with. However, that was not the case. Not only did brands begin to pull away from Sears as they began to witness the chain’s downfall but the ones who stuck around are now sharing the same fate as the former titan.
Sears lost its brand support and in turn, it lost money. Then it couldn’t afford to pay its suppliers so it went into debt. Then the company couldn’t afford to pay its debts, all the while losing more and more loyal patrons to what had become better retail options.
Now, those who once revered Sears look upon it with sorrow. The retailer made too many mistakes and didn’t adapt to the times and in doing so failed to capture a new generation of shoppers. Thus as Sears’ candle flickers ever dimmer, this holiday season may deliver the final puff of air that will put its once vibrant flame out.
