The latest Sears closures are a symptom of the disease.

[guillaumeb]

The latest round of Sears stores to be closed will provoke more predictable right wing economic analyses centering on the failure of Sears management to respond to changing economic conditions.


Management will be blamed for failing to recognize the new reality of WalMart and online shopping.

What the right wing analysts will NOT say, however, is how the changed economic landscape has been deliberately changed to cater to Libertarian rich people who are motivated by greed.

How did the landscape change?

As a start:

38 years of attacks on unions,

38 years of right wing economic warfare on working families,

38 years of gross under-taxation of the rich,


38 years of replacing productive investment with financial speculation,

38 years of companies moving work to follow the lowest wages,


and all of this combined has transformed a US filled with living wage unionized jobs into a plantation economy where low wage and multiple part time jobs are the new norm.

Sears is a symptom of how the 1%, conducting economic warfare on the working class, has transformed this country.

[lunatica]

1. The bottom line is runaway greed

It has taken root and like Kudzu has taken over, choking the life out of the 99%.

[guillaumeb]

3. Indeed.

And the greed, and what has happened, is treated as inevitable.

[exboyfil]

2. Sears has been a poorly run corporation for a long time

My dad was screwed on a transistor radio in the 1960s when he was in his 20s. He vowed never to shop at Sears again because of the arrogant customer service. To my knowledge he never did again (40 years of a manufacturing foreman and manager's purchases were lost by Sears).

[guillaumeb]

5. One anecdote does not constitute proof.

Sears, like many, is a victim of the economic warfare that the 1% have waged.

[exboyfil]

8. You are right about that

Except for their Kenmore washer and dryer I purchased in the 1980s, I really have nothing good to say about them either.

It may be that their commitment to a more humane business model with their employees doomed them. I know my wife had a friend whose father made a career at Sears, and him, along with his wife who was a teacher, were able to have a solid middle class life. I am not sure that is possible for individuals who work in retail today.

Their son-in-law started in management at Sears. Eventually he was a nervous wreck and left that occupation (after a heart attack).

[guillaumeb]

9. Well said.

Sears employees, like employees at many places, had pensions, and benefits, and living wage jobs. Reagan encouraged corporations to raid pension funds.

Plus anyone who bought Craftsman tools knows that the lifetime guarantee is always honored.

[LeftInTX]

17. My husband had a summer job at Sears. It was a pretty good deal.

He was a teacher, so the extra cash really helped out.
Sears was more than happy to higher an older adult.

[mikeysnot]

36. Craftsman is now made in China

Glad I bought them all before they moved productions overseas.

All the Sears in Chicago are closing, the last one on the North Side is closing in July.

[RKP5637]

7. Eons ago I bought a seat belt set from them. One buckle was cracked when I got home and

unpacked them. The guy at the returns desk refused to take it back or replace it ... he said even with the crack it was strong enough to hold someone in a car crash.

I was like WTF! I got the floor manager involved and they gave me a replacement for the set.

One thing that always pissed me off were the appliance salesmen that would pop out at you and nag you endlessly. In fact, I got so I never even walked down the appliance isle. I know they were on a commission and all of that, but to the point of almost harassing a customer is no way to sell an appliance.

[exboyfil]

10. Almost a duplicate for my experience

I still remember the crappy expensive microwave that I got talked into buying from them. Again though no complaints about the washer and dryer. I wish I could have those back today.

[RKP5637]

12. Yep, they had some really good applances. n/t

[sprinkleeninow]

27. Got a new washer and dryer from them in 2016 and,

fingers crossed, pretty happy with them. Never purchased Sears b4. Got a good deal besides. 😊

[RKP5637]

29. It's sad to see a company like Sears was probably fade away. When I was a kid it was always a

"go to" store way over in another city. The catalog store was not too far away, but the main retail store was more fun.

[sprinkleeninow]

52. True. I now recall when we shopped, the fragrance of fresh popping

corn wafted though the depts. closer to the confection/candy dept.😋

When I was a kiddo, mom would take me on the bus 'downtown' and we'd always stop in this particular dept. store where in the basement was a small eatery. They had the best hot fudge sundaes. Ole fashion hot fudge that melted the really vanilla ice cream into puddles. The hot fudge would gather itself together in little thicker fudgy parts. Whipped cream and a cherry atop.

The basement wasn't lit as bright as the upper floors. I used to call it 'Fernando's Hideaway'! I always reminded my mom we should go there. She got such a kick outta how I named it!

Those were 'the' days....

[RKP5637]

53. ...

[Dulcinea]

30. Our Sears Kenmore washer & dryer...

...are still going strong after 25 years.

[RKP5637]

31. Yep, I had a set like that. I wish I still had them. I kept them running and running.

I only got rid of them when we moved from gas to a house with only elec.

[yonder]

33. We got a Kenmore washer/dryer set in 1985 right after we were married.

The washer finally crapped out 5 years ago and we replaced it with a Speedqueen. The dryer is still going strong. I wonder if the new washer will last as long as the old dryer?

[YOHABLO]

34. Yes the Kenmore products were always very reliable and last forever.

[erronis]

38. Of course, Kenmore was just a brand name stamped on some other manufacturer.

Kenmore -- Maytag

You'd never find a "Kenmore" manufacturing plant anywhere in the world.

It also made it hard to compare models (intentionally).

Sears/Pennys/BestBuy/etc. are nothing more than shells for manufacturers. They often buy the crap that doesn't sell well directly and repackage behind their supposed "brand".

[Plucketeer]

42. We've had our pair since 1989!

I've had to fix the washer twice in all those years - the dryer? Never!

[DownriverDem]

37. The Sears near my house

The Sears near my house is free standing and not part of a mall. It seems to be doing well and they aren't closing it. I like to shop there because it's not part of a mall. Maybe it will be one of the last to close when Sears is totally out of business.

[RKP5637]

4. ... because Reaganomics works so damn well. n/t

[guillaumeb]

6. The proof is everywhere.

Record levels of inequality, rising debt, and each generation doing worse than the preceding one.

[RKP5637]

11. Reagan would be proud! I just can't understand the fools that keep voting these people into office.

The deplorables and similar do not benefit, yet they keep voting them in. It does not take an Einstein to comprehend what is going on. I guess voting in racists and bigots is more important to them than having a functioning economy that rewards them with decent wages.

[dembotoz]

13. sears is one of those companies that seemed to guess wrong at each opportunity

My uncle worked at sear his entire career. The seemed to treat him well at least i remember no obvious complaints.
He retired and got out while they were still on top.

You would have thought with their massive catalog experience and product mix they should have been able to be amazon before amazon......amazon really is just a massive online sears catalog.....they already knew how to ship stuff.

something sure as hell did not click.....

[guillaumeb]

15. Sears employees were often full time employees.

With pensions, and benefits. Amazon warehouse workers are poorly paid, with minimal benefits. Amazon demands tax breaks to locate their plantations in an area, while Sears paid taxes.

That something of which you speak was laws being changed to allow predatory corporate leaders to prey on their workers and US taxpayers.

[fescuerescue]

28. Sears most definitely demanded tax breaks

Pretty much every major corp does. Just a quick google of "sears tax break" will shed some light.

But I agree with the rest of the post.

[dembotoz]

39. Sears had infrastructure and expertise in place

Had to b worth something

[guillaumeb]

47. But online retailers have minimal infrastructure.

And they demand bribes to locate warehouses in an area.

[Captain Stern]

55. That's pretty much it.

Sears was Amazon before Amazon was Amazon. You could order something from a Sears catalog and have it shipped any place in the country. Sears didn't adapt, so they died.

It happens all of the time. K-Mart could have been Wal-Mart, and Woolworth's could have been K-Mart.

Some day Wal-Mart will go the way of the feared grocery store monopoly called A&P, and when it happens, it won't be a surprise.

[dembotoz]

56. Companies innovate until they don't

[moondust]

14. Eddie Lampert

~
Lampert is psycho Ayn Rand follower. It's said that his management style for Sears, where he is CEO, is to pit the company's operating units against each another. This is how he felt the business would benefit. Not by cooperation. Not by combining talents and strengths, but rather, by canabalizing each others' businesses and profits.
~

https://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2016/08/hedge-fund-hole-eddie-lampert.html

Lampert's earnings in 2004 were estimated to be $1.02 billion, making him the first Wall Street financial manager to exceed an income of $1 billion in a single year.
~
In January 2013, it was announced that Lampert would take over as chief executive officer at Sears...
~

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert#Career

My local Sears closed I think around 2012 after Walmart, Lowes, and Target all moved in nearby and Costco announced it would soon be moving in (and then did). Sears didn't expand into selling groceries so their "one-stop shopping" model was bested by Walmart and Target locally plus online shopping. IMO

Ronnie, Maggie, and the "trickle down" shift from rewarding the people who do the work to rewarding "investors" (who may be sleeping on their yachts all day) made it all possible. IMO

[guillaumeb]

16. Very well said.

And this is in addition to a changed political climate that was directed and financed by the billionaire Libertarians who own the GOP.

[erronis]

40. Yes. And throw in some "interest" by the russian mafia/oligarchy.

[smirkymonkey]

20. Sounds like a raging asshole.

The world would be such a better place without people like this.

I think it's time to bring back the guillotine.

[jmowreader]

46. THANK you!

I keep hearing that Walmart isn't getting eaten alive by online shopping, Target isn't, Costco isn't...the difference between those companies and Sears is those companies don't have CEOs who are actively trying to drive the company into the ground, and Sears does.

[Initech]

18. Our economic system is broken by nature.

Too many people at the top have too much money, and that's not going to change any time soon. Christopher Titus had a point on his podcast that we'll eventually live in an economy where we'll see Uber drivers taking Lyft drivers to get their cars serviced, and that's a scary thought. Things are going to get worse before they get better, if they get better at all.

[guillaumeb]

19. I would say broken by design.

It is a deliberate attempt to return the working class to conditions as they existed in 1870.

[Initech]

23. I blame Ayn Rand.

[guillaumeb]

45. Agreed. She gave literary and philosophical legitimacy

to greed as an operative principle.

[Blue_true]

43. Things have permanently changed.

Intelligent machines have added another dynamic that will be hard to overcome. Low wage jobs will be done by machines, that will eventually extend to agriculture as BigAg gains more real estate, intelligent machines cost money, but those that have the money to spend for machines wipe out smaller operators.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

21. My biggest proof..

is our store is long gone. It anchored our mall. Now a ghost town as well. The 80's were so very...spendy. The 90s were even better bc...hey 22 million more middle class jobs...then the gop read through NAFTA and took every bad loophole they could, to ship and sell our jobs overseas. They had the chance, and they took it. Never mind the social pacts involved w being an American. The promises. The trust. And they wrapped themselves in the flag and Jesus all the way, and blamed Clinton bc he signed the legislation.

[Initech]

24. So many malls are ghost towns anymore.

Eventually it's going to be like the movie Idiocracy - there will just be one gigantic Costco the size of Colorado that everyone goes to, and the rest of our economy will consist of Uber drivers taking Lyft drivers to get their cars serviced. What a world.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

25. Unless we say no.

It's not given that American Jobs have to be automated either. The congress can regulate industry so jobs can't be lost to automation. Just bc they SAY it's going to happen, doesn't mean it has to. They're laying the groundwork for the next step...turning us all into jobless chattle.

[RKP5637]

54. The face of America, now and in the future.

Such a well run country for the 1% only!!!

https://www.google.com/search?q=rural+america+poverty&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CVJzdr7kj9PoIjjOFPeGFXcaipdlRZtQiL-ydgT4mcEYRaqlgmcT9ytSiAsKVblMubv1jNquK1408-kf46_1rDlbaCioSCc4U94YVdxqKEfbupp628ushKhIJl2VFm1CIv7IRMY-7_1-O8dMUqEgl2BPiZwRhFqhFLWjK_1jtbO7CoSCaWCZxP3K1KIEX66i3PM8pL0KhIJCwpVuUy5u_1URvRcxWYKGrGIqEgmM2q4rXjTz6RHaKJWFjIrSWyoSCR_1jr-sOVtoKEdaUVIVWerX_1&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7x5fe2LDbAhWqslkKHbXwCJ0Q9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1280&bih=581&dpr=1.5

[Blue_Tires]

22. Meanwhile, Donnie is about federally "bail out" Big Coal...

[sinkingfeeling]

26. Thank hedge fund manager, ex Goldman Sachs, CEO, Edward Lampert.

[Yuorik57]

32. Ummm

But Sears did fail to respond to online shopping in particular. Like J C Penney and malls, it can't compete with Amazon.

I live 20 to 30 minutes from the nearest shopping center. So when I need something is it in my interest to get in the car or to get online. With Amazon Prime, I have broader choices, free delivery and reduced prices. Sorry but Sears can't compete.

[YOHABLO]

35. So the jobs are at UPS and FedX?

[erronis]

41. And the money services (Visa, Amazon CC, etc.)

And the money collectors since we're all eventually going to be in debt to big business.

[guillaumeb]

48. That free delivery is not really free.

It is paid for by the overworked Amazon warehouse workers who earn poverty wages so that Jeff Bezos can be the richest man in the universe.

[pnwmom]

44. Sears was being run by a libertarian who made the various divisions

compete against each other. It turns out that was a dumb, dumb idea.

[guillaumeb]

49. True, but the conditions that allow this did not start yesterday.

All an intended by-product of the Reagan revolution.

[Perseus]

50. Eddie Lampert is the cause of Sears downfall

Eddie Lampert is an Ayn Rand follower who brought the culture of "Objectivism and Individuality" to Sears where he had departments compete with each other, the original business model of sears called for collaboration, not the crazy Rand competition where it is ok to kill someone in your family as long as it helps you move forward.

Eddie Lampert destroyed K-Mart, eliminated the "Sears Catalog" plus the management culture of which I talk about in the previous paragraph.

Lampert is not going to loose any money, on the contrary, his hedge fund will do just fine.

A few times I went to Sears I tried to get some feedback from the employees about Lampert and it was general knowledge the guy had never intended to "Make Sears Great Again"

[guillaumeb]

51. And Lampert's company will charge Sears for its own destruction.

Bruce Rauner and others in this field essentially dismember a company and charge fees for doing so.