Name: Eddie Lampert
Age: 56
Occupation: hedge fund manager
Last Seen: Chicago
Bee-otched For: running Sears and Kmart into the ground
Age: 56
Occupation: hedge fund manager
Last Seen: Chicago
Bee-otched For: running Sears and Kmart into the ground
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Growing up in northern Michigan, it seemed that every major town of 2,000 people or more had a Kmart.
When Kmart opened in Acme near Traverse City in 1989, we didn't go to Cherryland Mall as much anymore. Sadly, that meant me wearing shitty Kmart shoes to school that wore out every two months or so. But, that's how my parents rolled.
Of course, Kmart went bankrupt in 2002 and ended up shuttering a whole bunch of stores. I moved to Grand Rapids that year, and by the time I moved to my section of town, the local Kmart closed and soon became a Burlington. There were more buildings that once housed Kmarts than ones than ones that were still in business in the area.
Today, the nearest Kmart to Grand Rapids is in Hastings, a town of 7,350 and also has a Walmart. In northern Michigan, only three Kmarts are still standing: Grayling, Oscoda and Charlevoix.
But soon, the Charlevoix store will be gone, too.
On Monday, Sears Holdings announced that they are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closing 142 stores. Yesterday, the company closed at 63 cents, higher than the 28 cents a few days ago and MUCH lower than the $6.79 per share as its 52-week high.
Remember the Family Guy episode where the Griffins go to the mall and they go to Sears? Of course, Lois said "Peter, nobody's been to Sears in years", they walk in and it's a parody of the Mad Max movies. Well, that's Sears in real life, sadly. Neither Sears nor Kmart have built a new store in YEARS and most of their stores look like relics of the 1990s or worse, much earlier.
Much of the blame goes to Eddie Lampert, the Ayn Rand-loving former CEO whose ideas bankrupted the company. Thankfully, he did step down from that role on Monday, but the damage has been done. Only time will tell if Sears Holdings will close for good. Under Lampert, Sears has been selling off their properties, shuttered Sears Canada and they even sold off their legendary product line like Craftsman. Now, there's even talks of them selling their Kenmore brand.
Thanks to Lampert's piss-poor management of Sears, malls are failing because of Sears closing their stores. When Sears closes a mall store, they lose an anchor. Malls with no anchors lose individual stores and become ghost towns. Thankfully here in Grand Rapids, when Sears closed their store at Woodland Mall, the mall announced that they would be replacing it with a new wing, plus Von Maur. Many malls that lose anchors sadly don't know how to replace them. Across town at Rivertown Crossings, I'll betcha they don't know what to do with the former Younker's site. If Sears there closes, well, all I can say to them is good luck.
To me, Sears is dead. I haven't stepped foot into a Kmart in years, and the last time I did, the service sucked. Maybe the reason why was because the employees are paid shit wages and Lampert don't care. It's all about the money to him, and sadly, he doesn't know how to make it.
In other news, you can go to Meijer and scan items on your phone as you shop. I'll betcha that the lines at Sears and Kmart, OTOH are nine miles long.
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Growing up in northern Michigan, it seemed that every major town of 2,000 people or more had a Kmart.
When Kmart opened in Acme near Traverse City in 1989, we didn't go to Cherryland Mall as much anymore. Sadly, that meant me wearing shitty Kmart shoes to school that wore out every two months or so. But, that's how my parents rolled.
Of course, Kmart went bankrupt in 2002 and ended up shuttering a whole bunch of stores. I moved to Grand Rapids that year, and by the time I moved to my section of town, the local Kmart closed and soon became a Burlington. There were more buildings that once housed Kmarts than ones than ones that were still in business in the area.
Today, the nearest Kmart to Grand Rapids is in Hastings, a town of 7,350 and also has a Walmart. In northern Michigan, only three Kmarts are still standing: Grayling, Oscoda and Charlevoix.
But soon, the Charlevoix store will be gone, too.
On Monday, Sears Holdings announced that they are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closing 142 stores. Yesterday, the company closed at 63 cents, higher than the 28 cents a few days ago and MUCH lower than the $6.79 per share as its 52-week high.
Remember the Family Guy episode where the Griffins go to the mall and they go to Sears? Of course, Lois said "Peter, nobody's been to Sears in years", they walk in and it's a parody of the Mad Max movies. Well, that's Sears in real life, sadly. Neither Sears nor Kmart have built a new store in YEARS and most of their stores look like relics of the 1990s or worse, much earlier.
Much of the blame goes to Eddie Lampert, the Ayn Rand-loving former CEO whose ideas bankrupted the company. Thankfully, he did step down from that role on Monday, but the damage has been done. Only time will tell if Sears Holdings will close for good. Under Lampert, Sears has been selling off their properties, shuttered Sears Canada and they even sold off their legendary product line like Craftsman. Now, there's even talks of them selling their Kenmore brand.
Thanks to Lampert's piss-poor management of Sears, malls are failing because of Sears closing their stores. When Sears closes a mall store, they lose an anchor. Malls with no anchors lose individual stores and become ghost towns. Thankfully here in Grand Rapids, when Sears closed their store at Woodland Mall, the mall announced that they would be replacing it with a new wing, plus Von Maur. Many malls that lose anchors sadly don't know how to replace them. Across town at Rivertown Crossings, I'll betcha they don't know what to do with the former Younker's site. If Sears there closes, well, all I can say to them is good luck.
To me, Sears is dead. I haven't stepped foot into a Kmart in years, and the last time I did, the service sucked. Maybe the reason why was because the employees are paid shit wages and Lampert don't care. It's all about the money to him, and sadly, he doesn't know how to make it.
In other news, you can go to Meijer and scan items on your phone as you shop. I'll betcha that the lines at Sears and Kmart, OTOH are nine miles long.
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Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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