Bankruptcy Judge Gives Sears Another Chance, OKs $5.2B Plan

[TBoneTX 45,570]

Except for the "close 3 stores per month" part, this is really good news.

Quote

Bankruptcy Judge Gives Sears Another Chance, OKs $5.2B Plan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — BY ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

 

NEW YORK (AP) — A bankruptcy judge on Thursday blessed a $5.2 billion plan by Sears chairman and biggest shareholder to keep the iconic business going.

The approval means roughly 425 stores and 45,000 jobs will be preserved.

Eddie Lampert's bid through an affiliate of his ESL hedge fund overcame opposition from a group of unsecured creditors, including mall owners and suppliers, that tried to block the sale and pushed hard for the company's liquidation.

In delivering his decision, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain for the Southern District of New York rejected the group's claims that the sale process was unfair and flawed, that it shut out any others who could have been interested in buying the business and that Sears had more value to its creditors if it died than if it lived.

Story continues:
https://www.windstream.net/news/read/article/the_associated_press-bankruptcy_judge_gives_sears_another_chance-ap/category/news

 

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by TBoneTX

[Boiler 45,715]

I do not understand exactly what the plan is, have been aware of it.

 

Sears has not made any money since 2010, most of its more obvious assets have been sold.

 

So I can not see anyone thinking there is going to be a turnaround and they will suddenly make money.

 

So why is he doing it, there must be some value that can be stripped out, property? So I assume that will be done and we will be back here again.

 

Also begs the question where they are going to get their stock from, who will give them credit? There is Commercial Credit Insurance but who would insure Sears?

[TBoneTX 45,570]

All excellent observations.  The guy is a dedicated fighter, so he'll push where it gives.

The real estate is the true asset, hence the closings of many very high-volume stores.

 

Sears/KMart are different from other verge-of-liquidation retailers, to me.  They have stuff that people want to buy.

 

I remember when Montgomery Ward liquidated (all stores at once) in... when, around 2000?  I went to one and found the only thing that I'd ever been tempted to buy at a Monkey Ward -- a wristwatch.  I got it at something like 40% off.  Still wear it daily.

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

I wish the best for Sears, I remember when they were King of the Department stores. 

 

I just don't see them turning it around

[cyclone27 710]

Shoot the dying horse already. 

[yuna628 9,686]

I find this kind of amusing really, knowing how much Sears has personally screwed over loyal employees but still are giving their executives a sweet payout. By essentially laying employees off within a week to Christmas, promising a new position elsewhere and then denying they did, saying they had accepted severance without actually signing their name to such a document, preventing them from obtaining jobs at competing companies, and then significantly delaying that severance to the point I almost advised someone I know to get a lawyer.

 

Also their optical department is a flaming trash dumpster. Personal standpoint, as sad as I am to see old companies go, it's no wonder why. I will never shop at a Sears again on principle.

 

 

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

9 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

I find this kind of amusing really, knowing how much Sears has personally screwed over loyal employees but still are giving their executives a sweet payout. By essentially laying employees off within a week to Christmas, promising a new position elsewhere and then denying they did, saying they had accepted severance without actually signing their name to such a document, preventing them from obtaining jobs at competing companies, and then significantly delaying that severance to the point I almost advised someone I know to get a lawyer.

 

Also their optical department is a flaming trash dumpster. Personal standpoint, as sad as I am to see old companies go, it's no wonder why. I will never shop at a Sears again on principle.

 

 

sounds like most companies I have worked for 

[TBoneTX 45,570]

Mrs. T-B.'s visiting family members have each had a favorite store to shop at here, but their consistent #2 is Sears.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

 

   The only Sears near me is an awful shopping experience and it has been for some time. Empty shelves, items in the wrong places, unmarked prices, no employees. Kind of reminds me of when I went to the old Salvation Army surplus store. Growing up, we could go to Sears and they had almost everything you could want. It's not hard to understand how they got where they are. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

25 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   The only Sears near me is an awful shopping experience and it has been for some time. Empty shelves, items in the wrong places, unmarked prices, no employees. Kind of reminds me of when I went to the old Salvation Army surplus store. Growing up, we could go to Sears and they had almost everything you could want. It's not hard to understand how they got where they are. 

Reminds me of the last Kmart I went to while I loved in CA. It just looked run down and needed help in organizing the store. My wife only went to Sears twice and she wasn't really impressed. She said it was very expensive compared to stores less than a 2 minute drive away. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

4 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Mrs. T-B.'s visiting family members have each had a favorite store to shop at here, but their consistent #2 is Sears.

Haven’t been to a Sears in years, admittedly.  Last time I went, they still had stocked shelves.  But more and more, I hear stories like SB’s below.

 

3 hours ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   The only Sears near me is an awful shopping experience and it has been for some time. Empty shelves, items in the wrong places, unmarked prices, no employees. Kind of reminds me of when I went to the old Salvation Army surplus store. Growing up, we could go to Sears and they had almost everything you could want. It's not hard to understand how they got where they are. 

Reminds me of Kmart the past 5-10 years...

[TBoneTX 45,570]

The last remaining KMart in Texas is huge, well-stocked, and spotless.

But yes, previous KMarts and Searses (is that the plural?) have resembled what's been described.

Personally, I don't care -- good deals can be found on high-quality stuff.

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

The last remaining KMart in Texas is huge, well-stocked, and spotless.

But yes, previous KMarts and Searses (is that the plural?) have resembled what's been described.

Personally, I don't care -- good deals can be found on high-quality stuff.

There is still a Kmart in Texas?

 

Where is this? I thought Wal Mart ran them out of Texas

 

I was told there was one in Miami when I was there in December, that is the only one I had heard open in the south

[TBoneTX 45,570]

23 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

There is still a Kmart in Texas?  Where is this?

McAllen, of all places.  At least as of late November.

Clerkette had no idea why or how, but she wasn't questioning anything -- glad to have her job.

Said that they did extremely well on Black Friday.

[TBoneTX 45,570]

One can check one's own state here:

https://www.kmart.com/stores.html