Sears and K-Mart Merger

[Konaguy]

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=2940

Sears Roebuck and Co., as part of its strategy to expand business beyond malls, has closed on its purchase of 50 stores from Kmart Holding Corp., including one location in Waipahu.

Sears said it paid 30 percent of the $575.9 million purchase price and will pay the rest on taking possession of the stores next spring, including the Kmart store at 94-825 Lumiaina St.

The Waipahu store is expected to undergo renovation and bear the Sears nameplate by the end of next year, said Chris Brathwaite, a spokesman for Sears.

While the company has not determined how many employees will be needed to staff the new store, the company plans to provide Kmart associates an opportunity to be considered for employment with Sears, Brathwaite said.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040929/cgw036_1.html

[adrian]

What will happen to the japanese tourists I see everyday when I walked there?

And will this be the first one story Sears, or what?

KMart had some good products, but some of them were worse than walmart's.

[Miulang]

Look at it this way...you're not losing a KMart, you're gaining a SEARS! And we all know, "Sears has everything!"

On a related and somewhat incestuous front, this past June, KMart announced that it had completed a deal with WM to buy some of their free standing stores. So some neighborhoods won't be losing WM (and all its political problems) but gaining a KMART and Federal felon Martha Stewart!

Miulang :rolleyes:

[Konaguy]

Actually Kmart sold some of their store sites to Home Depot and Sears.
Sears was the one that bought some Wal-Mart and Kmart sites.

It is my understanding as far as I read these free standing stores will be converted into Sears Grand stores. It will have the same stuff Sears has
but in a big box layout.

[Miulang]

Actually Kmart sold some of their store sites to Home Depot and Sears.
Sears was the one that bought some Wal-Mart and Kmart sites.

It is my understanding as far as I read these free standing stores will be converted into Sears Grand stores. It will have the same stuff Sears has
but in a big box layout.
I stand corrected by Aaron. You know what's funny about Sears and its acquisitions from KMart and WM, though? Not too long ago they were in Chapter 11 (as was KMart) and the news today was that WM was planning to buy back something like $10 billion of its shares to keep the value high. I looked at the locations of the 6 WM stores that Sears is buying and they're all in kinda podunk towns, which is exactly where the WM formula has worked so well. I wonder what Sam Walton would think about things today?

Miulang

[Konaguy]

To delve in this further I wonder what Sears
is doing buying soon to be former WM stores
in "podunk" towns. As far as I understand Sears
wants to open these "big box" Sears stores in
upscale communities with people who have lots of money.

[Miulang]

To delve in this further I wonder what Sears
is doing buying soon to be former WM stores
in "podunk" towns. As far as I understand Sears
wants to open these "big box" Sears stores in
upscale communities with people who have lots of money.
I guess the term "podunk" is relative. According to Morningstar, here are the towns/cities that will have new Sears stores (formerly WM):

Wal-Mart Stores
Indiana
4551 University Dr. Evansville-West IN

Nebraska
7904 S 83rd St. La Vista NE

Ohio
9365 Fields Ertel Rd. Cincinnati OH

South Carolina
7501-A Garners Ferry Rd. Columbia SC

Tennessee
393 E. Main St. (Rt 31 E) Hendersonville TN

Illinois
3315 Court St. Pekin IL

I think these may be "bedroom communities" except for Cincinnati and Evansville. I've driven through both Cincinnati and Evansville, and compared to say, Seattle or Honolulu, I would call them up and coming but by no means wealthy.

Miulang

[adrian]

Look at it this way...you're not losing a KMart, you're gaining a SEARS! And we all know, "Sears has everything!"
True, but will it have some of the same products as the one at Pearlridge?

I've always seen sears as a "one stop place for your home", and they do have everything. They could compete with Lowes, Radioshack, some of the retail outlets, and if they still sold music, then they could compete with Borders next door.

[Laakea]

I visited a Sears that wasn't associated with a Mall. Everything on one level is cool. Makes browsing/shopping easier. Reminds me of Kohl's

[craigwatanabe]

Try the Sears in Hilo at the Prince Kuhio Mall. One floor...come to think of it most of Hilo is on one floor! :D

[pzarquon]

You know, I hadn't been tracking this strategy until now. Quite interesting. I was afraid Sears was going to go the way of Woolworth's and JCPenney's, but instead I see a growth strategy and a bit of a new direction.

Obviously, they won't be as cheap as WalMart or KMart, but they'll most certainly be nicer... and I know the surly service and chaotic environment of discount retailers is part of the reason some people don't shop there.

I think Sears still has a niche left to work with. Sure, you can get power tools at Home Depot, and vacuum cleaners at WalMart, and giant TVs at Circuit City... but they've got a good mix of merchandise, and enough of a history and brand identity that people still think to go there for certain things.

I certainly won't miss the KMart. I think I've been inside one of their stores once, and vowed never again.

[helen]

Lihue's Sears is also on one floor too, but I remember right it takes two different locations in the same shopping center, one location which sells clothes is across the mall from the location that sells the applicances.

I would think Sears not having a catalog was signalling the end of era but it is still around.

[craigwatanabe]

. I certainly won't miss the KMart. I think I've been inside one of their stores once, and vowed never again.

Hey let's not stomp on Aaron's turf here. :D

[Albert]

I will be surprised if the Sears at Ala Moana Center survives the opening of the nearby Wal-Mart.

And I won't miss it if it does go ... (unlike the Woolworth's).

[Konaguy]

True, but will it have some of the same products as the one at Pearlridge?


As far as I read these new Sears Grand stores will have the same stuff
as a traditional Sears store. Except the layout will be more of a big
box flavor. Since shopping centers are not being built like they used to
Sears is branching out to increase their revenue.

[Konaguy]

I certainly won't miss the KMart. I think I've been inside one of their stores once, and vowed never again.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad time at Kmart . All I can say is not
every Kmart is like that.

[Konaguy]

Hey let's not stomp on Aaron's turf here. :D


Naw I won't hold it against him. He can always go to Costco and get real
customer service there :)

[craigwatanabe]

Ha ha! das cool braddah Aaron, you da man! :)

[pzarquon]

Sears plans Waikele hybrid (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/05/bz/bz02p.html)
Andrew Gomes, Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 5, 2004
Sears, Roebuck and Co. plans to open a new type of store in Waikele next spring where shoppers will be able to buy a refrigerator and the milk that goes in it. The department store retailer is establishing a chain of stand-alone stores that combine merchandise offerings of a typical mall-based Sears mixed with convenience store and consumable items such as magazines, beauty aids, CDs, juice and frozen pizzas.
So not so much "upscale" as it is a more broader array of offerings. Sears plus 7-11, or Wal-Mart plus Home Depot. Interesting. I don't know how it'll work, though... how people will be able to think "Sears" for anything beyond "clothes, tools, and durable goods." When I want detergent or a frozen pizza, I go to a department store (or CostCo)!

[adrian]

Waikele is adding more businesses lately.

When I went there this week, I saw the new starbucks and Jamba Juice, and there'll be a Gamestop opening there (yay!! Borders, Gamestop and CompUSA: stores that would serve my purpose) *squeals like a schoolgirl*

[Miulang]

Dey wen just go announce dat Sears and KMart going merge. Dey each going keep their own names (not turn into "S-Mart"). The conglomerate going get about 3,400 stores, which should start rivaling WM and Target. It will be the 3rd largest US retailer.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5455954.html?tag=zdnn.alert

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Interesting stuff! From the financial standpoint, it's essentially K-Mart buying Sears (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=21GITGYSIEXKOCRBAEKSF FA?type=businessNews&storyID=6842113). Yet, the end result will be slightly more Sears stores. At first blush it seems the opposite of what was reported here in Hawaii -- K-Marts turning into Sears -- but that will actually happen nationwide, because of "the more well regarded Sears nameplate."

So we knew back in October (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/05/bz/bz02p.html) that was something was up... we just didn't know how big the deal was.

Having a hefty "number three" behind Walmart and Target will definitely change the marketplace. But it will make the absence of Target here in Hawaii even more stark.

[Miulang]

Actually, Home Depot in second in size to WM and SMart is third.

I like shopping at Target. They're funky and fun, and Hawai'i doesn't have any stores! . :)

Miulang

[Mocha]

Has anyone ever figured out why Target has yet to come to our shores? And I asked on the mainland stores why Eddie Bauer closed their one store here and they said they didn't know the reason. Bath & Bodyworks would surely give Body Shop a run for it's money if they opened up here. I always buy B&BW items to give to friends here in HI. I rarely go to K-Mart but do shop at Sears, their quality in their clothingline has improved over the years.

[Miulang]

Sears bought out Lands End a couple of years ago, so that's helping improve the quality of their clothing line. And Martha Stewart's line of bedding and bath towels that are sold at KMart are actually pretty good quality, too.

Miulang

[adrian]

Who first posted this?

Its good to see that things on Hawaiithreads.com popping up now, and we knew of this a few months earlier.

[Konaguy]

What a shocker for me as I was eating my ceareal this morning at around 5am.
I saw on the headline news news ticker about this merger.Anyway I'm
not surprised this transpired as Edward Lampert of ESL Investments is
the majority shareholder in both Sears and Kmart. He made a killing today
on paper.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsear1118,0,2208437.story?coll=ny-business-leadheadlines

Can two struggling, old-line retailers save each other from the onslaught of more successful giant discounters?

That's the idea behind Kmart's $11-billion buyout of Sears, announced Wednesday, which combines two American icons under the Sears name. Both chains will still exist, but executives signaled they plan to use Kmart locations as a platform to expand Sears.

Kmart, on the other hand, will shrink down through those conversions as well as a yet-to-be-determined number of store closings. Ultimately, though no executive would say this, Kmart could even disappear, driven out by brutal competition from Wal-Mart and other discount stores such as Costco and Target.

[Albert]

Probably be gobbled up by Wal-Mart sooner or later, will make it easier for them to grab K-Mart and Sears at the same time.

[Miulang]

Finally, finally, the boards of both KMart and Sears have agreed to the merger (http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/money/4314937/detail.html).

So now Martha Stewart's towels and sheets belong to Sears, which has everything.

Look out WM. #3 is gaining steam.

Miulang