https://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-sears-total-liquidation-is-among-options-being-weighed-2018-11-28
Lampert, who believes a slimmed-down can emerge from bankruptcy, and Cyrus are expected to make an offer for roughly 500 of Sears’s best-performing stores, the people said.
The company’s advisers, however, have contacted a number of liquidation firms seeking offers to shut down Sears’s stores and sell off the company’s merchandise in case the takeover offer falls apart, the people said.
@jsv My store was not at all different from yours. For several years I watched the bigger, busier stores close around my store, which is stuck in a C mall (which is the lowest grade in mall classification parlance, I think).
This is just my wild guess but I think that the reason why stores like ours are still around is because of the simple fact that they are unmarketable as far as real estate is concerned. Realize that the main reason why Eddie wanted Sears was because of the real estate. The good stores were almost always in prime locations, so they were ripe for the picking, and therein lies the problem as far as Sears' inability to make money is concerned: pretty much all of those good, profitable stores are no longer in service.
Stores like ours are not located in busy, successful malls, shopping centers or commercial districts, so they are pretty much worthless on the market.
You may be wondering why all these unprofitable stores are kept open, despite the drag they are on the company's profitability. Sears Holdings is liable for the property tax and upkeep on all that real estate. It would be better to utilize the real estate (keeping the stores open and get some semblance of a cash flow, even if it's not much) than to let all those stores sit empty and unproductive for years and years.
"... We have not made a profit or hit sale goals in a long time.. I'm confused why we missed the last round of store closures
Our Sears store is also part of the ring fence properties ..."
Because the store closure decisions have not really been based on profitability. Many of the best stores were closed years ago because Eddie or one of his buddies wanted the higher-demand real estate for something else. There's less for Eddie to gain from by selling ring-fenced stores' real estate, since the profits would go to the pension, so many of those are still intact for now.
Eddie owns Seritage and collects the interest payments and rent on Sears stores too, even if the properties are ultimately leased to someone else. It's the real estate he's interested in. Whatever money comes from EBITDA cash flow positive stores that can be sold just happens to be bonus.
I hope people realize that Lampert has NO interest in running a minor retail empire...
What's going on here is that the unsecured creditors want Chapter 7, because the cash to be gotten from a total liquidation will be more than what Eddie will have to pay for the stores. They will be more whole from an immediate liquidation.
Eddie wants to buy the stores so that he can sell the properties and cash out for more than he paid for the stores.
The end game is liquidation one way or the other. It's just a matter of how soon, and who gets to pocket the premium over what Eddie wants to pay.
Well our sears store is on the list of 504 stores left.. We have not made a profit or hit sale goals in a long time.. I'm confused why we missed the last round of store closures
Our Sears store is also part of the ring fence properties that in nov 2017 was on another list.. Stores to be sold and funds go to the pension fun.. The deal with the PBGC
That's always what it was going to come down to if the remaining stores don't get purchased by somebody. There's not a whole lot of interest in owning them besides from Eddie anymore.
So now it's coming down to a total liquidation of all 500 stores and the rest of Sears Holdings if the deal with Cyrus falls through?
Eddie has been pushing for Ch 11 where he and other parties acquire the stores in auction under the current Ch 11 bankruptcy proceedings. It's the unsecured creditors that are pushing for total liqudation in a conversion to Ch 7. Where have YOU been?
Where the hell have YOU been? That's ALWAYS been the endgame
This is the first time I've seen it reported that Sears' bankruptcy advisers are actively soliciting Chapter 7 liquidation bids.
no sh--.