The Sears Holdings Corporation is an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It is the owner of the retail store brand Sears and Kmart, and was established after the latter bought the first one in 2005. Sears Holdings also owns Kenmore and DieHard brands. Craftsman's sales to Stanley Black and Decker took place in March 2017. Sears retained the right to sell the Craftsman tool for 15 years from the date of sale through the purchase of a tool from their established supplier. On May 5, 2018, Sears Holdings operated 894 retail locations under the mastheads of Sears (506 full lines and 23 specialty stores, 529 locations total) and Kmart (365 locations), although after the closing round was announced on May 31, to about 820. By 2015, it is the 20th largest retailer in the United States.
Video Sears Holdings
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On November 17, 2004, the management of Kmart Holding Corporation announced its intention to buy Sears, Roebuck and Co under the new company. Kmart has previously emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6, 2003. The new company is known as Sears Holdings Corporation, known as Sears Holdings. The new company announced it will continue to operate stores under the brands of Sears and Kmart. The merger of Kmart and Sears closed on March 24, 2005, following the votes of affirmative shareholders of both companies. The result of the merger was Kmart and the parent Kmart Holding Corporation and Sears became a subsidiary of the new Sears Holdings Corporation. Sears Holdings now operates the Sears and Kmart stores. The Company continues to market products with brands owned by both companies.
The two companies cite several reasons for combining forces:
- Sears started investing in new stores outside the mall, called Sears Grand . At the beginning of the year, Sears has bought dozens of Super Kmart locations at this time; mergers allow joint companies to accelerate the process.
- Exclusive brands owned by both companies can be made more accessible to their demographic targets by utilizing their combined real estate holdings. This is estimated to be $ 200 million per year in revenue synergy.
- At least $ 300 million per year of cost savings is expected each year, especially in the supply chain and in administrative costs.
- The establishment of a corporate-focused corporate culture between the two companies is estimated to result in an increase in revenue per unit area.
- The preservation of the two brands after the merger is intended to enable Sears Holdings to continue to focus on the demographics of different customers, without alienating any of the groups.
The company is directed by a board of directors consisting of members from two companies: seven members of the Kmart board, and three from Sears. Shareholders at Kmart Holding Corporation receive one share in the new company. Sears, Roebuck and the Company's shares were converted into a combination of 55 percent of shares and 45 percent of cash (at $ 50 per share). Shareholders have the option of receiving shares or cash, in accordance with predetermined ratios.
The merger was completed on March 24, 2005, after receiving regulatory approval from the government and approval by the shareholders of both companies.
2000s
Sears Holdings continues to operate stores under Sears and Kmart mastheads. In 2005, Sears introduced a new store format called Sears Essentials. As part of this new store format, Kmart stores are converted into Sears Essentials, as well as multiple locations gained from Walmart and some of the discount retailers that go bankrupt. The new store format combines the concept of the Sears store with the Kmart format, which is intended to help companies compete more with Walmart and Target. The project has resigned, and merged with the Sears Grand concept.
Sears Holdings has started cross selling between its two brands. For example, the Craftsman tool is now available in Kmart stores; they were previously exclusive to the Sears brand. However, the color of the Martha Stewart brand paint was stopped in Sears.
Sears Holdings owns 51 percent of Sears Canada, a large department store chain in Canada similar to a US store. At one point owned as many as 92% of Canadian companies, but failed in 2006 to buy the rest of Sears Canada that was not owned because Bill Ackman took a 17.3% stake in it and prevented the takeover. He accepted to sell his stake for $ 30 per share on April 23, 2010.
Sears Holdings also owns 20 percent of Mexico Sears; Carlos Slim has another 80 percent. Like the Target store, Wartfrey's Kmart brand in Australia (which acquired the former owner of Coles Group in 2007); Wesfarmers also holds the right to the Kmart brand in New Zealand.
In 2005, Sears Holdings sold shares in the hardware chain of Orchard Supply Hardware to private equity firm Ares Management. On December 14, 2011, Sears Holdings announced that it will cut its remaining holdings in Orchard Supply to effective shareholders December 30, 2011.
In November 2006, speculation rolled out when The Chicago Sun Times reported that Sears might buy Safeway, Home Depot, Gap, BJ's Wholesale Club, Radio Shack, Pep Boys, and Anheuser-Busch. The Washington Post , in a March 11, 2007 article, describes Sears currently as a hedge fund with money transferred from maintenance and store improvements to non-retail financial investments. A former executive was quoted as saying the company faces an "uncertain future". Surprisingly, one-third of pre-tax revenues in the third quarter of 2006, according to The Washington Post, was due to financial trading and not retail business. However, these investments performed poorly in the fourth quarter.
In 2007, the company placed three major brands in KCD IP , "a separate, wholly owned, bankruptcy-isolated subsidiary". KCD stands for three brands: Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard. KCD IP then issued $ 1.8 billion of bonds sold to a Sears-based insurance subsidiary based in Bermuda. Sears will thus pay KCD for the trademark use of three brands.
On December 14, 2007, the company filed a draft merger agreement to purchase Hardware Recovery of $ 6.75 per share. Sears already owns 13.7 percent of the company's shares. The offer was withdrawn after the Restoration shares plummeted and the competitive bid from private equity firm Catterton Partners was lowered to $ 4.50 a share. On February 28, Sears Holdings bid $ 4.55 per share.
In June 2008, Sears launched Servicelive.com, which is intended to connect Sears customers with local contractors for home improvement projects. The site charges 10 percent of the contract price for each completed service, and offers more than 40,000 contractors. Servicelive.com was redesigned in March 2010. In 2010, Dennis Stemmle was appointed president of the division.
2010s
On February 22, 2010, Sears Automotive's business launched a new Independent Sears Auto Center franchise program that offers car dealers the opportunity to operate licensed Sears Auto Centers, with first dealerships in New Jersey. The company has faced a consistent decline since the merger of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corp. in 2005, the first year of results for the merged companies. Whether revenue fell 84 percent from $ 858 million, or $ 6.17 per share diluted from 2005 to 2011. Eddie Lampert has held the title of chairman Sears Holdings during the period of decline. The first quarter of 2011 did not look any better, with the company posting a net loss of $ 170 million, or $ 1.58 per share, for the quarter ended April 30. Some industry analysts feel the crux of the problem is "penny pinching" Eddie Lampert "cost savings by hampering investments into stores.Instead the company has bought back shares and increased its presence online.
The company closed a number of stores between 2011 and 2013. On December 27, 2011, after a bad holiday sale, the company announced 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart will close. On February 23, 2012, Sears Holdings Corp. announced the closing of nine stores "The Great Indoors". On December 6, 2013 Sears Holding Corp. announced that it would stop the Lands' End catalog business as a separate company by distributing shares to retailers. Shares of Lands' End began trading on NASDAQ on April 7, 2014. In 2015, it was reported that Sears Holdings plans to overhaul its 235 properties into a new REIT called Seritage Growth Properties, with a property package backed by a $ 925 million loan from JP Morgan Chase Bank. 235 properties, mainly Sears and Kmart locations spread across the country and Puerto Rico, totaled 37.1 million square feet of space. The department store strategy that changed their real estate ownership into REIT has been well used in today's commercial real estate environment.
In May 2016, Sears Holdings announced that they are looking for strategic alternatives to their home brand to increase their revenue, including expanding their presence beyond Sears and Kmart. The submission states that "by evaluating potential partnerships or other transactions that can expand our brand distribution and service offerings, we can position both businesses to achieve greater success."
By the end of 2016 and early 2017, significant steps were taken by Edward Lampert, president, chief executive officer and shareholder of Sears Holding Corp. Lampert, with an estimated personal assets of $ 2 billion, also the founder and manager of ESL Investments Inc. hedge funds. He granted an additional $ 500 million loan to the company and said it would give Sears a letter of credit for an additional amount, reported to be $ 200 million and likely to increase by half a billion dollars in the future. During this period, the company announced it would close 150 stores (109 Kmart and 41 Sears outlets), in an effort to reduce losses after a 12 to 13 percent sales drop during the holiday shopping season and the largest quarterly loss since 2013. On January 9, 2017, Sears announced that they have reached an agreement to sell the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker for $ 900 million, plus royalties on the sale of the new Craftsman for a 15-year period. During this period, Sears will continue to sell royalty-free Craftsman products under license agreements.
As part of its efforts to expand the brand, Sears launched a pilot location in San Antonio for the DieHard branded car service franchise, Car SeeHard Center driven by Sears Auto . The brand is intended to operate as a standalone version of the Sears Auto Center location attached to the Sears department store; the location is chosen because it is near the Sears location that has been closed. In December 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sears Holdings Corp. has not paid for national television advertising since late November 2017, both for Kmart and Sears, but relying on online marketing.
On January 4, 2018, Sears Holdings announced it would close 103 unfavorable Kmart and Sears stores, after 24 quarterly sales declined. These stores will be closed in April 2018, leaving Sears Holdings with 555 stores. According to an op-ed in MSN money, at this rate, Sears along with Kmart's brother company have a very high chance of disappearing and going to death by 2018 , and that 2017 will mark its last holiday season as an independent brand.
On January 14, 2018, their Canadian unit, Sears Canada, stopped operations with all stores closed.
The company sponsors, through Sears Auto Centers, Formula Drift car Darren McNamara Sears/Falken Saturn Sky. It sponsors the NASCAR Truck Series, using the Craftsman brand as title sponsor, from the start of the series' on the NASCAR SuperTruck Series 1995 presented by Craftsman to the 2008 season, when the agreement expires. The craftsman tool remains the official tool of NASCAR. The company sponsors the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television series. It is sponsored and currently has the naming rights to the Sears Center, a family entertainment center, sports and multi-purpose sports area of ââ11,000 seats, built in 2006 and located at Hoffman Estates. The company also sponsored the PBS TV series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, under the name of The Sears-Roebuck Foundation from its inaugural show in 1968 to 1992. It sponsors the # 10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports car from Scott Riggs for September 2, 2007 , running Sharp AQUOS 500 at California Speedway through the Sears Auto Center branch. However, Riggs failed to qualify for the event. In 2016, Craftsman became the main sponsor of the World Racing Group, the World of Outlaws Sprint car racing series.
Diversity
- The Company received a 100% rating on the 2012 Corporate Equality Index issued by the Human Rights Campaign, for the seventh consecutive year.
- It was named one of the 100 Best Mother Works Companies in 2004 by the Working Mothers magazine.
- The company was named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality published by the Human Rights Campaign, for 2009.
Maps Sears Holdings
See also
- Sears
- Kmart
- Kmart Australia
- Sears Canada - an inactive Canadian unit
- Sears (Mexico)
- In Things from Sears Holdings Management Corporation
References
Further reading
- Katz, Donald R. (1987)
Viking Press (New York City) - Martinez, Arthur C. (2001) Difficult Paths to the Softer Side: Lessons from the Sears Transform The Crown Business (New York City)
- Stevenson, Katherin Cole, and Jandl, H. Ward, (1995) Home By Mail: The Homepage of Sears, Roebuck and Company John Wiley & Boys; Hoboken, New Jersey
- Turner, Marcia L. (2003) Four Pairs of Deadly Sins - How Unable to Create American Icons John Wiley & amp; Boys; Hoboken, New Jersey
External links
- Official website,
- sears.com, Sears official website
- kmart.com, Kmart's official website
- searshomeservices.com, Sears Home Services official website
- searspartsdirect.com, Sears PartsDirect's official website
- Company presentation on merge
- The CNN Money article announces the incorporation of Kmart-Sears
Source of the article : Wikipedia