Kmart to Acquire Sears in $11 Billion Dea

[Massacure]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=2&u=/ap/20041118/ap_on_bi_ge/kmart_sears_merger

NEW YORK - A resurgent Kmart, home of the blue light special, is buying the once-dominant Sears department store chain in a surprising $11 billion gamble it is counting on to help both better compete with Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers.

Led by Kmart Holding Corp. chairman Edward Lampert, the new Sears Holdings Corp. would be the nation's third largest retailer. Both chains would survive, but several hundred stand-alone Kmarts throughout the country are expected to be transformed into Sears stores. The goal: A quick kick-start to sales away from Sears traditional base of shopping malls.

Lampert and Sears chairman and CEO Alan Lacy, in announcing the deal on Wednesday, promised up to $500 million a year in savings within three years from store conversions, back-office job cuts, more efficient buying of goods and possible store closings.

[Cha]

1. Wonder if they're as avid

fascist supporters as wal-fart?

[metisnation]

3. Domestic Labor

This is good make sure you buy American made craftsman tools. We have to change where manufacturers money from. The industrial complex is raging just look at the new scramjet. If we buy domestic labor stays here and we give treatment to the companies that are hooked on the war.

[jmowreader]

9. Only Craftsman's mechanics' tools are US-made

When you get into the big stuff--table saws and the like--it's hard to find an American-made tool in a big box retailer's price range. Most if not all of it comes from Taiwan. I think--let me look at the data plate on the one we have on the floor to be certain--we're sourcing our biggest table saw from a US plant, which would be strange indeed, that saw is just a little over $500. But the Delta Contractor's Saw is Taiwanese, as is the Powermatic 64, the fold-up Ridgid, and the entire Grizzly and Jet lines. Pretty much any saw that costs less than a thousand dollars is Taiwanese, and any saw that costs more than $3500 is either German or Italian--usually Italian, the woodworking machinery industry is big in Italy.

DeWalt makes its compound mitersaws in the US--specifically, they're made in Fayetteville. A lot of people around here buy nothing but DeWalt because the DeWalt plant employs hundreds of our neighbors. However, one of DW's two tablesaws is Taiwanese. (The other is $1100.)

Sears, Lowe's and HD all sell American-made mechanics' tools; Sears tools are made by the same company that makes Matco, Lowe's are made by Williams (a company which is partially owned by Snap-On) and Home Depot's are Stanleys.

[bahrbearian]

10. Do not tell me Task Force is made in America'

Lowe's and HD, sell tons of Chinesse tools,, But you made me drool when you mentioned DeWalt their miter saws are the Best, We buy tons of DeWalts here too! Acutauly there power tools are pretty good. ( I did burn up a SDS MAX Hammer drill yesterday)

[jmowreader]

12. Task Force is Chinese. Husky is American.

We sell Task Force because many people either don't need to or don't want to spend the money for the good stuff.

This SDS MAX hammer you burned out--was it a Bosch or a DeWalt? If it was a Bosch, you should know it was made in China.

Quick note about Husky: we sell a ladder branded Husky. It's Chinese. We really didn't have a choice in this matter--the Louisville Ladder Company, who used to be our sole ladder vendor after we quit buying Werners, converted their stepladder factory to make extension ladders. I actually like the Chinese ladders better--the bracing is much better on the Chinese ladders than it ever was on the Louisvilles.

Have you seen the Porter-Cable mitersaws? They are really sweet.

[bahrbearian]

14. Sorry about the delay , it was a DeWalt

We've burned up a lot of Bosch SDS's, now you've got me checking out all the Tools to see where they are built,, Are all Bosch tools made in China ? I quess I'll have to go with DeWalt all the way. P.S. I haven't looked at the Porter Cable Saw but I will.

[jmowreader]

16. Bosch tools are all Chinese

And I remember when the Bosch tool factory was in Berlin!

If you want a serious SDS, forget DeWalt and Bosch and go straight to Hilti. It's more expensive, but one Hilti will last about as long as three Bosches.

(SDS is a neat drill chuck system used primarily on masonry drills. The end of the bit that fits the chuck looks a little like a four-leaf clover. You just stick the bit into the SDS chuck and go to work--no tightening necessary. Because the bit locks so nicely into the chuck, it can't slip.)

[laheina]

2. Now I only have to avoid one store, instead of two! :)

[CAcyclist]

4. Kmart is Going To Drag Down Sears

into the miasma of mismanagement and poor product selection that has derailed Kmart. But what do I know? Maybe they will pull it off.

[durablend]

5. We better hope they pull it off...

Or else you know who will claim a "mandate" and jack their prices through the roof once the competition is gone.

$50 detergent anyone?

[ilovenicepeople]

6. I just heard last week that Kmart was filling for bankruptcy?

Now this HMMMMMMM:wtf:

[CAcyclist]

8. Better pull out that old rock

and start learning to pound your clothes then ;)

[Komrade _azul]

7. Martha Stewart meet Craftsman?

Stock for Martha Stewart living jumped 20% as the news was announced today. Instead of being relegated to the ash heap that is Kmart the fashion corporation will now be home in the same store that brought you fine power tools. Trading spaces in one stop shopping.

[jmowreader]

11. We were discussing this at work today

What this does is makes Kmart more like Target, and it puts Wal-Mart at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage. Let me explain.

Target Corporation has two retail thrusts--the discount retailer (Target stores) and the upscale retailer (Dayton Hudson and others). Somehow they've pulled it off without killing each other.

Now you have Kmart buying Sears. This makes it another Target--Kmart stores for discount, Sears for upscale.

Sears has two things going for it: its credit division and its long-held house brands. When you think of good tools, the first thing that comes to mind if you're 90 percent of America is Craftsman. Good appliances? Kenmores are good. (They damn well better be good; they're Whirlpools.) And every kid that grew up in the 1970s knows you can start 15 cars with dead batteries off one DieHard. Plus, Sears is a survivor. They used to have two national competitors who sold full-line merchandise--Montgomery Ward and JCPenney. Penneys is now down to softlines, jewelry, cosmetics and housewares; Wards is back to its beginnings as a mail-order house.

Here's what I think will happen. Take it with a grain of salt.

* Sears is trying to ease its dependence on malls. The article discussed some Kmarts becoming Sears brand. Sears also has a pure hardware play out there. I have the name of it at work and can bring it in here, but if you can imagine the Sears hardware, tool, automotive and lawn & garden departments with no other departments surrounding them--no clothing or appliances, for instance--you see how this play works out. I do not think all Kmarts will become Sears, but the ones that make sense to convert, will.

* Some of Kmart's higher-end merchandise will appear in Sears stores. Specifically, Martha Stewart Everyday.

* Some of Sears' more moderately-priced lines will appear in Kmart stores--Lands' End comes to mind quickly.

* As of now, Kmart has Olan Mills portrait studios in their stores and Sears has their own brand of portrait studio. I expect the Sears studios to become Olan Mills for one reason: economy of scale in processing. Sears' lab will either close or become another Olan Mills lab because Olan Mills buys supplies cheaper than Sears does. Quick note: this is one thing Wal-Mart does worse than Kmart. Think about where Kmart puts their studio. Generally, it's tucked in either along a side wall or in the back wall--where you have to walk past a lot of merchandise to get to it. Sears is the same way, but Wal-Mart puts its little loss-leader stores along the front wall. Hey Bentonville: Kmart didn't put those studios into their stores to sell cheap portraits, they're there because when you're walking back to pick up your kids' pictures you'll remember that you need a new pair of slacks for work and as long as you're right next to the slacks department anyway...

* I think a lot of Sears' and Kmart's hardlines will merge. Auto parts is one. Right now, Kmart sells Penske batteries, Sears sells DieHards. Let's hope you're not planning on shedding any tears over the disappearance of Penske batteries from Kmart stores. Also look for Craftsman boxed-set tools in Kmart--no open stock like Sears is famous for, but certainly socket sets.

* I also expect Kmarts to become more upscale--like a Target, and maybe nicer.

* Plus, you'll be able to return Sears merchandise to Kmart and vice-versa. Right now, the top two questions any retailer gets asked are "where is the restroom" and "can I return this." The importance of being able to return things to multiple locations cannot be overstated.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. My guess...

No way they can compete with Wal-Mart. Get everything on a solid footing, sell off the good brands carefully (Craftsman, some of the K-Mart clothes lines) then liquidate everything else.

[realcountrymusic]

15. Great -- now you can finally return

crappy products

rcm

[Endangered Specie]

17. So they going to call it Sear-Mart?

[Psephos]

18. It's going to be called S-Mart like in Army of Darkness lol n/t

[TommyO]

19. S-Mart was the first thing

that I thought about when I heard about the merger. The progression is really simple. Sears + K-Mart = Sears Mart, shorten it to S-Mart and there you go. It will also mean they only have to change one letter on the K-Mart signs, even more cost-savings!

Truth be told, I don't shop at Wal-Mart for obvious reasons, and the K-Mart near me is depressing, I much prefer Target and Kohls.

[TahitiNut]

21. "Attention, smart shoppers"??

Judging from the drool on the knuckle-lined floor, I doubt it.

[TahitiNut]

20. Two of the worst-managed companies in recent history.

Kresge Corporation is a local joke - inbred, favor-pandering, ass-kissing incompetence engaging in back-biting internal politics. It's a catch basin for people who've out-lived the Peter Principle. Sears, on the other hand, is run by some of the most predatory money-grabbeers in retail history. Their "financial" arm has a usury-heavy attitude and preys on seniors and the poor. While I like their Craftsman line of tools, I try to avoid them otherwise.