As usual, there are some new plans in the works at Sears Holdings. And as usual, the retailer reported another disappointing quarter with sales and earnings dips.
At least some things in life are consistent.
What's new on tap at Sears, according to the retailer's new CEO Louis D'Ambrosio, is a focus on the company as a "group of assets" that includes brands such Kenmore, Craftsman and others. The company will also focus less on apparel and let other operators lease space in their stores to concentrate on those items.
We're assuming that the leasing of Sears space is what interests most retail real estate people in the company right now. Forever 21 is in its apparel department in select stores, and it has even given some space to Whole Foods. All of this is interesting, but it seems uncertain how it will impact sales.
Will a focus like this save the retailer in the longer term, or as one analyst told the Wall Street Journal, is Sears "a ship that's been taking on water and maybe the pumps now are giving out?"
Either way, Sears will be attending the ICSC RECon event later this month. We'll be intersted to see the kind of traffic its booth gets.
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