Sears was founded in 1892. At that time it was known as Sears, Roebuck which included the names of its two founders. One of its earliest successes was in the mail order catalog business. However, over time it built so many stores that it was the largest retailer in America in the late 1980s.
Sears became part of a larger retailer in 2005 when it was essentially merged with KMart. It began a downhill slide shortly thereafter and filed for bankruptcy in 2018. At that point, only 223 Sears locations were left.
What happened to Sears? One theory is that it did not move into the big box, discount retailer business. That means it was overwhelmed by Walmart, Target, and Costco. It let its stores get old because management refused to invest in upgrades. Perhaps the most important reason was the Sears was battered by the tremendous move to e-commerce led by Amazon, which is now the second-largest company in America based on revenue–just behind Walmart.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic closed a number of retail outlets temporarily. Retail companies needed strong balance sheets to make it through this storm. Sears did not have one. Sears had also lost the operating efficiencies that come with operating thousands of locations.
As the holidays start, the question has come up about whether Sears will completely disappear by early next year. To make it, holiday sales will have to be unusually brisk.
Brostocks recently ran an analysis of Sears’ propects. Its authors wrote that there were only 27 Sears stores still open as of November 30, and one was slated to be closed soon.
This is the list of Sears remaining locations:
Alaska:
Anchorage
California:
Burbank
Concord
Stockton
Whittier
Colorado:
Fort Collins
Florida:
Fort Lauderdale
Miami – Coral Gables
Orlando
Palm Beach Gardens
Hawaii:
Honolulu
Kansas:
Overland Park
Louisiana:
Lafayette
Maryland:
Frederick
Massachusetts:
Braintree
New Jersey:
Jersey City
New York:
Newburgh
North Carolina::
Greensboro
Pennsylvania
Camp Hill
Willow Grove
Puerto Rico:
Naranjito
San Juan
Texas:
El Paso
Pharr
Washington:
Tukwila
Union Gap
Click here to read This Retailer Is Adding The Most People For The Holidays
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