Who Shops At Sears Anymore? The End of America’s Great Retailer

Sears (SHLD) reported earnings yesterday and it wasn’t that great.

Is anyone surprised? Who shops at Sears anymore?

Not me. EXCEPT- for the Lands End clothing line.

The company should spin off Lands End.

Otherwise, for clothing, shoes, make-up and the like, I (and my friends) go to Target, JcPenney or speciality retailers like H&M, Forever 21, and Gap.

Heck, I buy more make-up at Walgreens than I do at Sears.

For men, I know that Sears has a great tools division. But is that enough? It doesn’t seem like it to me. From CNBC:

Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert himself said that he didn’t see a near-term turnaround in the consumer economy and admitted that sales were below where the company wanted them to be. The strategy is now about focusing expanding the brands that the company owns and adding more “names” to the product portfolio in order to get people to shop.

We could be watching the end of Sears. But would anyone know it or care?

I remember when Woolworths went under. Woolworths was older than Sears. It used to be in every town across America. But when it went under, it went quietly. Because, frankly, by that point no one was shopping there anymore anyway.

How would you “save” Sears? Is there any way to do so at this point? Even sales don’t bring in the crowds anymore.

Retail moves in cycles. Sears has been a great retail name for many generations. But it looks like that’s about to come to an end.