Sears and Kmart merging...

[Neo]

If I had to pick one over the other I'd pick Sears, Kmart is just the nastiest retailer I've ever had experience with, maybe aside from Big Lots. I didn't even know that either company was in talks over merging, but it seems as though they're going to go for it. See the following link for details on the merger.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/17/news/fortu...dex.htm?cnn=yes

The article says the new company will be headquartered in suburban Chicago, where Sears is now headquartered. Both companies will still run under their current names. I'm guessing this means no move to Atlanta for Kmart and that they'll be pulling out from Detroit.

[monsoon]

[M. Brown]

Kmart, Sears Merge To Create Nation's 3rd Largest Retailer

CHICAGO -- Kmart and Sears, Roebuck have agreed to merge in a deal that will create the nation's third largest retailer.

The new company, named Sears Holdings Corp., will have more than 2,200 full-line and off-mall stores, and 1,100 specialty retail stores with approximately $55 billion in annual revenue.

The Sears and Kmart businesses will continue to operate separately under their respective brand names.

The agreement was approved unanimously by both firms' boards. Under the terms, Kmart shareholders will receive one share of new Sears Holdings common stock for each Kmart share.

Sears shareholders will have the right to choose $50 cash or a-half share of Sears Holdings -- valued at $50.61 -- for each Sears share.

The current value of the transaction to Sears shareholders is approximately $11 billion.

[Matthew]

They need to clean up and rename the K-mart stores to "Kress", their original name. It sounds more upscale. Hire professional designers and marketers to move up the new Kress and Co., name to the same level as Target. I think Sears could do that and shed a negative brand image. Store openings in large markets could have old photos of that city's old downtown Kress store. One huge ad campaign to kick off the changes and then the usual sale/reinforcement advertising they always run.

I'm guessing a few years from now Sears will be a strip mall store and they will rename all K-marts to Sears. The new strip mall sears will focus on what their strengths are (like Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances) and drop their weakest items, like clothing. That is just my guess at what the future may hold for this merged company. This gives them strip mall and box locations they can convert. It saves them the trouble of finding the best sites, building new boxes or signing leases at strip malls. They will already have good locations.

[MathNerd05]

Know how Wal-Mart beat them both? Logistics, among others. When Wal-Mart was originally looking into shipping goods the company they were using pissed old Sam off. They pissed him off so badly that Wal-Mart bought its own fleet of semis to handle transportation. Other companies have since followed suit, but Wal-Mart was the first to do it. This, initially, was why Wal-Mart had lower prices than everyone else.

[Brickell]

That's a good point Nerd. Low cost retailling is all about logistics and purchasing power now a days. This really boosts their purchasing power and control of suppliers. Does that mean we'll see even more manufacturing go to china?

One of the stories mentioned sears plus type store with groceries and convenience items. A combined brand might not that be far off. However, I like the idea of sears upgrading the outlets and putting tools and such in the kmart box stores.

[thumper]

Walmart also beat them by hiring senior citizens and providing very good service in comparison. Sears & Kmart had little regard for customer service.

[Neo]

I can't stand Wal-Mart. They sell cheap crap IMO and I wouldn't fight the traffic and crowds for any "priveledge" to buy my things at a Wal-Mart. Sears and K-Mart failed because places like Target figured out that they could keep up with trends and keep customers. Sears and K-Mart both look and feel like a store from the 70's and 80's so I'll pass on spending any amount of my time in either of those stores. Wal-Mart is just repulsive as they could care less about the consumer IMO. They build wherever they want to and will even lose money to shut down a nearby competitor. They ruin traffic and encourage sprawl. If I have my pick, Target is definately my bag. Sears and K-Mart should take a hint.

Have you ever thought about how they sell a lot of Martha Stuart items...yet I bet Martha Stuart herself wouldn't be caught dead in a K-Mart. If they could just renovate their image and get some outside of prison labor to design their products I think they may create a fighting chance.

[Spartan]

I like that idea about renaming Kmart back to Kress. I didn't realize that was its old name. I think that K-mart's problem is that its stores are crappy. All of the ones that I am familiar with have these dilapidated parking lots, and really grungy insides- more so than Walkmart, which generally has better maintained facilities. It also seems like I can't always find quite what I want in there.

Around here, I can usually get what I need by going to several other stores, rather than Kmart. I'm not always a fan of the one-stop shopping center.

Also, a new Target just opened down the road, so i'll likely go there from now on.

[MathNerd05]

I really like Target, also. Except they lost points in my book when they started the Target supercenters. In Memphis there is a spot where a SuperTarget is right next to a SuperWal-Mart. They share the same parking lot! I understand the economics of it all, like gas stations all building near one another, but it looks ridiculous!

[Neo]

I really like Target, also. Except they lost points in my book when they started the Target supercenters. In Memphis there is a spot where a SuperTarget is right next to a SuperWal-Mart. They share the same parking lot! I understand the economics of it all, like gas stations all building near one another, but it looks ridiculous!

In Chicago and other cities of great size you'll have a Starbucks literally across the street from a Starbucks, LOL!

[MathNerd05]

I've hard of this phenomenon. Although the funniest thing (to me) in Chicago was the Dunkin Donuts across the street from the Dunkin Donuts. Now, Krispy Kreme, that I can understand. But Dunkin Donuts? They're not even all that good!

[Allan]

Practically the entire paper today was devoted to the merger. This is symbolic because it is the last national retailer headquatered in Michigan. The other major retailer headquarter here was Hudson's, until they were purchased by Target and the headquarters moved to Minneapolis. Meijers is headquarted here, but I believe they only have stores in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.

Detroit had high hopes of landing the company and having them build a new headquarters in the Campus Martius redevelopment. It would've been cool to see them return to their roots...just a couple of blocks from where the company originally started. I was hoping they could change the name back to Kresge's, but that's not going to happen either.

S.S. Kresge Co., shown here in 1940, changed its name to Kmart Corp. in 1977 to reflect that sales at Kmart stores accounted for 94.5 percent of domestic sales in 1976.

The first Kresge store, opened in 1899 on Woodward Avenue, is shown in 1939. S.S. Kresge Co. opened its first Kmart discount department store in 1962.

Kmart history

A look at the history of Kmart Holding Corp., which on Wednesday announced it was combining with Sears, Roebuck and Co.:

[MathNerd05]

Minneapolis seems to be the headquarters for many companies. Is this true?