Official: Sears at Twelve Oaks Mall is Closing?

[catch22]

The Novi closing leaves Livonia Marketplace as the single mall/shopping center-based location in all of metro Detroit [[Briarwood Ann Arbor could be included . . marginally).

Eddie Lampert had until 4PM this afternoon to line up financing and submit a formal offer to the bankruptcy court. That didn't happen, and his was the only offer--informal or otherwise.

Retail experts are surmising that the creditors will start moving in next week, and the 125 year old retail icon [[along with its 119 year old Detroit-born partner SS Kresge/Kmart) will be forced into liquidation.

Westland's Sears is still open [[and is not on the new closing list).

Briarwood's Sears was on the last batch of announced closings. Not sure of the closing date, but probably real soon now if it hasn't already.

[mtburb]

Westland's Sears is still open [[and is not on the new closing list).

Briarwood's Sears was on the last batch of announced closings. Not sure of the closing date, but probably real soon now if it hasn't already.

Lincoln Park's Sears store, once the busiest of all Sears stores, was too on the last batch of closures.

With the entirety of the rest of that strip mall now torn down, this will leave behind some excellent real estate along Southfield with close proximity to I-75 and I-94.

To be considered though is the parcel's proximity to a more run-down section of the city of Detroit.

[jackie5275]

Lincoln Park's Sears store, once the busiest of all Sears stores, was too on the last batch of closures.

With the entirety of the rest of that strip mall now torn down, this will leave behind some excellent real estate along Southfield with close proximity to I-75 and I-94.

To be considered though is the parcel's proximity to a more run-down section of the city of Detroit.

My kid was taking one of the last driver's ed classes at the Lincoln Park store. His last day was Saturday when the signs showed "Last 8 Days". I think by now it's last 4 or 5. There was a vacant Farmer Jack just next to it on Southfield that was torn down with the rest of the strip mall. Ford is currently using all that vacant area as an inventory storage area.

[catch22]

Here's what the Sears store at Briarwood looked like on New Year's Day. We've traditionally used this store as a pass-through to the mall since it's much easier to park near one of the Sears doors, but this was the last time for that. We saw signs that said "Last 2 Days" and "Last 10 Days." Store was about 80 percent empty space [[see attached). They were selling off all the store fixtures along with the large appliance and mattress floor models. Most of the clothing and hardware stock was already gone.

[abraham]

I'm pretty sure they are all closing.

[313WX]

I'm pretty sure they are all closing.

Sources confirmed yesterday that Sears is preparing for liquidation, as Eddie Lampert's 11th hour bid [[as expected) was rejected.

An official annoucement should occur in the coming days.

[Pat001]

The domestic auto makers would do well to take note of Sears. Just because a company has been in business for 100 years does not guarantee it will remain in business. Twenty years from now there will be a demand for cars and trucks in the U.S., but there’s no guarantee the Big Three will be around to provide those cars and trucks.

[Worldsgreatest]

^ completely irrelevant nonsense

[313WX]

The domestic auto makers would do well to take note of Sears. Just because a company has been in business for 100 years does not guarantee it will remain in business. Twenty years from now there will be a demand for cars and trucks in the U.S., but there’s no guarantee the Big Three will be around to provide those cars and trucks.

Very good point.

[Meddle]

The domestic auto makers would do well to take note of Sears. Just because a company has been in business for 100 years does not guarantee it will remain in business.

There is an awful lot of speculation that it was deliberately tanked by King Eddie. Could that happen to one of the car makers? Is there one that is virtually controlled by one person?

[313WX]

There is an awful lot of speculation that it was deliberately tanked by King Eddie. Could that happen to one of the car makers? Is there one that is virtually controlled by one person?

I'm seeing a lot of parallels with Carly Fiorina [[HP) and Mary Barra.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g...-idUSKCN1MT2QM

FCA is obviously a dead company walking. All it will take is another surge in oil prices to kill them off.

Ford's saving grace is, ironically, the Ford family who are able to stave off activist investors. They also have a bigger economies of scale, unless they start exiting the world like GM has.

[Onthe405]

The domestic auto makers would do well to take note of Sears. Just because a company has been in business for 100 years does not guarantee it will remain in business. Twenty years from now there will be a demand for cars and trucks in the U.S., but there’s no guarantee the Big Three will be around to provide those cars and trucks.

Very good point.

Granted, we are drifting a bit off-topic, but the common thread is that being a stable, long-established company provides no immunity to making bone-headed decisions based on short-term profit and lack of vision.


Speaking strictly for my own consumer preference with regard to the 3 domestic automakers, that ship has already sailed. I have zero interest in purchasing a pickup, crossover, or SUV. For all intents & purposes, they have decided to focus all of their resources on that market.

The few sedan/sport choices they offer are meh and foreign competitors offer a better and/or more economical version of any of their models. It's a repeat of the same blunder they made in the 70s an 00s. Gas is cheap, so build 'em big--cause that what people want.


Here's the caveat with that strategy: since nearly 40% of the US already lives paycheck-to-paycheck, the overall economy cannot handle a sudden spike in gas prices for a sustained period without having some kind of damaging effect. I still contend that this was a rarely discussed factor in the cause of the 2008 economic collapse.

If you recall, during the summer/fall of 2008, gas had peaked at almost $5 a gallon. With so many people already over their heads in new mortgages, spiraling gas prices & car payments were the "straw that broke the camel's back." Almost overnight, the demand for older, used cars [[particularly economical ones) soared and mass transit ridership went up.

[hybridy]

Here's the caveat with that strategy: since nearly 40% of the US already lives paycheck-to-paycheck, the overall economy cannot handle a sudden spike in gas prices for a sustained period without having some kind of damaging effect. I still contend that this was a rarely discussed factor in the caIf you recall, during the summer/fall of 2008, gas had peaked at almost $5 a gallon. With so many people already over their heads in new mortgages, spiraling gas prices & car payments were the "straw that broke the camel's back." Almost overnight, the demand for older, used cars [[particularly economical ones) soared and mass transit ridership went up.

I remember this very well. Gas prices is how the recession hit us directly. I was fresh out of grad school May ‘08, and thankful I had a job. When Lehman Brothers folded that Sept we instantly lost 3 large projects indefinitely; thus 30% of our staff along with the CFO were dismissed the following week. We continued to dump staff over 5 separate rounds through 2011. It was brutal AF. I was riding a ‘07 Grand Prix GXP with LS4 V8 - and $60-70 fill ups were never fun. I ran 89 and suffered the engine pings because premium was way too high. Got a bus pass and took a metro bus from park and ride to work everyday. Had that GXP less than 2 years before I traded it in for a 4-cylinder Equniox and an infant carseat. Alas, my youth was officially over. Brightside...I kept that job all the way through the recession, though for us who survived it all we will always suffer wage stagnation and settle for less knowing we were always on the brink.

[Pat001]

My point wasn’t to hijack the debate about Sears. Just that times change, markets change and lots of companies lose their way and go out of business. Look at a copy of Life Magazine from 1940-1950. Most of the companies that advertised in those old issues are gone and so are the products they were selling.

In 2007 when gas hit $5.00/gallon, people stopped buying pickups and SUVs and went for economy cars.

The Big Three didn’t have much in the way of small cars to offer and they couldn’t make any money on the small cars they were selling. This gave the Asians and Europeans an opportunity to take away market share bc they had small cars to sell and they could make money selling them. The Big Three haven't been the same since.

[mtburb]

Sears is throwing in the towel.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

[catch22]

Sears is throwing in the towel.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/06/sears-rejects-eddie-lamperts-bid-to-save-company-will-liquidate-.html

Well, not quite yet. Lampert has revised his bid as of this morning and Sears is going to ponder it. The circus continues.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chai...urces-say.html

[313WX]

Well, not quite yet. Lampert has revised his bid as of this morning and Sears is going to ponder it. The circus continues.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/chai...urces-say.html

UGH!!! Just let it die already.

[Meddle]

He should be barred from consideration.

Gee, where's Jeffy B and his dream of world domination? A full network of ready made Prime locations!!!

[Lowell]

Looks like Sears is hanging on by the skin of its teeth. Good news for the remaining employees. I hope.

While Lampert's ESL will obtain ownership of the company's 425 remaining locations, ESL President Kunal Kamlani testified Wednesday that about 156 are not performing well. Greg Portell, partner and retail adviser at consultancy A.T. Kearney, said the company probably has about 200 stores that can be successful.