09.19.2017 08:49 AM

The battle to save Sears Canada

We’ve worked for Sears Canada in the past, so this reported effort by Brandon Stranzl to save the company – and the jobs and pensions of several thousand Canadians – is of more than passing interest to me.  The fact that Stranzl gave all of his retention bonus (some $300,000) to pensioners suggests that this guy has his priorities straight, too.

On a bad news day for retail, hats off to the folks who are working to reverse the trend.  Worth supporting.

Screen Shot 2017-09-19 at 9.41.41 AM

6 Comments

  1. Russ says:

    I was amazed and dissapointed at how Sears totally missed the shift to on-line retailing. They had the infrastucture from warehouses to outlets in very smail / large town in the country. All they had to do was put the catalogue on-line.

  2. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    What about not paid severance for those laid off? Unless that’s covered by the hardship fund, lots and lots will just keep a walking…

  3. PJH says:

    I’ll be very sad if they go under…..I’ve bought many large appliances from Sears over the years…..other places were cheaper…..but good luck to you if anything went wrong with it….on warranty or off….Sears serviced what they sold, and their techs were always top notch…..but these days, for a lot of people…..I guess the bottom line is all that counts……

  4. Tom Sansone says:

    Still reeling over Zellers, and now Sears…land worth more than business?

    Emerge with Xellers concept, selected outlets for higher end Sears, and venture in with a leading grocers.

  5. Charlie says:

    As a person with very close family effected by the layoff, here are my thoughts:

    Any attempt to save Sears at this point is too little too late. Sears Canada survived on the business of small, local communities with populations who did not shop online. Sears attempted to make a pivot towards modernization but neglected the one factor that had set themselves apart, which was service. Bit by bit, Sears was determined to trim off the working components of its business to chase what had never even been a feature of their appeal.

    I can appreciate Stranzl’s attempt here to jump in, but it achieves nothing in the way of saving Sears for its inevitable and quickly approaching demise.

    The brand health of Sears is sullied; there is no confidence in buying from a place that treats it’s current and former employees as callously as one would stereotypically expect a corporation to do. There is irreparable damage to the public’s perception of Sears and its ability to sell products and honour warranties.

    Sears doesn’t have a place in the marketplace if it can no longer serve its reliable customer base.

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