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The Sad, But True, Human Story Behind The Dismantling Of Once Iconic Sears
Submitted by Brian Sozzi of Belus Capital Advisors,
Catching up on emails and came across the one below from a now former Kmart employee. It really tugged at me, and it joined the 1000s of other disturbing emails I have received from former and current Sears and Kmart workers over the past six months. Visiting stores and combing through the financials are one thing, but to hear the human toll of decisions made by executives not engaged with the stores except to pick those that need to close due to their lack of action through the years is something else entirely.
A more complete picture has been formed for me as to what’s REALLY happening inside this once iconic national retailer, and the REAL economic trends (not jacked up government GDP figures and retail sales) on the ground across the U.S. four years post-recession, from reading all of this outreach. Friends, say hello to the REAL economy and the REAL story of a disintegrating, once iconic, national retailer Sears.
Outreach
“Hello Mr. Sozzi,
I am a former employee of Sears Holdings/K-Mart. I live in Streator, Illinois and our store was “liquidated” in early 2013. There are a lot of “ironies” affiliated with our particular store closure that I would like to make you aware of.
First, after yearly inventory in 2012, SHC signed a five-year lease at our location, assuring us employees that we would NOT be included in the list of store closures that were going on at the time. We were told that it would stay open for at least the next 3 years because of this lease. Sadly, that was not the case.
On a final note, I don’t want to hear SHC whining about their 250,000 employees that they clearly care NOTHING about. Ask any one of them to recall the last time they got an EARNED pay raise. At my store, there hadn’t been a raise given in over 6 years.
Simply put, you cannot expect productive employees to thrive on part-time/minimum wage. Top that off with the lack of investment on the store level and one would have to agree with you – they’re shooting themselves in the foot.
You are welcome to visit out Facebook page (Goodbye K-Mart 9804) to get a sense of how this has affected not only the former employees, but our community as a whole. In a city of 13,000, K-Mart was a life line for some of us, since there aren’t many options here. There were employees who had been at that location for 20+ years, and were tossed out like garbage.
As for Eddie Lampert, I hope he enjoys his exclusive island mansion and all of the perks that he’s afforded off the backs of people like me. I just hope I can find another job soon because I’m clearly one of the “little people” in his world that would just like to know my light bill will get paid.”
What Happens When a Kmart Store is Dismantled
Source: Goodbye K-Mart 9804 Facebook Page
Voices of those Impacted
Source: Goodbye K-Mart 9804 Facebook Page
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I hear the Alabama chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is willing to pay top dollar for used Big K signs.
Is the person who wrote this letter secretly Alanis Morrissette? Cuz I'm still trying to decipher the irony.
Me too.
Boo Hoo, I lost my miniumum wage job, so now I can collect unemployment for more at least 18 months. Brings it to over 3 years, as Sears promised.
clearly the downsized guy and the other 250,000 employees should have become broad-shouldered CEO's like Mr Lampert himself.... In fact, EVERY amerikan should be a mansion owning CEO. After all, there is nothing preventing this happy status in the bot strapping land of Horatio Alger and Jamie Dimon except one's own deficiencies....
Dare to dream...BITCHEZ
As a nation, when we made the decision to globalize markets, to import cheaper goods made in other countries, we made the decision to import a lower standard of living as well.
You can’t have one without the other.
What you see here is the standard of living catching up with the goods.
How much you want to bet nearly every one of the folks laid off voted for the politicians who brought the very economic policies that have forced them out of a job?
No tears from Chuck. Chuck Norris never cries.
Fuck Chuck.
When the Chuck Norris goes to sleep at night he checks his closet for Bananamerican.
Chuck Norris mines Bitcoins in his head.
pods
I like how the author of the email mentioned many ironies (that I was expecting to read), listed the first irony, and went to a final note that spanned most of the letter.
edit: the machine doesn't care how long you've faithfully served leviathan in your little role. 20 years at min. wage at a place that doesn't give a shit about you is 20 years at min. wage at a place that doesn't give a shit about you. What, you actually believed that 'everyone is a valued team member' corporate crap?
No irony here, just facts. The Fed's ZIRP+TARP+Stagnant Wages+soaring joblessness+Globalization(flood of low wagers into america and/or moving millions of jobs overseas, [for ex]) extinguished the traditional Middle Class, i.e., those who would shop at Sears, jcp, and so on.
That Sir James Goldsmith interview by Charlie's Rose that cynicalskeptic posted on ZH (it's on Youtube) summed it up way back in 1994.
Goldsmith interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PQrz8F0dBI
Sears was dead more than 20 years ago, and if you stuck around that pig this long, you deserve to go down.....
Call it payback for raping their customers back in the 70's.....
Sears was dead more than 20 years ago, and if you stuck around that pig this long, you deserve to go down.....
Yeah, dumbasses in Streator should've worked for GS instead.CEO Lampert in Skull & Bones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lampert
A Jew in Skull & Bones?
Jewish Freemasonry shadow fraternity.
That Skull & Bones fraternity membership explains destruction of America, which seems to be the entire purpose of their existence.
..just wait until the same story hits Continental, er, United oh whatever, Airlines.
..it is all about financializing and synthesizing the alleged assets.
I agree. Sears lost touch with the post boomer consumer a long time ago thinkinjg we all were still watching Bonanza, Donnie & Marie, Lawrence Welk and wore leisure suits!
Sears could last only as long as the GI Generations was still buying from them.
The new lonelist man in town is the Sears auto mechanic.
They sell tools, what the hell are you people talking about they lost touch? Tools are not fashion accessories.
What really happened is that the EPA crushed everyone's dream of owning a nice car that performs well, and made it excessively hard for anyone to work on their own car. That is what killed Sears, not this lost touch bullshit nonsense.
Oh duh. You still wearing that leisure suit huh?
Sear has always been about the tools first and everything else second. Every grown man should be aware of this. Even you young retards that wouldn't know a impact from an air driver.
Sears tools had the same fate as everywhere else (MAC and Snap on possibly excluded). Cheaper until barely usable. I have two broken ratchets sitting at home. Plastic switch instead of metal.
Pick up any power tool from the last 5 years versus 15-20 years ago. Lighter, and not just from the casing. Barely enough in the windings to do the job.
Craftsman lost it's shine, and then you just have another tool. We used to hammer the shit out of wrenches knowing that if we broke one, we could walk in and get another.
pods
Seriously. Glad I held on to my old tools. My 25 year old Craftsman Torque wrench still works like a champ.
What? They were only trying to keep up with inflation with Hedonics. I blame everyone born after 1953....why? Because you had a chance in 1971 to make a difference and vote all of the vile scum out that closed the gold window. That was probably our only shot.....wishing my great grandparents had revolted in 1913 is another one. Why don't I revolt you ask? I am darn ready (and doing so in my own way). Ready to take up arms if someone will lead........
Most 18 year-olds (male) were in Vietnam in 1971, with M-16s...
Yep. Fighting the communist threat with the lives of our brothers and fathers that our politicians handed our manufacturing infrastructure to without blinking an eye.... we got a panda bear in exchange.
You have a point, but on the other hand, when's the last time you shopped for tools at Sears? That section is going the way of big ticket televisions.
OTOH, I still have my 20 year old Sears Craftsman drill, circular saw, jigsaw, band saw, grinder, blower, mower, pump, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. They never wear out, and if you bust something, they STILL honor their warranty.
I'll be sorry to see Sears go. They used to be a good store with good stuff. It was a FUN place to go for lunch and shopping, like Woodward's in Canada. Lately though, it's just shitty garbage clothes from Bangladesh, shoes from India, etc.
Ba-bye Sears! Don't let the door hitcha on the way out.
I buy almost all of my hand tools from Sears. The Craftsman brand is really good compared to the other garbage you can buy for the same exact price or more.
Unfortunately the warranty doesn't look like it will last much longer, but everyone will notice the drop in quality of tools when Sears is gone. Sears was a serious game changer in tools for a long time.
My FATHER's Sears tools (circa 1960-70) are great. Thin strong sockets and box wrenches that fit where nothing new will. The power tools are heavy metal ones that live forever. Even the table saw I bought 30 years ago is unkillable - nothing new is built like it.
BUT (like damn near everything else) the quality dropped significantly in the last 20 years. Thicker sockets that still break whereas the old ones never did. Can't fit the new wrenches in some spots - they're that much bigger.
With big box home stores like Home Depot and Lowes, Sears got competitors they never had - and as another pointed out - Fed rules ahve made it damn near impossible for shadetree home mechanics. Not many people work on their own cars anymore, almost none under the age of 30. I (closing on 60) can completely build/rebuild a car from anywhere up to the early 70's - after that.......not as easy. Lots of complex electronics.
But even when you WANT to shop at Sears these days... forget it. Had the freezer in my basement die. Needed a replacement - that day. BIG local Sears had nothing in stock. nothing. Got one at a local appliance chain down the road.
Good posts. Glad to know I'm not alone.
Visiting most department stores nowadays is a very depressing experience. Christmas shopping was easy, because there was nothing worth buying.
We're at the point where if you find something really good, you buy 2 or 3 for backup because you don't know if you will ever get another chance!
You're not alone Lore.
Well made tools hardly ever die, most of the time they just get buried under the cheap shit in the bin at the local pawn shops.
(Shhh, our little secret)
another great example of the ironies of collapse. Good tools and the skills that come with them are hard to come by but will soon be vital
"Christmas shopping was easy, because there was nothing worth buying"
Our family went on strike for christmas in protest of nothing worth buying and that it is made elsewhere like pakistan or vietnam. There used to be clothes that I actually would want to buy, not much out there anymore. Ill fitting and poorly made by some 5 cent an hour slave
I took a walk through the local Sears today. It is not the same Sears we know from 25 years ago. About 2/3 of the main floor is Cosmetics, deserted. The remainder is overpriced, badly-made third world clothing, with the recent addition of racks and racks of stale winter inventory down the middle of the aisles with "TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 40% OFF" signs. Going upstairs, the second floor was likewise deserted, with a bunch of shitty styrofoam Christmas decorations marked "90% OFF" a month after Christmas, and tables in other departments filled with shitty old inventory. Hardware has almost dwindled to nothing, downsized, with empty shelves and bored staff standing around the cash register. THERE WERE NO CUSTOMERS.
I DON'T GIVE SEARS MORE THAN SIX MONTHS TO LIVE. I BET THEY GO UNDER BEFORE THE START OF 4TH QUARTER.
Very depressing. Funny thing is, most of the smaller specialty stores in the mall are the same: old, shitty, disgusting inventory at deep discounts, and nobody shopping. The only activity was in the Food Fair.
Ironically, I went to Wal-Mart later, and the aisles were crowded with shoppers. The main cashiers had 7-10 people lined up in each row, and the express line was backed up into the Pharmacy. And man, they rang those people through quickly. SHOPPING CARTS WERE LOADED. PEOPLE APPARENTLY HAVE MONEY TO SPEND, BUT NONE OF THE OTHER RETAILERS CARRY WHAT PEOPLE WANT. They've lost touch with their markets, and deserve to fail.
Tools are a small part of their overall sales and looked at what happened to their Sears Hardware stores.
Still have all my made in america craftsmans wrenches and circular and jig saws from 30 years ago. Still better than any of my newer Bosche made in Germany tools, though those are the only ones I'd consider buying now-a-days. Made is China stuff is really crappy.
@James - thanks for digging up that video. Incredible interview. Goldsmith was SPOT ON!
Skakeboarder, I worked for ALLSTATE in the 70's,80'and 90's. All the ALLSTATE agents were terminated in 2000 but were allowed to convert to contractor status without any benefits. I opted to leave at that time. ALLSTATE was part of SEARS but greed allowed them to spin off and allow one of THEIRS to run it. If you are in the CLUB you get these things in life. If you are not in the club you are just another goyim. So, we have some important life lessons based on being a team player and faithful employee. WATCH your back at all times in the world of business,and yes it was all CORPORATE CRAP.
Respek man. I often find that I learn my lessons the hard way, but I was fortunate enough to opt for small business quite early in my path.
In his office, nobody ever asks for the three-hole-punch. Nobody.
Chuck Norris has a bear rug. It's not dead- it's just afraid to move.
I stole that offa one of y'all, that's how good it is.
Chuck Norris does not do push ups. He's pressing the earth down.
Before the boogie-man goes to sleep, he checks under the bed for Chuck Norris!!
This place is becoming strange.
"He must have voted for....."
Must be hard to be so intellectually superior, yet feel the need to assume an internet meme (aka group think) into your personna while perpetuating the left/right bullshit. Keep up the good work.
Well, the city of Streator is in Illinois, so I agree with the assertion.
Yes, condolences for living in Illinois.
Illinois would be a good place to live if the Chicago and Springfield Democrats did not exist.
People don't vote with their heads, they see D or R and pull the straight ticket. My parents were that way, straight ticket D "cause they are for the little people".
Must be hard to be so intellectually superior, yet feel the need to assume an internet meme (aka group think) into your personna while perpetuating the left/right bullshit. Keep up the good work.
Politicians of both parties have sold out the people. In Streator I'd bet there isn't an option to vote against the interests of k-mart executives (or equivalent enterprises).
R or D doesn't matter.
Confused: You just convicted yourself with that condemnation.
They're all involved in an elaborate scheme based on contrat law & Criminal deceit to Fraud The American People by CONSENT (Black Law's Dictionary) & being an accessory to the deceit & Criminal Fraud by contracting with the Criminal State.
We are "Governed" into a Political, Educational, Religious & Economic UNITED STATES, CORP based on contract law which is based on Criminal Fraud, deceit & illusion.
The Private Corp UNITED STATES, CORP uses the cover of being a functional Government when in reality they are not. Much like the Criminal Federal Reserve uses The "Federal" in their name & use it as cover to give the illusion that they are a branch of the US Government when they are not.
Through bankruptcies, Criminal Contract Fraud & deceit the Charlatans have incrementally incorporated the US as well as your souls (birth cert) which are securitized via the Criminal Federal Reserve through to the IMF.
They're functioning off corporate version of the THE CONSTITUTION. It's the reason why The Global Criminal Oligarch Cabal Bankster Intelligence Crime Syndicate continues to lie, cheat, deceit, rape & pillage with impunity.
The only power the have over you is with CONSENT (Black Law's Dictionary). Pay no Taxes. Peaceful Non-Participation, Non-Compliance & being an accessory into their Criminal system/s based on Criminal Fraud, Debt Bondage & Enslavement.
Yeah right... That too... Sure.. Uh huh..
well the exportation of jobs has been pretty steady for 30+ years so voting for either paty is just more of the same.....right chuck?
Jobs.
Jobs ARE NOT created so that wealthy organisations can channel money to hard up families.
Jobs ARE created so that individuals can contribute to a profit making organisation.
No organisation can give you money unless you can contribute more than you take out. If people expect to take out as much as, or more than, they put in then the organisation cannot exist and neither can the jobs.
Capitalism can only work when everyone accepts that they must contribute more value to their organisation than they take out. Otherwise the organisation and their job will cease to exist.
I will grant you the reasoning behind that statement. Nonetheless, why is it that these "tycoons" must flaunt their wealth at the same time not paying a liveable wage to their "valued" employees. I'm not arguing parity, but common sense so as to not inflame resentment or outright rebellion.
it reminds me of ron johnson's 54 million which he received and proceeded to destroy jcpenney. While RJ took home that gracious sum (and the question remains as to whether it was by design and deliberate destructive policies), his minions at the ground level who saw and felt the train wreckage first hand earned only minimum wage.
Why shouldn't they be ready to use the guillotine?
In the UK after the next general election after Scotland decides to stay and after the UK reluctantly decides to stay with Europe something big is going to emerge.
The government is working on a policy to transfer ownership of most organisations from the capitalist class to the employees.
Now it might fail. It might fail spectacularly but the basic policy is this...
The employees of every organisation will be allowed to form an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT).
This trust is a special kind of legal vehicle;
When people/institutions who own equity/stock in any given corporation,
sell that equity to the EBT,
the transaction will be exempt from capital gains tax (currently circa 30%).
This means that a number of things may happen.
1). An EBT may be able to purchase equity at a discount to the market price. Thus accelerating the transfer of assets.
2). Owners may be encouraged to help employees create EBT's and perhaps even purchase bonds from them, so that the owners can dispose of equity in a tax efficient manner.
3). Employees should be able to accumulate greater control of the organisations they work for.
4). Organisations with good EBT's will attract the best employees and become more competitive.
Obviously you only enjoy the benefits of the EBT whilst you are an employee. If you leave the corporation you no longer qualify as a beneficiary of the trust.
Think about it. There are a number of pitfalls and potential snags, but on the whole the idea is a very powerful one. It is a progressive redistribution of wealth entirely within capitalist values and outwith the sticky fingers of government.
You guys should really have a think about this in the US. It's being debated here at the moment but is a long way from MSM.
Sounds more like the ultimate endgame where insiders stick it to the bagholders before skipping town.
I think people would be happy to see them go.
Sure, so they can literally start all over again with the wealth that was present about 200 years ago rather than what is there now..
Wealth is just the command of labour.
100% of the wealth commands 100% of the labour. The nominal values of either are utterly meaningless.
If you double the wealth it can still only command 100% of the labour.
If you increase the labour force tenfold and add zero new wealth then the same wealth can now command ten times as much labour.
Under the model described previously what would you do with huge accumulated wealth? If EBT's own all the securities then people with wealth would be forced to consume it or watch it eroded by inflation.
It's quite a nuanced scenario.
Uhh, wealth is hard capital that makes life easier. It's the car you drive to work instead of walking, and the computer you use to write papers and produce flowcharts with. It's the clothes you wear to keep you warm in winter and cool in the summer. It is not the command of anyone, which literally means that you say owning slaves is being wealthy.
"wealth is the command of labour" is not my assertion.
It is a quote from some guy... What was his name now...
Erm...
Ah yes... Adam Smith.
And it's from some book he wrote... What was it called again?...
Ah yes... The Wealth of Nations.
You seem to be confusing "capital" with "depreciating assets" neither of which are the same thing as "wealth". Maybe you should read a couple of books before you disagree with Adam Smiths terminology?
Adam Smith was a fucking idiot. What he didn't steal from the Psysiocrats was merely rubbish that anointed the crown as the ruler of the economy by proxy.
I teach this very subject at the University level. I don't think I need to read anything to know what Adam Smith said back then. I do not need to be coy when I see morons repeating something from over 200 years ago as if it were still applicable to todays theories. I would like to think humans have come a little ways in understanding economies since we are not exactly being lorded over by a crown that will have you executed for speaking against it anymore.
Try someone a bit more modern, like Rothbard, or Walter Block.
Sorry Nid, wrong answer. This is just you in denial that you, yourself are in fact a tax/debt/wage slave. It's not your fault you think this way. You were obviously indoctrinated before being allowed to "teach this very subject at University level".
Hate me if you like. It won't change my life one whit.
I think we have something very close called Employee Stock Ownership Plan. While not often used it is available and I think either Avis or Hertz might have this arrangement in place.
An EBT is interesting because the employees don't actually have to purchase the stock themselves. They just get the benefits of ownership by virtue of being an employee. As an employee they become a beneficiary of the collective trust.
This also means employees can vote to choose their own board members.
AND IT MEANS EMPLOYEES PICK THE COMPENSATION COMITTEE FOR EXECUTIVE PAY.
Where does the EBT get the money to buy the stock?
This system was enacted into law in the USA more than 30 years ago...- it is called an ESOP - Employee Stock Ownership Plan - so the UK is "slightly" behind the curve - the documentation in UK is probably word for word (since i assume you use English there) the original US bill - many financings along the way some large - never became as much as people thought it would be - recently tried by Chicago Tribune by Sam Zell notable RE capitalist ... he filed major BK
I lived in Birmingham for 9 months - the most impressive thing i witnessed was not capitalism but were the women on Broad Street were falling down drunk on the side walk in mass every weekend -barfing with massive fat legs - never saw that in NYC in 50 years - the UK is very strange place
i hope it works for you
Maybe they should use the guillotine. Too bad they have been run down to the point of complete servitude. Do you really think minimum wage slaves and welfare reciepients have it in them? I do not disagree that shareholders of JCP should not be pissed. What should they do? Burn down the gorcery store? Where woudl they eat? Similar to Detroit, you can cry and whine and riot as much as you want. Rioting does not put a new car, flat screen, or food into your home.
Don't riot.
Buy the store off the liquidators, get a big bank loan and have a crack of the whip yourself. If it goes to shit you're exactly back where you were anyway. Except you had a go, and even sucker punched a bank.
Precisely--putting hard work into an organization is fine until you notice the raiders who are doing all they can to mine that wealth for their own individual benefit. It's not even about stock holders with these psychos, it is about "how much can I legally embezzle through these various mechanisms?" So if the work force is under-motivated, that is why. Anyone paying attention is righteously pissed off.
You mean like Bain Capital and other "Business Development Companies"?
You mean like Bain Capital and other "Business Development Companies"?
That logic sounds reasonable.
But then again, what do the overpaid executives and useless middle managers who push paper all day contribute beyond their compensation?
Uh oh...questions lead to thinking, thinking leads to pain, pain leads to anger, anger leads to the Dark Side...
If you examine their roles closely, you will find the majority of their time is probably spent dealing with overly complex, redundent, and non-value adding rules and regulations courtesy of various government entities, or requests by other businesses (customers, suppliers, etc) to comply with more government regulations and dictates.
Put another way: "But then again, what do the overpaid GOVERNMENT executives and useless middle managers who push paper all day contribute beyond their compensation?" Fixed it for you.
Typically they contribute compliance with government regulations (i.e. tracking employee hours to prove to 0'bamacare that they were working part-time). Execs...well they play golf with elected officials, and their bundlers.
Oh foo. Execs have to make hard decisions. Here's an example: I worked at one of the first cellphone service providers in Canada. At the time, there were only car-phones - big clunky things that had to be installed in your nice auto. It took experienced and hardworking techs to install the things properly while still making your car look nice. We set up franchised service centres across the country to ensure quality installations and service. Our biggest competitor decided to sell through 'agents' - store fronts that contracted out installs to whoever. But they paid those agents $500 for each customer they signed up, and the agents turned around and rebated a bunch of that to the consumer. Consumers, faced with spending $1,000 for a phone at our stores or $750 at the agents, were choosing the agents.
You're an executive. You've invested a lot of money in the service centre concept. Now you see market share slipping rapidly. What do you do?
Hint: the answer has nothing to do with playing golf with anybody.
When I was a Quality Control Manager fresh out of college, I realized that the only way our plant would survive was with customers that increasingly bought our product because it was the best in the market. We dealt basically in a commodity product, so price was essentially irrelevant. The market set the price and all the suppliers had to essentally sell at the market price. The only thing that differentiated suppliers from the customer's prespective, was quality and service. That's how I developed my own little equation to live by. V = R - E.
Value = Results minus Expectations
No matter what anyone does or produces, if you don't meet the expectations of your customer or your employer, you don't add any value. You only add value if you EXCEED your customer or employer expectations. This is just as relevant today as it was 25 years ago when I discovered it. All the discussions about jobs, wages, costs, investors, etc, all change when you look at the business world from this very simple value perspective that puts the onus on each person to be their best and do their best, not for the sake of themself, but for the sake of others. It served me well in my career helping many other managers and plants. When you look at the junk that America puts out today, whether it is product or service, you realize how far we have fallen and why. Today's world is all about me, not others.
Totally agree with your formula, which is very much like the "equation" story I started telling our sales reps about the same time you came up with yours.
We are independent brokers - middlemen. Everyone wants to get rid of us and somehow think they are going to capture our commissions. We function as part of an equation, and so long as you add value to the equation, you stay in the game. When you are no longer adding value, you will be eliminated from the equation.....simple as Algebra 101, eventually x=y.
@SD - Yup...this is in the same vein as one of my first bosses declared, a couple of decades ago, in a commission-based business.
He said, "don't put your primary focus on your income. Do right by the customers and good income will follow."
Any other overridiculously simplistic comments you want to share?
that's right and CEO's NEVER fail and still walk away with golden parachutes......BTW on what planet can the American economy even be called capitalism?
Wow big slick, surprising comment from you.
In a city of 13,000, K-Mart was a life line for some of us, since there aren’t many options here.
Therein lies the problem, when your only option is being paid to sell slave-made products to people on welfare for the benefit of rich executives who couldn't give two shits about the people of their own country...
+1000, very well put
You're correct. Does the free market only aply to Americans ?
Under certain circumstances.
The concept of free markets only applies to fools.
The kind who would leave their garage doors open, and the house unlocked.
Free Trade, Supply-side & Trickle-down Economics, are all absolutely stupid propositions designed by charlatans to rape, pillage, & plunder the treasure of America.
Disagree all you want, but then ask yourself - am I a fool, or am I a charlatan? I will be happy to have the discussion about any of these subjects, but first, spend some time with the chart porn at this link (probably the best single page I have ever seen for this type info). Then revist the simple wisdom of Forest Gump --- "Stupid is as stupid does."
https://www.google.com/search?q=chart+of+annual+deficits&rlz=1C1CHHZ_enU...
dup
No, well, not exactly. The devaluation of our currency (the Fed's handy work to facilitate our govt. needs) is to blame. Big business and their financial whiz kids saw this occuring. They saw demand dropping for their products/services due to the lack of purchasing power by the average consumer. They HAD to find a way to reduce cost and offer the same value of product. They lobbied heavily to allow for reduced import taxes/tarrifs, etc. Govt. was more than happy to allow this to happen, afterall, they're to blame in the first place.
Problem is, this just is another example of an economic principle that chronically borrows from the future. Increased consumption and increased debt is required to keep it going and that's not happening. There's little to no where to go any more to produce items any cheaper. They've hit a dead end.
So now they are cannibalizing themselves. The big investment stake holders at these mega corporations are slashing pounds of fat in a futile attempt to conserve their earnings. This too is another one of those predictable behaviors that is a short term gain only and will eventually come to an end.
You left out the part where the insiders remove as much equity for themselves as they possibly can, leaving the company even more vulnerable to market forces.
This problem has more to do with K Street than K-Mart.
who made the decisions? you or me? definitely not! we are being sold out and enslaved by an elite who has lost all regard for us and our plights!
torches and pitchfork time is now
the elite is as useless as a 3rd teet. they are parasites. end of story
. This year its Sears and JCP; next year it will be Walmart. One of the posters posted a link to an interview Sir Jimmy Goldsmith did in 1994 with Charlie Rose. He called this disaster 20 years ago in a prescient call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PQrz8F0dBI
He is everything wrong with our society. And our nations elite business schools churn out assholes like him by the thousands. All hoping to ruin others lives to make billions. USA! USA! USA!
"EVERY amerikan should be a mansion owning CEO. After all, there is nothing preventing this"
There is........they're not Jooz.
I don't see Israel as the land of mansion owning CEO's. And aren't they all Jooz?
I just heard that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that guarantees the religious rights of all people, not just Jews, so that can't be true.
(not sure what kind of </ > tag to put here, to be honest)
I hear you, but 20+ years working at K-Mart? WTF? Retail jobs have never been a career. It's always been casual employment and maybe some management that sticks around. These people making careers out of waiting tables and working as baristas are not being realistic, either.
Oh that's right because everyone is supposed to go to college and get an engineering or whatever job instead right? Gotta keep feeding that debt machine called the banks or it all comes crashing down right?
No. What was a temporary retail job in the 70/80's has become a permanent expectation nowadays. Jobs all over are being destroyed not created by the debt machine.
It was only temporary in that it was a way to get into a management position in the 70's and 80's. It was not temporary as in go from one job to the next until you've worked everywhere but learned nothing.
Oh that's right because everyone is supposed to go to college and get an engineering or whatever job instead right? Gotta keep feeding that debt machine called the banks or it all comes crashing down right?
Wrong. Engineers are the principle group preventing our 'societies' from toppling headlong into starvation.
Yes they are especially for people that live in smaller more rural towns where employment options are limited. Just go look at some of the various stats collected through the BLS or other surveys on American worker demographics.
It was the lady or the tiger, Kmart came into being about 6 months before Walmart. He picked the wrong door.
It was the lady or the tiger, Kmart came into being about 6 months before Walmart. He picked the wrong door.
and when people finally begin to realise that the whole point of Sears was to create returns for investors and not jobs for the unemployed the jobs will finally begin to return to the West.
Or the fact that, except for compulsive shopping, brick and mortar stores are becoming more and more obsolete and don't kid yourself those jobs are never coming back until we're as desperate as the slave labor in china and by then it'll all Be .automated
Actually, when that very sentiment became dominant, the stage was set for the downfall.
Edward Telling became Chairman in 1978. In 1981, Sears bought Coldwell Banker & Dean Whitter. In 1985, they introduced the Discover Card.
The torch had been passed from the hands of merchants into the eager arms of the financiers, and the once mighty Sears & Roebuck (formed in 1891) started their roller coaster ride to oblivion. Once the financial masters get control, it is only a matter of time until the host institution dies as the lifeblood is slowly drained.
The Sad, But True, Human Story Behind ....
....... overconsumerism in America. The end.
You have zero clue what unemployment pays.
The last time I visited a Sears, the place was a mess and the employees seemed pretty apathetic. Maybe they are somewhat to bleme for their situation? As for Mr. Lampert, I don't know much about him. But I doubt even the ghost of Steve Jobs could bring Sears back.
He was responding to Sozzi's tweat. Maybe if you were less lazy and pretentious, you would have figued that out on your own... then again, maybe you're just a moron.
I must be an insensitive prick 'cos got a chuckle outta that one!
Yeah, me too. Why all the junks?
Yeah, lookit what you got. This is seriuosly fkd up!
There will be no "little people", only super rich who will escape to armed islands. Our future is pictured on TV by viewing a 3rd world countries where the 10-12 souls are living in 1 room w/o heat, sleeping on 1 dirty mattress and working 15 hours a day in a sweat shop. The parents make extra money by selling your children.
Or we could stop voting for Democrats and Republicans. But I think it is too late--the 3rd world is here now. Not only Mexicans, but Somalis, and I don't even know what else. It's all unraveling because instead of setting the higher standard, the US has instead fallen to 3rd World status.
Those behind the policies made out like bandits. Time to go after them and let them feel the wrath of real people who are suffering real pain and hardship. Why should these crooks have it any better than any crook before them in history who got killed by the proletariat?
Well, at least we won't be French, which is nice.
So when does this come to Walmart?
It's pretty obvious that you haven't been down in the last 30 years or so; which is a good thing. One reason the races get along better down South than in other areas is because we do a pretty good job of keeping the Yankee dumbfucks out.
We'd appreciate your help in keeping it that way.
KKK is entirely FBI operatives these days, if you haven`t
noticed. Stupid racial stupidities always getting junked at ZH was not enough for our international minders, including
the very worst racist gender mainstreaming man and humanity hating bastards that went as far as having members of this site banished.
Sorry Tylers, you had to do this to keep this site open, but
we are all still waiting for an official apology.
Tylers are almost always right, except for when they fail big time. I love you guys, but let me off.
Release Francis Sawyer.
They should use Icelandic hosting companies. There are quite a few. My guess is Iceland does not give a **** unless it was something really vile with images or totally criminal.
Now I don't care who you are, that was funny!
The intenet connects suppliers together, bypassing most middle men. People involved in retail do not actually maufacture the product. They don't deliver it even. The delivery company does. All the store does is temporarily shelter the item at a place where it might be needed. That item could've just as well be stored at the place of origin, or better, not be manufactured in first place, unless there was a proven need to have it made.
Direct communication and direct transaction means that there is no longer a need to make excess products. No need to burn fuel delivering item to places where they might not find a buyer, no fuel spent removing unnecessary waste and no resources expended employing people to run all of these operations. Less wasted energy, less building material, less capital, fuel and time. Those are all of net benefit to everyone.
Sure, the service sector parasites would complain. So many people are used to producing nothing, simply passing items through their hands and earning a reward, they think that it's normal - that consuming without producing anything is perfectly fine.
Well, if you want to live in a house, be prepared to build one, or make something of equal value. If you want to eat an apple, be prepared to grow at least an apple worth of produce. If you offer a service, don't be surprized if someone gives you a service in return instead of an actual product.
You wear a uniform, manage isles and think I should pay for the standard of living you're entitled to? How about I put on a bunny suit, stack some boxes in your garage, wipe the floor and then you have to house and feed me for a month? How about you get the same kind of service from me that I get from you. Oh yeah... and if you don't have a garage, better start building one and filling it with boxes for me to move. I'm entitled, goddamnit!
That will make the strip clubs get real nasty, dudes strippin' n' all.
You have a valid point, but there are some nuances. I prefer to actually see and handle the product for many of my purchases. (I don't buy tomatoes over the interwebs, for example.) If it's a TV, I want to go see the picture, hold the remote in my hand, etc. before I buy. Retail does have a purpose - women's clothing, especially - but I agree with you that the intertubes have reduced or eliminated the need for many retail jobs.
Internet does not displace everything, but it affects most of businesses. It targets inefficiencies existing to poor information access. Primary informaiton carriers suffer first - the media (newspaper, moves, music, political and commercial propaganda), and then all the industries existing to service inefficiencies also vanish.
You highlight issues that gave birth to to the shopping centers. People needed physical access to goods in order to examine them, to know which ones are good and which ones aren't. They also needed experts capable of recommending devices, explaining function and providing repairs/exchanges. Disposable nature of mass produced goods already made most repairmen obsolete, even before the internet came around.
Access to information made it possible for the consumer to do his own research, and most importantly, get feedback and reviews. It became harder to mislead people through advertisement, harder to conceal prices of competitors. It became harder to exploit people.
Ability to try things still exists, but as time progresses, it will be possible to "sense" products in more ways than simply looking at them. Reality augmentation already exists, but it's not a mainstream technique just yet. Eventually, you'll be able to sample just about every aspect of product prior to buying it.
Food retailers will likely stay around for longer than anyone else, because they address a constant and calculatable need that doesn't fluctuate as much as the demand for machine-milled durables.
Food is safe... however it will eventually be served to you out of a vendying machine with virtually no human involvement.
Practically, whatever Japan has - that's where we're headed. High automation, high unemployment, high homelessness, high sucide rates, and if we keep waging wars, fighting to sercure the last remaining drops of the ancient sun, it'll be high radiation.
I don't care who you are. That there is funny.
Good bye KMART and hello FREE BITCOINS! Join and roll for free bitcoins every hour.I don't know how they do it but it beats KMART.
http://freebitco.in/?r=224682
Workers Unite.....LOL.
This makes me think of Paul Simon's An American Tune.
It is sad that our country is coming to this because we have crappy politicians and greedy bankers.
http://youtu.be/j57fvO4C9Mo ...chin up
Banks are greedy for shareholders and employees. What else would they do?
I will give a green arrow for the crap we have for leaders... they are also greedy in a different way.
Don't forget shitty retail chains!
I always think of Supertramp's Crime of the Century.
Greed is good -Gordon Geeko
God money's not looking for the cure.
God money's not concerned with the sick amongst the pure.
God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised.
God money's not one to choose - NIN, Head like a Hole
If I had one guess who is Tyler Durden, I would guess Trent Reznor.
But we don't talk about that kind of thing.
I would like to throw down with Trent. I wonder if the Jack Nicholson version of Peter Murphy is in Fight Club.
http://youtu.be/n8W4tslqVSg
Wait, what was the article about? Something about Sears Roebuck.
Trent before or after steroids?
Because before he would be an easy target. After.......
After. We have similar builds so I think it would be a good match.
The Big K.......KILLER
Great little walk in someone else's shoes. +1 for ZeroHedge...
It appears Mr. Eddie Lampert, current Chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings, is an Ex. Goldman Sachs employee and a Skull and Bones member.
Nothing like parasites to suck the blood out of a company, an economy, a nation.
Forward Kleptoligarchy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lampert
He learned from the best (parasite)
"While there, he worked directly with Robert Rubin."
One does not need much imagination to guess what Francis_Sawyer would have had to say about this situation.
Edward S. "Eddie" Lampert is a jew.
Robert Edward Rubin is a jew.