Lampert looks to shake things up at struggling Sears

Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:10PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Management, Sears Holdings (SHLD)

As my colleague Douglas McIntyre pointed out this morning as well, Sears Holdings (NYSE: SHLD) chairman Ed Lampert wants to shake things up at the struggling retailer.

According (subscription required) to the Wall Street Journal, Lampert "plans to reorganize the 121-year-old retailer into several businesses with broad authority to shape their own future."

Lampert will essentially adopt a holding company structure for the company: real estate, brands, operating businesses, online, support, and other.

When naming Lampert the worst CEO of 2007 (although, as Greenberg notes, the sorry distinction of being Sears' official CEO goes to Aylwin Lewis), Herb Greenberg blamed a big part of Sears' problems on capital allocation: "Lampert's mantra has been profits over sales, which makes sense if it works ... So far, for all of Sears, including Kmart, the strategy has failed miserably."

Shifting the corporate structure is probably just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic -- the real problem for Sears as a retailer is its failure to invest and keep up with faster moving competition.

See also Gary Sattler's Get off Eddie Lampert's back already, will ya?

Tags: Lampert, Sears, SHLD

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-19-2008 @ 2:06PM

pgbutchart said...

The Titanic analogy is a lot more appropriate than you may think. Sears is still running under the mistaken impression that a transoceanic cruise is still popular just because it's a cruise while the competition is hitting the hot spots of the Carribean.

Find me a person under the age of 30 that boasts of shopping at Sears or Kmart and I'll show you a social reject. Reorganizing the business side of the corporation without reorganizing the brand image is a waste of time and stockholders investments.

1-19-2008 @ 2:07PM

ptk said...

hmm, if I were a brand manager of craftsman, diehard, or kenmore i think the first move would be auction myself off to the highest bidder - undoubtedly the best way to maximize my value.

then the blindly faithful investors will get what they've clamored for all along...a bunch of empty real estate that no one wants.

1-20-2008 @ 2:33AM

Jim said...

Once upon a time, Sears had other business divisions shaping their own future.........

Allstate

Dean Witter

Coldwell Banker

And one by one..................

They were no longer Sears.

The End.

1-22-2008 @ 2:12AM

thechill said...

i just think that sears should sell for what they are well known for,,,,, craftsman,major appliances, electronics, and garden accessories. leave the clothing line , kitchen small appliances,domestics,etc. to kmart.