‘Tis the season to be spending inordinate time and money at the local shopping center. Although I avail myself of online options whenever possible, there are just some things you have to step away from the computer and venture into the real world to obtain. I prefer to do this on a weekday, when crowds are light.
And this is how I came to be in a Sears store for the first time since their purchase of my favorite catalog and online retailer, Landsend.
Please keep in mind that although I was not in what anyone would call the very nicest of Sears stores, it was clearly remodeled sometime in the last 5 years. Furthermore, my visit was at 10:30 AM on a weekday morning: not a peak retail sales period, and close enough to the beginning of the day that there should still be evidence of the prior evening’s cleaning and straightening.
The store demonstrated a substantial degree of disarray.
The Landsend store-within-a-store concept is a great idea, but poorly implemented. As executed, it includes several racks of clothing within each section (Mens, Womens, Petites, etc.). Check the signage carefully, or it is hard to tell where the merchandise changes from Landsend to regular Sears inventory. Well, on second thought, maybe it isn’t. There were some very abrupt transitions: all cotton Landsend sweater twinsets next to fake fur trimmed cardigans, for example.
Stock was thin in general, particularly considering that we are in the first half of December. Only 4 of Landsend’s many colors of Mens mock turtleneck were available, and empty spots remained for other colors and sizes. Things looked very picked-over, as well. Folded shirts lay haphazardly on shelves instead of neatly stacked.
Finally, a visit to the Petites section confirmed my theory that I would have to do all my Landsend shopping far away from Sears. One of the things I love about Landsend is the availability of pants — and particularly jeans — in a wide array of inseams. I don’t call myself the ShortWoman for nothing. Although Sears appeared to have an adequate supply of petite jeans in assorted colors, including multiple non-blue hues, all were the 28″ inseam.
That’s like having a plus-size dress shop that only carries size 22.
It is my personal theory that part of Sears’s problem is the fact that a substantial number of managers end up being rotated around the country. The idea is that fresh blood will shake things up, that The New Guy Will Surely Turn This Store Around, that this prevents stores and regions from having a “this is the way we do it around here and to heck with corporate” attitude. In reality, this costs the company money in the form of moving expenses and lost productivity. The New Guy spends 6 months figuring out the market, his employees, and the peculiarities of his particular store, then maybe a year or so actually making things work. If he is lucky, he has staff that know what they are doing, so things run along pretty much as they always have with or without management.
Maybe all of this is part of the reason Wal-Mart, Target, and J.C. Penney have higher P/E ratios than Sears. My experience is part of why Sears is having declining sales at the same stores. Buying placement in a reality show is not going to make everything all better. Nor will placing hip-hop fashions next to Landsend and the existing ecclectic cast of fashion players. Their debatable online success aside, some are calling for radical change at Sears.
This has been my Sears experience. How about you?
Interesting information on this blog, thanks