...Byanca Christopher Business 4/20/2015 Sears Holdings Corporation There have been many large chain retailers to grace the United States, but Sears (or Sears, Roebuck and Co.) has been a staple for as long as many people can remember. Sears was once the largest retailer in the United States and is still one of the largest today. In recent years the retail giant has seen a major decline in revenue and stores have been closing across the country. However, Sears is not completely out of options or business and has a formula to continue its longevity. Sears, Roebuck and Co. is still one of the most recognized names in retail and has shown to be adaptable to the changing business environment. The Sears, Roebuck and Co. was founded in 1886 by Alvah Curtis Roebuck and Richard Warren Sears. Sears started his career as a railway agent. He began selling watches after a shipment of watches were unwanted by the receiver (Weil 20). After selling watches for a while Sears moved to Chicago and hired Roebuck who was working as a watchmaker at the time. The company became known as Sears, Roebuck and Co. In 1888 the first catalog was produced offering watches and jewelry (A Brief Chronology of Sears ln.1) There catalog enabled the duo to offer fixed prices to farmers for a larger variety of items rather than base the prices on the creditworthiness of the customer. The business’ growth was stratospheric and they quickly became a household name (Weil 22). This was not the end; the catalogs began...
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...Case Study I: Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Chao Han Junliang Shi Zhongyi Hu 2/25/2015 Azusa Pacific University Case Study I: Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are the two big retail companies in U.S. Although Wal-Mart was acknowledged powerhouse of the U.S. retailing industry, Sears’ ROE exceeded Wal-Mart’s 2%, which can show that this firm was the true powerhouse. Therefore, Don Edwards, an analyst with a prestigious investment bank. He compared two financial performances of these two companies and he wanted to figure out which company performed better in different areas. Sears, Roebuck and Co. was founded in 1891. It started originally with a sole catalog business and then expanded into retail stores in 1924. Its stores were primarily located in shopping malls, including a large variety of merchandise. Sears has become the world’s largest retailer in terms of annual sales. By the early 1980s, Sears faced increased competition and declining market share. In 1992, The CEO of Sears, Arther C. Martinez has carried out three methods to improve profitability. The first was to cut costs. The second was to re-oriented the product mix in which the target audience was set to be middle-class female shoppers. The third was to offer customers more flexibility through the use of the company’s proprietary credit...
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...[pic]University of Illinois at Chicago College of Business Administration Department of Information & Decision Sciences [pic] IDS 578 Research Methodology II Instructor Stanley L. Sclove [pic] The Sears, Roebuck Case These notes Copyright © 2005 Stanley Louis Sclove [pic] HyperTable of Contents 0. Introduction; Key Terms 1. What is Structural Equation Modeling? 2. A Simple Example of SEM 3. The Role of Theory in Structural Equation Modeling 4. Developing A Modeling Strategy 5. Estimating a Path Model with Structural Equation Modeling References [pic] 0. Introduction; Key Terms Preview In this course we consider Structural Equation Models. This note anticipates much material which will be discussed in more detail in the course or in the text (Schumacker and Lomax 2004). The note is based on a Harvard case, together with an example from Hair et al. and some introductory material. Key Terms The diagrams used in SEM are called path diagrams. The response variables are endogenous; the explanatory variables, exogenous. The modeling proceeds in terms of concepts, represented by constructs, measured by variables called indicators of the constructs. The model relating the indicators to the constructs is called the measurement model. The model relating the constructs to one another is called the structural model. [pic] 1. What is Structural Equation Modeling? Structural equation...
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...Sears, Roebuck & Co G5 Investment Group Matt Nutsch Renis Kacani Melody Seely Ashley Green Wiley Eagle . G5 Investment Group December 4, 2004 Retail – Broadline Buy Stock Data Price (52 weeks) Symbol/Exchange Beta Fully Diluted Shrs Average Daily Vol Current market cap Book Value / Share Current ratio $31.21 - $55.90 S / NYSE 1.3 230.4 million 5,028,000 shrs 10.82B $28.3 1.32 Valuation (per share) Current Price Comparables DCF Analysis Residual Income DD Analysis Abnormal Earnings $34.78 $36.60 $36.94 $38.38 $27.97 $46.49 Summary Financials (in millions) for 2004 Revenue Earnings $36.6 billion $550 million 1 Executive Summary Sears is following a differentiated approach in a competitive industry. Consequently, Sears has lagged behind other broadline retailers such as K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart. Should Sears adjust its marketing approach, it would have great potential for success. Growth prospects for Sears include continuation and growth of sales and expansion. The development of subsidiary brands such as Lands’ End and the acquiring of 61 of-mall stores from K-Mart and Wal-Mart. of new stores abroad will fuel this growth. Financing the acquisitions should not be overly burdensome for Sears, given the company’s large cash. Also, the company’s Z-Score of 5.9 will provide easy access to financing if needed Sears has began to shift to an off-mall emphasis for its stores as it acquired stores...
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...largest company in the world based on sales is ________. A) ExxonMobil B) Sears Roebuck C) Wal-Mart D) Marks & Spencer 2) Which of the following activities does not fit within the scope of retailing? A) medical services to families B) direct-to-home sales C) vending purchases by factory workers D) sales to wholesalers 3) Which statement concerning retailing is correct? A) Retailing activities must involve a store. B) Retailing activities do not have to include a retailer. C) Retailing activities cannot be performed by a wholesaler. D) Retailing activities involve goods, not services. 4) According to the Department of Commerce, annual U.S. retail store sales are about ________. A) $200 billion B) $1.5 trillion C) $3.5 trillion D) $5.0 trillion 5) About how many people are employed by traditional retailers in the United States? A) 11 million B) 16 million C) 25 million D) 34 million 6) Data on U.S. retail employment understates actual employment because it does not include ________. A) store or department managers B) part-time personnel C) seasonal employees and unreported workers in family businesses D) teenagers under 18 who are full-time students 7) In 2007, the four largest retailing companies (in order of size from largest to fourth largest on the basis of sales) were ________. A) Wal-Mart, Sears, Safeway, and J.C. Penney B) Wal-Mart, Home Depot, CVS Caremark, and Kroger C) Wal-Mart, Kmart, Kroger, and Federated Department Stores D) Wal-Mart, Woolworth...
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...and a Marketing Review of Sears 1st submission Date Due in: April 19, 2012 Number of pages: 23 Word count :3,281 Table of Contents sEARS bUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW i Executive Summary 2-3 introduction brief history and background of sears 4 mission & obJECTIVES II evaluation of sears existing mission and objectives 5-6 External analysis IIi Competitors 7 PEST 8-9 Five forces Analysis 10-11 Opportunities & Threats 11 InternaL aNALYSIS iV Strenghts & Weaknesses 12 Financial ratios analysis 13-14 Past and current strategies 15 Sears current strategic position v Sears current strategy Balance Scorecard 16-17 Porter’s Generic strategies 17 rEcommendations vi Objectives and strategic actions 19-21 Evaluation 22- 23 Conclusion 24-26 Bibliography Executive Summary Sears, once the leader of the retail industry, is now facing financial troubles and is relegated to the 10th position in the market (Store org, 2011). Even after the merger with K-Mart, the retail conditions have not seemed to improved, but in fact, Sears Holding’s financial reports continued to reflect loss. Investor confidence in Sears Holding and its SBUs has been consistently declining over the past few years, due to Sears’ poor performance. Consequently...
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...Quality Management at Sears Holding Corporation Felicia J Town Keller Graduate School of Management Managing Quality GM588 Professor Taylor October 10, 2011 Quality Management at Sears Holding Corporation Richard Sears, a Minneapolis railway station agent, sold lumber and coal to the local residents to make extra money. One day he received an unwanted shipment of watches from a neighboring jeweler and the light bulb in his head lit up, he was ready to start his own watch company. In 1886 Richard W. Sears began Sears Watch Company with the watches that he purchased for resale. In 1887 he teamed up with a watchmaker Alvah C. Roebuck, a young Indiana native to later form the firm Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1893. In 1896 the first general catalog was created. By 1945, Sears had opened a retail store on the west side of Chicago and sales exceeded $1 billion. Sears continued to expand and offer a variety of services. It was until the early 1990s that Sears noticed a significant blow to its sales. 1992 was the start of the retail giant’s culture shift from senior management down to the hourly sales associates (Sears, 2011). A deliveryman, clerk, bookkeeper and teacher- these were all the hats worn by Sebastian S. Kresge. His ambition to succeed and his penny-pinching attitude led him to become a successful businessman. Through five and dime stores to Kmart stores, he became a millionaire. In 1966 sales topped the $1 billion mark. Kresge once said, "I think I was successful...
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...Sears Holdings Corporation is a company that came from two very well known organizations, Sears and Kmart. Both companies go back even farther than the 1900s and unfortunately both companies experienced financial difficulty at one point. With the merger Sears Holdings Corporation has the experience of both organizations as well as their different style of operating. Along with an improved customer base and a new outlook Sears Holdings Corporation is experiencing financial growth. Richard W. Sears was an agent at a railway station. This job provided him with loads of free time, so he would sell lumber and coal to local residents for extra money. During his employment with the railway station he came across some discarded watches and decided to repair and sell them. He made a good profit and decided to try it again. In 1886 Sears began the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis. After moving his business to Chicago, IL Sears advertised for a watchmaker and came across Alvah C. Roebuck who claimed to do excellent work. In 1893 Sears Roebuck and Co. was formed. Adapting the motto, “Shop at Sears and Save” Sears quickly became the place where farmers shopped to save money and cut out the middleman. Sears’s prices were much cheaper than rural stores. By 1895 Sears was producing a 532-page catalog with many other items, such as stoves, women’s clothing, wagons, furniture, china, firearms, glassware and baby carriages etc. “Sales in 1893 topped $400,000 and two years later...
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...Special Needs Accommodations in the Workplace HRM -315 Phase 1 Task 2 Discussion Board Abstract Although, it has only been two short months since I joined the Human Resource Team at National Lewis and Clark Corporation (NL&C) I have faced many challenges. As a Director of Human Resource Department (HRD) a few of my many roles is to assist the current employees and serve as a liaison between worker and department head. Yet most importantly, NL&C hired me to examine current HRD diversity development and redesign diversity strategy plans where needed to ensure alignment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) rules and regulations are in compliance within the organization. (CTUonline , 2010) Diversity Constraints NL&C has several disabled employees of which I arranged meeting with them individually. Over the course of the meeting, I uncovered that many of the disabled workers felt treated unfairly due to their physical in capabilities. Although, I did not have all the facts to address their claims I reassured them that the human resource department would work diligently to get to the matter. None-the-less, I have to admit that this present situation is very new to me; therefore, I had to research the topic further to explore the positive benchmarking techniques and discussions that have rendered affirmative results from other companies and their employees. Case Study (not sure what...
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...Synopsis of Companies Identified Corey A. Moore: The United States second leading and largest insurance and Holdings Company is Allstate Insurance Co. Originating back in 1931 as the brainchild of Carl Odell an insurance broker and Robert Wood, CEO or Sears and Roebuck Company; the two men thought it would be an excellent idea to start a mail order auto insurance company. Today Allstate has assets totaling over $156 billion altogether, (Funding Universe, 2011). Allstate Insurance has been so successful throughout all these years is adaptability in meeting the needs of customers, which gives the company its competitive edge, and its strong focus on honoring diversity. A main core value at Allstate Insurance Co. is inclusive diversity. (Allstate Insurance Company, 2011) states the following in inclusive diversity are: “Workforce Diversity is to sustain an effective organization that drives a high-performance culture, which in turn enables higher productivity, higher morale, more innovation, collaboration and risk taking. Marketplace Diversity is committed to growing our business in the multi-cultural marketplace. Allstate recognizes that there are a variety of factors which contribute to a customer’s decision to engage with our company. Community Diversity understands that communities are more than just places to live and work. They're social networks that support the economic, educational and political interests of their residents Supply Chain Diversity Allstate...
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...Destination: Sears SEARS 2000 ANNUAL REPORT Financial Highlights millions, except per share data 2000 1999 1998 Revenues Income before extraordinary loss Net income PER COMMON SHARE $40,937 1,343 1,343 $39,484 1,453 1,453 $39,953 1,072 1,048 Income before extraordinary loss Net income EXCLUDING IMPACT OF NONCOMPARABLE ITEMS 3.88 3.88 3.81 3.81 2.74 2.68 Income excluding noncomparable items Per common share Total assets Debt Shareholders’ equity 1,540 4.45 36,899 17,860 6,769 1,482 3.89 36,954 18,038 6,839 1,300 3.32 37,675 19,669 6,066 This annual report, including the chairman’s comments, contains forward-looking statements, which should be read in the context of the cautionary language found in the financial statements section of this report. 2 Dear Shareholders: Six years ago, I came to Sears to help revitalize one of America’s great institutions. At the time, a reinvigorated Sears was winning back customers and emerging once again as a healthy, financially sound enterprise. Since then, we’ve had some clear successes and weathered a few storms. In the process, we’ve learned many valuable lessons. Through challenging assignments in our credit and services businesses and as chief financial officer, I also learned and witnessed firsthand this company’s resiliency and its tremendous potential for growth. Now, it’s time for Sears to achieve this potential, leverage it to become even more relevant to our customers...
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...Strengths * Sears is one of the top three merchandise retail companies in the United States. They currently are behind Wal-Mart and Target. * Sears has a very strong managerial capability that manages its wide range of retail outlets in USA and Canadian markets. (Sohail, 2011, para. 5) * Sears is currently the only company of the top three competitors that have stores located inside of malls. This allows them to seclude themselves from the competition. * Sears has its own brand name products such as Craftsman, Kenmore, and Diehard. * Sears will always have loyal customers who will forever buy their products based off of good past history. * Sears provides many ways for its customer to shop. Customers can shop via traditional stores, online, or by mobile devices. * Sears provides commerce services such as sell on Sears, supply with Sears, and advertise with Sears. * Sears has a reward points system for customers who possess their credit card. * Sears offers stock options to its employees at a discounted price. * Sears gives assistance in locating resources such as childcare providers, adoption services, colleges and elder care resources, as well as counseling in times of need to it employees. | Weaknesses * Co-location of other competitors such as Wal-Mart, and Target within shopping market plazas can deter shoppers from entering malls. * Sears is set in many of its ways like store layout, marketing, and overall appearance. They have yet to update...
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...November 21, 2011 Organizing Paper Sears Holdings Corporation is one of the largest retail stores with four-thousand retails stores. Sears is also a leading retailer for home appliances, and in other areas from tools to automotive maintenance. Also, the corporation receives over eleven million service calls each year; it is the largest home services provider. The company has many brands; a few are Kenmore, Craftsman, and Diehard. They also have various clothing brands two of the best known are Lands’ End, and Joe Boxer. Sears and Kmart also offer the Country Living Collection. Among the companies’ many other attributes they were named the Energy Star Retail partner of the year for 2011. The corporation has several subsidiaries through which it operates; these are Sears, Roebuck and Company and Kmart Corporation. Sears merged with Kmart in 2005 after the shareholders of both companies voted to do so (Sears Holdings Corporation, 2011). Kmart and Sears felt that by merging they could be more demographically accessible. Both companies shared a “customer-focused” culture and this would help them to improve revenue. Maintaining the two brands allowed the corporation to focus on different demographics without making anyone feel left out. Now the company is ran by a board of directors which includes members from both companies. Shareholders from the Kmart Corporation were given stock in the new company. Shares of Sears Corporation were separated into a percentage...
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...Can Sears Reinvent Itself? | Sears, Roebuck and Co. used to be the largest retailer in the United States, with sales representing 1 to 2 percent of the United States gross national product for almost 40 years after World War II. Its legendary Big Book catalogue was considered the primary (and sometimes the only) source for everything from wrenches to bathtubs to underwear. During the 1980s, Sears moved into other businesses, hoping to provide middle-class consumers with almost every type of banking, investment, and real estate service in addition to selling appliances, hardware, clothes, and other goods. This diversification tore Sears away from its core business, retail sales. Sears has steadily lost ground in retailing, moving from the Number 1 position to Number 3 behind discounters Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Kmart Corporation. Sears had been slow to remodel stores, trim costs, and keep pace with current trends in selling and merchandising. Sears could not keep up with the discounters and with specialty retailers such as Toys R Us, Home Depot, Inc., and Circuit City Stores, Inc. that focus on a wide selection of low-price merchandise in a single category. Nor could Sears compete with trend-setting department stores. Yet Sears has been heavily computerized. At one time it spent more on information technology and networking than other noncomputer firms in the United States except the Boeing Corporation. It was noted its extensive customer databases of 60 million past...
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...SEARS Marketing Plan Executive Summary Sears Holding Corporation is the fourth largest retailer in the United States and Canada. Its subsidiaries include Sears, Roebuck and Co. as well as K-Mart. The closing of the merger between Sears and K-Mart took place on March 24, 2005. Sears has more than 4,000 retail stores across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Sears offers products and services through over 2,700 branded and affiliated stores. Sears operates 894 broad-line stores and 1,354 specialty stores. Sears’ broad-line stores are mall-based locations. The specialty stores include Sears Hometown Stores that are mostly independently owned, Sears Home Appliance Showrooms, Sears Hardware Stores, Sears Auto Centers, and The Great Indoor Stores (Community, n.d.). Sears is the leading retailer in home appliance, tools, lawn and garden, electronics, and automotive repair and maintenance. They are also the largest home service provider and answers over 11 million service calls a year (About, n.d.). Sears’ values are built upon customer service and the company is committed to quality service and products. Sears aims to build lifetime relationships and trust with its customers. The Company prides itself on having a diverse customer base and values the customer’s individualities. As stated on the corporate website “Everything we do starts and ends with the customer.” (Diversity, paragraph 3). Sears also holds expectations from their employees. The Company values...
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