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View Full Version : Welcome to S-mart (Sears, K-mart Merger)

Paul Cousins
11-17-2004, 08:19 PM
It seems that Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Kmart Holding Corp. are planning a merger.

You can read about it here: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6839288

Personally I think that they should change/buy the name 'S-mart' and have Bruce Campbell as their new spokesman. But life would be too perfect if that happened... ;)
JadedLegend3
11-17-2004, 08:21 PM
My dad told me about this today. He said he heard they are now the 3rd largest company (retail, maybe?) in the nation. Behind Always and Target.
BrowderChick
11-17-2004, 08:26 PM
Well after what K-Mart did to Builders Square. :mad:
LT Garrix
11-17-2004, 09:08 PM
BC, didn't Builder's Square go out of business? I assume that's what you are referring to.

I can't say I'm at all thrilled with the merger, but I don't shop at either store. Neither is anywhere near me. Hubby likes Craftsman tools and the Martha Stewart stuff isn't bad, but past that, I never really liked anything in either of the stores.

BTW, I love the idea of calling it S-Mart, though Sam Rami may have something to say about that. ;)
Paul Cousins
11-17-2004, 09:12 PM
BC, didn't Builder's Square go out of business? I assume that's what you are referring to.

I can't say I'm at all thrilled with the merger, but I don't shop at either store. Neither is anywhere near me. Hubby likes Craftsman tools and the Martha Stewart stuff isn't bad, but past that, I never really liked anything in either of the stores.

BTW, I love the idea of calling it S-Mart, though Sam Rami may have something to say about that. ;)Note, I said that I think they should 'change/buy' the name S-mart.
BrowderChick
11-17-2004, 09:22 PM
They were once owned by KMart. KMart sold them to a company famous for buying up companies and selling them off for the $$$$$$$.
AgentSun
11-17-2004, 09:34 PM
i would not want to tarnish the name of S-mart.
TheBladeRoden
11-17-2004, 11:07 PM
As long as they don't try to take the name J-Rod
soyarma
11-18-2004, 01:20 AM
I heard about that today too and it is just so weird... its like Hyundia buying General Motors (I shudder at the thought). For some reason I thought that the Canadian store 'Zellers' bought K-Mart a few years ago. Maybe they just bought the Canadian division of K-Mart.
Defect9
11-19-2004, 02:54 AM
For some reason I thought that the Canadian store 'Zellers' bought K-Mart a few years ago. Maybe they just bought the Canadian division of K-Mart.

no way, ay. I heard that they were only in it for the beers. ay.
vhsiv
11-19-2004, 08:34 AM
My dad told me about this today. He said he heard they are now the 3rd largest company (retail, maybe?) in the nation. Behind Always and Target.What about Wal-Mart? They're supposed to be the #1 retailer, and NOT just in the US - they've got outposts in Guam, the Phillipines, Taiwan - they're all over.

Anyone see the FRONTLINE special on Wal-Mart (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/), earlier this week?
malachilenomade
11-19-2004, 08:52 AM
My dad told me about this today. He said he heard they are now the 3rd largest company (retail, maybe?) in the nation. Behind Always and Target.


Always? Never heard of it...
AnnieBW
11-19-2004, 09:01 AM
My first thought was, "Shop smart! Shop S-Mart!".

I wonder if they'll have specials on arm-mounted chainsaws? Groooovy! :D
malachilenomade
11-19-2004, 09:08 AM
My first thought was, "Shop smart! Shop S-Mart!".

I wonder if they'll have specials on arm-mounted chainsaws? Groooovy! :D

That was mine as well.... then you see that thread about The Evil Dead remake just reenforces it :D
Third EYe
11-19-2004, 09:13 AM
I'm still trying to uncover what happened to Roebuck, this is way beyond my scope.
shadowshiv
11-21-2004, 10:48 AM
They were once owned by KMart. KMart sold them to a company famous for buying up companies and selling them off for the $$$$$$$.

Isn't that where you worked before? :(
RustySlinky
11-21-2004, 12:35 PM
What about Wal-Mart? They're supposed to be the #1 retailer, and NOT just in the US - they've got outposts in Guam, the Phillipines, Taiwan - they're all over.

Anyone see the FRONTLINE special on Wal-Mart (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/), earlier this week?

Heck Yeah. I watched it online on Friday night, before PBS's *NOW with Bill Moyers*. I really, really, dug the part on how their low prices aren't always the lowest, and how they make money off of it. I think the show should have dug deeper and interviewed more bottom-level former employees at Walmart, and the long-term ramifications from working at below-subsistence level wages - at both a personal level and at a societal impact level.

I would have liked them to engage the Cato Institute Representative with a second round of deeper questioning, asking him to back up his assertions regarding the economic benefits vs. governmental costs of Walmart's strategies.

Here's the link to watching it online:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
I really liked Part III. Part IV was an eye-opener onto the Chinese trade connection, and the Clinton Administration policies.

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In the interests of full-disclosure, I got rejected by Walmart after walking into an interview in late August. My odds weren't good though. I was one of 3000 people applying for, I'm guessing, at 200 to 600 part time jobs.:bawl: