{"id":258,"date":"2008-02-04T11:15:27","date_gmt":"2008-02-04T15:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.AchieveMax.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/04\/sears-kmart-update\/"},"modified":"2013-06-26T15:12:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T19:12:19","slug":"sears-kmart-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/achievemax.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/04\/sears-kmart-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Sears\/K-Mart Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I commented on the Sears\/K-Mart “Death Spiral” and suggested that you watch that situation closely. If you took my advice, you’re probably aware of the fact that Sears Holdings Corp. abruptly announced the departure of their President and CEO Aylwin Lewis, leaving a management void at the top of the organization as it tries a high-stakes restructuring to reconnect with customers and reinvigorate slumping sales.<\/p>\n

Doing so is an enormous challenge, if not downright impossible, as the retailer has been bleeding customers since Sears and K-Mart joined forces back in 2005. For the first three quarters of the year, their profits have fallen more than 40%, and earlier this month, they posted 3rd quarter earnings at just $2 million\u2014down 99% from last year.<\/p>\n

These trends remind me of the last days of Montgomery Ward. When their declining course became evident to most everyone, the majority of retail shoppers still felt Ward would survive. After all, they had been around for what seemed forever. And yet they’re gone. And now we see Sears\/K-Mart\u2014at one time the number one and two retailers in the country\u2014facing the same “Death Spiral.”<\/p>\n

There’s a valuable lesson here for the entire business world regardless of your industry, product and\/or service. You simply can’t afford to:<\/p>\n