The report of the company's growing distress in today's Wall Street Journal confirmed the point: Sears plans to close upward of 120 stores and make other changes to cut its losses. Its stock has plunged 46 pct. the past year.
The WSJ quotes Credit Suisse retail analyst Gary Balter predicting the problems will only get worse:
"It begins and , some would argue, ends with Sears' reluctance to invest in stores and service, effectively asking customers to pay for a poorer shopping environment than available at competitors and on line. We do not see how that will turn around."
Much of the Sears story has been known in the retail world for a long time - as well as in the Ohio governor's office. So shouldn't we also assume that Kasich's feathery $400 million offer was hardly more than grandstanding? It is, after all, the Kasich brand.
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We went to a fabulous SEARS in Tucson -- really nicely renovated and if SEARS would invest in themselves they might get their customers back. The one in Chapel Hill is pretty sad.
God bless Governor Kasich for aggressively looking to attract business from out of state. He has already done a wonderful job of keeping companies like Diebold and American Greetings here. Anyone who criticizes the man is clueless.
What the hell did Ted Strickland and the Democrats ever do to promote job creation in Ohio? Can someone answer me that? The fact is that Strickland did nothing but wave goodbye as companies like NCR packed up and moved to more business friendly states.
At last we have a governor who understands how to attract business and for some reason he is getting villified. No wonder Ohio is in the condition that it currently is. And people wonder why all the jobs and people continue to flee to the south..........
One could reasonably assume that Kasich's grandstanding was illustrative of the advice he was handsomely paid to confer on the Wall Street scoundrels who nearly brought down the entire economy.
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