In the past 5 years, Sears (SHLD) along with its Kmart and Lands End divisions have shed nearly $100 per share. Just in the past 1 year, the stock has done nothing but go down. The only thing keeping them afloat is Walmart's equally dismal 9 quarter decline in profitability. Sears has demonstrated the innate skill in diluting the value and good name of American made brands. They took Lands End and their lifetime guarantee and made it nearly K-Mart quality with off-shore materials. Have never bought another Lands End product since.
Unless things and thinking change at Sears, they will continue to shed American made products to increase unit profits. Walk into any Sears store, and see the vacant shelves...in our area, they either have a supply issue, a re-stocking issue or simply shaving off excess inventory to save working capital. Most of the stores are old, dingy, poorly lit and/or in a state of disrepair. The Sear's Hardware stores have mostly folded up (remember those?) None of these are signs of a healthy company. The K-Mart division is more of the same. Unless Sears finds a better direction and quickly, even their Chinese tools will not help keep the doors open, no matter the price. The lifetime warranty, while solidifying brand loyalty, has been at a tremendous cost to Sears. They instituted the "re-manufactured replacement" a few years ago to stem some of the cost, but it still hasn't helped the financial bleeding. Financial Analysts (who don't really care about tools) often suggested that the lifetime warranty had to go away, or Sears would. We may find out someday soon that they were right. Poor quality tools are not a wining recipe for Sears.
