Sears Losses Swell in Third Quarter

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHLD), the parent company of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Holding Corp. has  announced its third quarter results earlier today.

According to the report, Sears Holding Corp.’s losses have quadrupled in the third quarter as the retailer was not successful in preventing any further decline in the sales. The company was suffering from a prolonged sales decline and even the company’s move to offer more margin sapping discounts failed to pay off.

The news of increased losses in the third quarter led to a decline in the shares of Sears Holdings Corp., the parent company of both Sears department stores and Kmart discount retail chains across the United States. The shares fell by almost 7 percent which happens to be the lowest level since past two years. Sears holdings Corp. was formed in the year 2005 by Eddie Lampert, he billionaire investor who merged the two retail chains, and ever since the sales have been continuously dropping for Sears Holdings Corp. According to the analysts, the sales in Sears Holding Corp.’s retail outlets fell mainly due to the substandard services and unfriendly physical facilities.

The company’s shares have fallen by 6.5 percent to reach $56.25. The company’s sales are further aggravated by the economic slowdown in addition to stiff competition which has reduced the demand for its brands of tolls and appliances namely Craftsman and Kenmore respectively. Sears is also under fire by various analysts for focusing more on cost cutting strategies in order to boost profits instead of spending on upgrading the customer service and stores in order to improve the customer’s shopping experience.

Sears Holding’s Corp. has recently invested in its internet offering as well, but it seems to have not achieved much in value offering as compared to other chains. Sears currently faces stiff competition from various other retailers like The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), Lowes Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW), Best Buy co. (NYSE:BBY) and Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT).  The market share of Sears is falling in the apparel and appliances segment as well.

Sears in involved in restructuring its management team by hiring new employees. Recently, Robert Schriesheim, formerly with Hewitt Associates was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer. Similarly, the former executive at FreshDirect, Monica Woo was appointed as the new chief marketing officer.  The company had put an end to its three year search for the position of chief executive officer by appointing Lou D’Ambrosio earlier in the beginning of this year.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.