Swot Analysis Of Sears Holdings

Lowe's is one of the biggest big box retailers in the world today. As a result, the company faces competition from various companies, both directly and indirectly. Two of Lowes’ biggest direct competitors include Home Depot and Wolseley PLC, both of which carry similar products in the home improvement category. Each of these retailer On the other hand, an indirect competitor of Lowe’s is any small construction/repair company. These smaller repair companies are classified as indirect competitors because Lowe’s is known as a retailer for “do-it-yourself” home improvement projects. If a repair company is hired to complete a service, Lowe’s is facing indirect competition.

Our recommendation is to take Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) private through a private equity buyout. After doing so, we recommend implementing a centralized management structure and recruiting retail-savvy executives for the upper management team. We then recommend focusing on increasing value by capitalizing on SHLD’s real estate holdings through leasing agreements and increasing partnerships with complementary enterprises. Also, we recommend improving employee retention rates and retaining exclusive rights to private brands. Finally, we recommend focusing on a long-term strategy to continue to maximize SHLD’s ecommerce platforms. We believe these recommendations will lead to long-term stability through increases in customer base and

In many states and towns across the United States Dollar General is a household name. The first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Ky. on June 1, 1955, as a wholesale business in Kentucky, to dispose of a large quantity of lingerie. Their concept was simple no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. The idea became a huge success for J.L. Turner and his son Cal Turner Sr., other stores were quickly converted. By 1957, annual sales of Dollar General’s 29 stores were $5 million. J.L. passed away in 1964. Dollar General History (n.d.). Four years later, the company Cal Turner Jr. co-founded went public as Dollar General Corporation, posting annual sales of more than $40 million and net income in excess of $1.5 million. In 1977, Cal Turner Jr., the third generation Turner, succeeded his father as president of Dollar General. Cal Turner Jr. directed the company until his retirement in 2002. Today Dollar General is a leading discount retailer now have 13,000 stores in 43 states. The company remains true to their humble ethic of hard work and friendly customer service exemplified by the founding family.

Dicks Sporting Goods retailer is one of the leading companies in selling athletics products. Over the years, the company has achieved tremendous milestones in the industry. However, this being a competitive sector, there are various factors that inhibit the company 's progress. This research paper will conduct a SWOT analysis of the company, and there after offer possible recommendations on the effect.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. started formally as a company in 1893, but its history started in 1886 with Richard Sears who created R.W. Sears Watch Company selling watches to increment his income. In 1887, he hired Alvah C. Roebuck a watch repairman, both formed Sears, Roebuck and Co; by 1888, they offered their first catalog featuring only watches and jewelry.

JC Penney is an American department store chain with 1,095 locations throughout the United States. In the latter half of the 20th century, shopping malls became very popular and most of the company’s stores were situated in the downtown areas, they followed the trend of developing more stores in the shopping malls to attract customers and increase the financial profitability of the company. Conversely, JC Penney had freestanding stores, and was able to get consumer traffic which helped the company earn a profit and increase its market share.

Sears has long been one of the most well known retail companys in the United States. However, Sears along with many other traditional retail companies have been hit hard over the last two decades. The dangerous combination of the stock market crash in the early 2000`s, failing job market and the rise of convenient online shopping hitting the market full force. Sear like many other retailers has found itself struggling to stay aloft in this new digital world we live in today. However, Sears has had one more big hit to its organization and in particular its culture. That hit came in 2003 when Eddie Lampert, a Yale graduate that had been labeled the next Warren Buffet. Lamparts appointment as CEP of the company and indeed his almost immediate acquisition of Kmart, who had found itself in the process of bankruptcy. Lead to high hopes for the many long time associates and supporters of the company who got its start over 100 years ago. However, Lamperts lack of retail management experience soon proved fatal to the company’s culture. Some of the many issues that soon arose were that Lampert preferred not to have direct contact with his staff, he was prone to violent outburst, started pulling funds are

There were also proprietary brands that were held by both Kmart and Sears, and with the merger it would be easier to get those brands out to the target demographics. Making each

Sears continues to showcase its top Brands including Craftsman, DieHard, and Kenmore. The Company also continues to market its fashion lines of products under the Brands of Lands’ End, Joe boxer, and Jaclyn Smith. Sears has also introduced the Kardashian Denim collection. With this new line of clothing Sears hopes to increase sales to teens and young adults. Sears will also offer deals to include markdowns and rebates throughout the year to promote many of its retail lines and market to the thrifty shopper.

Sebastian S. Kresge opened his first store, regarded as a five-and-dime, in 1899. The low priced department store was appealing to the consumers and changed the retailing landscape for future department stores. By 1912, Kresge had expanded his network of stores to 85 and contributed to annual sales of $10 million. (Corporate History, 2013. www.searsholdings.com). The 1920’s posed significantly hard times for America, with the Great Depression and World War 1. During this time Kresge stores remained opened, provided Americans necessary items and jobs to support households across America.

Managers and leaders play an important role in garnering results and allowing the company to pursue and achieve its goals. Ed Lampert purchased SHC back in 2004 and his behaviors and characteristics have greatly impacted the company causing a continual downward spiral where a company worth four billion in 2004 in now worth less than 2 billion (Hartung, "The 5 Ways Ed Lampert Destroyed Sears." Forbes, 2016). Ed Lampert has had difficulty installing himself as the executive of the company due to lack of technical skills. Lampert originally got his start on Wall Street as a hedge fund manager and installed himself as the CEO of SHC with no retail experience (Peterson, "Sears' Obsession with Wall Street Is Killing the Retailer for Good," Business Insider, 2016). This contributed to his lack

Walmart and Amazon have become global, household names in the US and for good reason: both of these companies have revolutionized the way in which we shop. Amazon offers a convenient experience, and an ever-expanding selection of products whereas Walmart has a wide network of store locations and famously low prices. As investments, these companies highlight the dichotomous nature of the retail industry – brick-and-mortar vs e-commerce; high growth vs steady growth; US vs International; actual vs market expectations. This report provides an in depth comparative analysis between Walmart and Amazon. We will first summarize the industry and these companies, followed by an analysis of market position and financials, and finally an

Some of Macy’s main competitors such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus have been quite successful in catering to wealthy and affluent customers. On the other hand, Wal-Mart and Target have been successful in cornering bargain hunters. Macy’s is caught in the middle and has to reposition itself in such a way that customers are attractive towards its affordable luxurious brands such as CK, Ralph Lauren etc.

The main marketing and PR strategy for Toys R Us are creating an online presence that creates a channel to conduct business. Currently, the organization has a website and social media accounts that are used to advertise the products that are available at the stores (Schiffman, 2011). However, these platforms can be maximized to include consumers in the product development through online surveys, making sales on an international platform and understanding the client base even better. Through the internet platform, it is considerably easy to create more business for the organization.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Ferrell and Hartline, 2014, p. 39). A SWOT analysis evaluates both the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) that create advantages and disadvantages to a company when serving its customers (p. 39). A SWOT analysis is extremely beneficial in helping a company determine areas of improvement (p. 39). Internal factors examine the actual company being analyzed while external factors examine the external market (customers and competition) (p. 85).