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Monday, December 08, 2014

The Last Christmas?

No, not for you or me(unless our luck turns really bad).  Rather, seeing a toy ad online for Sears Canada got me wondering if this might be the last Christmas for them.  Like its US parent the Canadian version is not in good shape.  Their revenue has dropped heavily in recent years, and they lost money, almost 120 million dollars, in the third quarter of this year.  Their workforce is half what it was in 2005.  New CEO Ronald Boire claims the company is not going away, but to some extent that seems like wishful thinking.

I have a family connection with the company.  My mother worked in the women's underwear department of the Saskatoon store for years.  So it's strange to think of it disappearing, that this might be the last year their familiar Christmas Wish Book turns up in mail boxes.  Of course it could be argued that this is another sign of Sears failing, still putting out what must be an expensive piece of advertising in the scheme of things in the modern online era.  In any case, it could be that this time next year all that will remain of Sears Canada is memories.

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