Sears Hometown Store to remain open
Published 10:31 am Thursday, March 30, 2017
- Corey Squier, owner of Sears Hometown, works the register Wednesday morning. With the Sears Holdings Corporation, the Austin store will continue because it is a separate entity from the corporation. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Sears Holdings Corporation has recently been struggling with sales and closing locations nationwide. Given the rate at which the company is losing money, some industry analysts have deemed the company too far gone.
“They’re past the tipping point,” said Ken Perkins of Retail Metrics LLC.
But residents of Austin have no need to fear losing their local Sears Hometown Store, located at 1300 18th Ave. NW.
“We get asked that question (about closing) on a daily basis,” said Austin Sears Hometown Store’s Cory Squier, who has owned and operated the location for 16 years.
Despite a downturn in the Sears Holdings Corporation recently, Austin Sears Hometown will remain firmly rooted in Austin.
Sears Holdings Corporation, which also owns Kmart, has steadily seen its profits decline over the past six years. The company has lost $10.4 billion since 2011, $2 billion of which was lost last year. In an effort to reduce debt, Sears has been forced to sell many assets, such as the Craftsman tool line, which it sold to Stanley Black & Decker earlier this year for $900 million.
Kmart has also faced multiple store closings, seeing its sales drop over ten percent in the last business quarter alone.
In February, Sears Holding Corporation released a plan to cut costs by $1 billion through job cuts, sales of more assets, and store closings. The company is planning to close 150 Sears and Kmart locations in 2017. This will leave the company with less than 1,500 locations.
However, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. separated from Sears Holding Corporation in 2012.
“We’re two separate entities,” Squier said.
Squier knows that the name association is confusing to some people. “We do still carry ‘Sears’ at the beginning of our name,” he said. “We also carry the Kenmore and Craftsman brands, as well as provide the warranty service for those brands, but we’re different from Sears itself.”
Squier admits there is concern that some residents will not shop at the location because of the name association. He wants to assure Austin residents that despite the name association, his store will remain open.
“We want to put people at ease and let them know their store is not going anywhere and encourage them to support a locally owned business just as we support the local community,” he said.
The Austin Sears Hometown Store is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
