ILL-inois crony capitalism failure: Sears to speed up store closings

Hoffman Estates, home
of Sears

After Illinois' inept governor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn, signed in a massive income tax hike in 2011, Sears asked for a tax break and got one.

How is that working out?

From USA Today:

Sears will accelerate planned store closures and continue to purge other assets to keep its business turnaround afloat after reporting Tuesday that the holiday season will fall short of expectations.

Sears expects sales to come to $7.3 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 30, compared with $8.0 billion in the year-ago quarter and below analyst estimates for $7.4 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sears reports fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 25.

Sears estimates sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure for retailers, fell 7.1% in the quarter at Sears and Kmart U.S. stores as the company's apparel business dragged down store performance. The company attributed its weak showing to unseasonably warm weather and "intense competition."

Warm weather? Puh-leaze! So Sears bought too many sweaters. I'm sure Walmart did too. Sheesh.

Related post:

ILL-inois: Sears suffers 20th consecutive losing quarter