Sears Canada sets sights on suburbia in turnaround bid

TORONTO — With news from its U.S. parent about lower sales and operating earnings at Sears Canada in the critical holiday quarter, the future looks increasingly grim for the Canadian department store chain as rival Target Canada gets ready to open stores here in two months.

Halfway through a critical three-year revival plan, Sears Canada Inc. is apparently happy to still have a pulse.

Pre-holiday sales and profit tumbled at Sears Canada Inc., according to a report from parent company Sears Holdings Corp., which reported the sudden exit of its chief executive late Monday. Sears Canada acknowledged that its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization will be about half the level of last year’s fourth quarter of US$97-million. Same-store sales, a key measure of retail performance, slid 5.8% in the nine weeks ended Dec. 29.

Long lines at check out can spoil a shopping trip just as a bad dessert can spoil an otherwise fine dinner. Either can, if you will, leave a bad taste in your mouth. So what can a retailer do besides throw (expensive) bodies at the problem?

New Sears Canada CEO Calvin McDonald is shaking things up in the retailer's suburban markets

Sears Canada Inc. is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer after the unexpected resignation of Sharon Driscoll. The news comes two years after Ms. Driscoll was promoted into the role and more than a year into a turnaround plan for struggling retailer outlined by CEO Calvin McDonald, who said last month that the “pace of execution” on the plan was lower than expected. The departure was “her decision,” Sears spokesman Vincent Power said in an e-mail.

(ninjapoodles)

Less than 18 months since he was hired to lead JC Penney (JCP), Ron Johnson has been replaced by his predecessor, Mike Ullman. Given that many industry people thought Johnson would be given all of 2013 to show signs that his store transformation plan was starting to bear fruit, the fact that he was fired in the first quarter tells me that customer traffic and same store sales have not improved this year. It also indicates that the highly publicized Joe Fresh launch was unimpressive as well.