Business

These Are the 10 Brands That Could Disappear in 2012

Each year, researchers at 24/7 Wall St. compile a list of brands that are going to disappear in the near-term.  Last year’s list proved prescient in many instances, predicting what should have been the demise of T-Mobile (were it not for the intervention of forces outside the market). Other 2010 nominees–including Blockbuster–bit the dust, while companies, such as Dollar Thrifty are on the road to oblivion.

However, the 2010 list of brands that may disappear was not perfect. They missed the mark on a few companies. Notably, Kia, Moody’s, BP, and Zales appear to be doing better than expected.

Nevertheless, brands that have stood the test of time for decades are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate. For instance, Pontiac–a major car brand since 1926–is gone, shut down by a failing GM. Blockbuster, as mentioned in the above, is in the process of dismantling, after it once controlled the VHS and DVD markets. House & Garden folded after 106 years. It succumbed to the advertising downturn, a lot of competition, and the cost of paper and postage. Its demise echoed the 1972 shutdown of what is probably the most famous magazine in history–Life. That was a long time ago, but it serves to demonstrate that no brand is too big to fail if competition, new inventions, costs, or poor management overwhelms it.

This year’s list of the 10 brands that will disappear takes a methodical approach in deciding which brands will fail. The major criteria were as follows:

  • A rapid fall-off in sales and steep losses
  • Disclosures by the parent of the brand that it might go out of business
  • Rapidly rising costs that are extremely unlikely to be recouped through higher prices
  • Companies which are sold
  • Companies that go into bankruptcy
  • Firms that have lost the great majority of their customers
  • Operations with rapidly withering market share

Each of the ten brands on the list suffers from one or more of these problems. Each of the ten will be gone, based on the aforementioned definitions, within 18 months.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 201210. Nokia

Nokia is dead. Shareholders are just waiting for an undertaker. The world’s largest handset company has one asset: Nokia sold 25 percent of the global 428 million units sold in the first quarter. Its problem is that in the industry, the company is viewed as a falling knife. Its market share in the same quarter of 2010 was nearly 31 percent. The arguments that Nokia will not stay independent are numerous.

It has a very modest presence in the rapidly growing smartphone industry, which is dominated by Apple, Research In Motion’s Blackberry, HTC, and Samsung. Nokia runs the outdated Symbian operating system and is in the process of changing to Microsoft Window mobile OS, which has a tiny share of the market. Nokia would be an attractive takeover target largely because the cost to “buy” 25 percent of the global handset market would only be $22 billion based on Nokia’s current market cap.

Microsoft, which is Nokia’s primary software partner, could easily buy the company and is often mentioned as a suitor. The world’s largest software company recently moved further into the telecom industry though its purchase of VoIP giant Skype, which has 170 million active customers. Two other large firms have many reasons to buy Nokia. Samsung, part of one of the largest conglomerates in Korea, has publicly set a goal to be the No.1 handset company in the world by 2014.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20129. Soap Opera Digest

The magazine’s future has been ruined by two trends. The first is the number of cancellations of soap operas. Long-lived shows which include “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” have been canceled and replaced by talk show, which are less expensive to air. The other insurmountable challenge is the wide availability of details on soap operas online. Some of the shows even have their own fan sites. News about the industry, in other words, is now distributed and not longer in one place.

Soap Opera Digest’s first quarter advertising pages fell 21 percent in the first quarter and revenue was down 18 percent to $4 million. In 2000, the magazine’s circulation was in excess of 1.1 million readers. By 2005, it fell below 500,000 where it has remained for the last 5 years. Source Interlink Media, the magazine’s parent, which also owns automotive, truck, and motorcycle publications, has little reason to support a product based on a dying industry.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20128. MySpace
MySpace, once the world’s largest social network, died a long time ago. It will be buried soon. News Corp bought MySpace and its parent in 2005 for $580 million, which was considered inexpensive at the time based on the web property’s size. MySpace held the top spot among social networks based on visitors from mid-2006 until mid-2008 according to several online research services.

Then Facebook came along.

Facebook has 700 million members worldwide now and recently passed Yahoo! as the largest website for display advertising based on revenue. News Corp was able to get an exclusive advertising deal worth $900 million shortly after it bought the property, but that was its sales high-water mark. Its audience is estimated to be less than 20 million visitors in the U.S.

News Corp announced in February that it would sell MySpace. There were no serious bids.

Rumors surfaced recently that a buyer may take the website for $100 million. The brand is worth little if anything. A buyer is likely to kill the name and fold the subscriber base into another brand. News Corp has hinted it will close MySpace if it does not find a buyer.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20127. Kellogg’s Corn Pops
The cereal business is not what is used to be, at least for products that are not considered “healthy.” Among those is Kellogg’s Corn Pops ready-to-eat cereal. Sales of the brand dropped 18 percent over the year that ended in April, down to $74 million. That puts it well behind brands like Cheerios and Frosted Flakes, each which have sales of over $200 million a year. Private label sales have also hurt sales of branded cereals. Revenues in this category were $637 million over the same April-end period. There is also profit margin pressure on Corn Pops because of the sharp increase in corn prices.

Kellogg’s describes the product as being “Crispy, glazed, crunchy, sweet.” Corn Pops also contain mono- and diglycerides, used to bind saturated fat, and BHT for freshness, which is also used in embalming fluid. None of these are likely to be what mothers want to serve their children in an age in which a healthy breakfast is more likely to be egg whites and a bowl of fresh fruit.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20126. Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson was formed by the two large consumer electronics companies to market the handset offerings each had handled separately. The venture started in 2001, before the rise of the smartphone. Early in its history, it was one of the biggest handset manufacturers along with Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Motorola. Sales of Sony Ericsson phones were originally helped by the popularity of other Sony portable devices like the Walkman.

Sony Ericsson’s product development lagged behind those of companies like Apple and Research In Motion which dominated the high end smartphone industry early. Sony Ericsson also relied on the Symbian operating system which was championed by market leader Nokia, but which it has abandoned in favor of Microsoft’s Windows mobile operating because of license costs and difficulty with programmers.

In a period when smartphone sales worldwide are rising in the double digits and sales of the iPhone double year over year, Sony Ericsson’s unit sales dropped from 97 million in 2008 to 43 million last year. New competitors like HTC now outsell Sony Ericsson by widening numbers. Sony Ericsson management expects several more quarters of falling sales and the company has laid off thousands of people.

There have been rumors, backed by logic, that Sony will take over the operation, rebrand the handsets with its name, and market them in tandem with its PS3 consoles and VAIO PCs.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20125. Sears
The parent of Sears and Kmart—Sears Holdings—is in a lot of trouble. Total revenue dropped $341 million to $9.7 billion for the quarter, which closed April 30, 2011. The company had a net loss of $170 million. Sears Holdings was created by a merger of the parents of the two chains on March 24, 2005.

The operation has been a disaster ever since.

The company has tried to run 4,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada. Neither Sears nor Kmart have done well recently, but Sears’ domestic locations same store numbers were off 5.2 percent in the first quarter and Kmart’s were down 1.6 percent. Last year domestic comparable store sales declined 1.6 percent in the total, with an increase at Kmart of .7 percent and a decline at Sears Domestic of 3.6 percent.

New CEO Lou D’Ambrosio recently said of the last quarter that, “we also fell short on executing with excellence. We cannot control the weather, economy, or government spending. But we can control how we execute and leverage the potent set of assets we have.”

Shares are down 55 percent during the last five years. D’Ambrosio only reasonable solution to the firm’s financial problems is to stop supporting two brands which compete with one another and larger rivals such as Walmart and Target. The cost to market two brands and maintain stores that overlap one another geographically must be in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Employee and supply chain costs are also gigantic. The path D’Ambrosio is likely to take is to consolidate two brands into one–keeping the better performing Kmart and shuttering Sears.

These Are the Ten Brands That Could Disappear In 20124. American Apparel
The once-“hip” retailer reached the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year, and there is no indication that it has gained anything more than a little time with its latest financing. It currently trades as a penny stock. The company had three stores and $82 million in revenue in 2003. Those numbers reached 260 stores and $545 million in 2008. For the first quarter of this year, the retailer had net sales for the quarter of $116.1 million, a 4.7 percent decline over sales of $121.8 million in the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales declined 8 percent on a constant currency basis.

American Apparel posted a net loss for the period of $21 million. Comparable store sales have flattened, which means the firm likely will continue to post losses. American Apparel is also almost certainly under gross margin pressure because of the rise in cotton prices. The retailer raised $14.9 million in April by selling shares at a discount of 43 percent to a group of private investors led by Canadian financier Michael Serruya and Delavaco Capital.

According to Reuters, the 15.8 million shares sold represented 20.3 percent of the company’s outstanding stock on March 31. That sum is not nearly enough to keep American Apparel from going the way of Borders. It is a small, under-funded player in a market with very large competitors with healthy balance sheets. It does not help that the company’s founder and CEO, Dov Charney, has been a defendant in several lawsuits filed by former employees alleging sexual harassment.

See the rest of the list here.

(Douglas A. McIntyre/Becket Adams—24/7 Wall St./The Blaze)

[Editor's note: This story was originally released in June of 2011. Since then, very little has changed for the companies on this list. Thus far, the predictions have proven accurate and relevant.]

Comments (138)

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  • gmoneytx
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:05pm

    Once in a while you have to thin the herd…EVOLUTION BABY!

    Report Post » gmoneytx  
    • thepoopsmith
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:39pm

      Natural selection is different than evolution.

      Report Post » thepoopsmith  
    • Locked
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:56pm

      And neither is entirely appropriate here. It’s called capitalism; companies that cannot compete, die out. If we were going to go with biological terms…

      Example of evolution: Apple’s Macs never get a large share of the market from PCs. They design the iPod, emerge in a new market, and the company is revitalized. The new branding also helps lagging computer sales, but the company has evolved from a computer-based one to something new.

      Example of natural selection: Wal-Mart incorporates real-time monitoring of their products; as soon as a product is scanned at check-out, the system tracks how often and how many are sold to keep a tally, and reorders items when they run out. This type of system provides a competitive edge, and other stores attempt to do the same… to varying degrees of success. Some, such as K-Mart, cannot adopt the same traits to the same extent, and begin to lag behind, eventually dying out. The dominant traits are passed with the surviving stores.

       
    • thepoopsmith
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 5:23pm

      actually, natural selection (survival of the fittest) does fit. Natural selection in this case refers to the most sound business model to be able to survive in nature (market place) or, in Apples’ case, find a niche to be able to thrive in its own way (al la the 90′s era of Macintosh and whatnot)

      Report Post » thepoopsmith  
    • MIBUGNU2
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 6:40pm

      Wonder if BO and MO go, Queen Pelosi and Prince Harry leave too ??
      Just a Christmas Wish !! HMMMMM !!

      Report Post » MIBUGNU2  
    • Todd Decker
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:29pm

      Not evolution — capitalism. ^_~ (Same principle though.)

      Report Post » Todd Decker  
    • Unix
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:40pm

      What has FED MORE PEOPLE – Greed or Charity?

      Ask yourself that question…the answer…

      Greed, for without “self interest’, there would not be charity.

      Just think about that for a minute. Not all are greedy, not all are charitable, but overal, man has a good nature, execpt when poisoned by ideology.

      Sgt Unix Crust
      God Bless America

      Report Post » Unix  
    • Unix
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:43pm

      I wonder what happens to the Craftsman line? I do like the tools…that would be sad to see that go away, I guess I’ll be buying some now.

      Report Post » Unix  
    • Pyronaught
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 8:18pm

      Craftsman power tools have been junk for a long time. DeWalt, Royobi, Porter-Cable, Milwaukee etc. make a superior product. There was a time when Craftsman power tools were decent, but you’d have to go way back to the 70s.

      Report Post »  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 8:32pm

      @locked
      re : Example of natural selection: Wal-Mart incorporates real-time monitoring of their products; as soon as a product is scanned at check-out, the system tracks how often and how many are sold to keep a tally, and reorders items when they run out. This type of system provides a competitive edge, and other stores attempt to do the same… to varying degrees of success. Some, such as K-Mart, cannot adopt the same traits
      ***
      There’s also a little item called “customer Input” I lived a short hop from a k-mart till they closed it, now 1/2 mile further from walmart. A farm community, I asked k-mart to handle bib over-alls, for an elderly farmer family member who wanted them. The sales rep said, “We get that request all the time and corporate says, “Tuff, there are stores within 20 mi which handle them, they can go there! I went the 20 miles to Walmart and got them! Now Walmart’s just past a vacant kmart store, if I want something they don’t carry, they’ll check on line to see if another store has it, and have it shipped there at their expense for me to pick up! Sears barely surprises me,my son worked for their hardware stores during college. 1 winter he sold more snowblowers than they had in store, he checked on line that they had them in the warehouse and reserved them, for customers, each week he couldn’t get them in, 3 wks later he was told, “You sold yours, they‘re held for stores who can’t sell them.” It took a call ot corporate Pres to get them re

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
    • C. Schwehr
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 8:35pm

      Exactly…hows that 2011 model Hudson Hornet runnin’ for ya?

      Report Post »  
    • NoRoomForSocialismHere
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 9:30pm

      Globalism, WTO, and UN are nation killers. The wealthy planned all of this and its working…The Middle class is almost gone. Now we have Marxism to deal with at the same time, are they the same?

      Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 9:34pm

      We are in the middle of a fascist development for socialist growth. Some businesses that have fallen out of favor with government have to be culled. They’ve refused to go international (to the degree government wants) and share their profits as directed by the official “redistribution of wealth” policy.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • NoRoomForSocialismHere
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 9:36pm

      The Kellogs thing, remember who was the CEO (a Mexican or Cuban)? Yeah Bush took him as a buisness consultant and worked with Mexico on FREE TRADE.

      The millionaires have become billionaires since the 1990, gotta love dat Global Nation that takes America out of America. RINOs have done well at taking over without a shot

      Report Post »  
    • NoRoomForSocialismHere
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 10:08pm

      Apples Mac was for the mature in computers or if you were an artistic type. Their graphics was the best only let them out of the corral not long ago and that was a good day for PCers

      Report Post »  
    • NoRoomForSocialismHere
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 10:13pm

      Sears tools were made in the USA, remember that? They were very good and they were the first to replace any that broke in use. Sears was swell, hows that Globalism working for you, whished you did not have to compete with countires that have slave children to do the work while chained up

      Report Post »  
    • independentvoteril
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 10:35pm

      HEY I like my SUGAR POPS they are a good snack in the evening better than pop corn cause there are no Kernels.. come on .. Hopefully they will still make the generic ones..

      Report Post » independentvoteril  
    • NoRoomForSocialismHere
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 10:57pm

      @UNIX
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:40pm

      You prefer greed then say God Bless America, thats oil and water not a mix

      I have never wanted to be rich and I am not. I have been very charitable though. Bill Gates was a millionaire the day he was born and inherited millions more along with real estate and such.

      HE NEVER GAVE TO CHARITY until one of his White House visits with Clinton. Gates wanted more Indians on immigration and Clinton said I noticed you dont give to chairty. Well in short, Gates donated to the Clinton Library and has since saw the light. He was worth 50 billion at the time and is now worth 59 billion and that is after joining with another billionaire to give all their money away (laugh).

      It was good in America until business and the politicians that provide cover and protect them shipped it all OUT! Now we have invent new things and make new factories if we want capitilism in America again.

      We have Free Trade, not capitilism, which means you can make your profits overseas, dont pay a tariff for your product to come into port while hidding your money and using taxpayers infrastructure.

      TEA will have to rule to get America back

      Report Post »  
    • SHOWMESTATEGUY
      Posted on November 29, 2011 at 2:55am

      All these companies should go green and ask for help from our Department of Energy. If that doesn’t work go big time union like GM. BO would bail them out for either reason.

      Capitalism died in the US in 2008.

      Report Post »  
    • AmazingGrace8
      Posted on November 29, 2011 at 9:41am

      @unix

      Greed/Charity….heard that from Rush radio show 11/28…food for thought.

      Report Post »  
    • RaidersImperium
      Posted on December 3, 2011 at 11:17am

      You’re right. An outside shot would be Sears changing to Sears USA and only carry American made. I don‘t care if they already have a lot I’m not trudging through that dark wood on a hunt. Kmart was dead around this time of year, in 2004 I think? Someone needs to put a bullet in that walker’s head once and for all.

      Report Post »  
  • the old man
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:04pm

    Walmart has been eating both their lunch for years. If Sears would be brave enough to step out and sell QUALITY “made in America” products, and quit peddling third world junk like Walmart, they could turn it around.

    Report Post »  
    • Eblaze44
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:40pm

      Expect Walmart in the US to soon thin out and down. They have cut about 25% of their brand names, the shelves are often bare, stocking is slow, prices are up – in the local super center – their Great Value Brand Ice Cream is the same price as Breyer’s (sp?). Where you once looked for a parking space, now you can often find one within 15 close to the doors. Only on paydays does it seem to come close to it’s old patronage. Most “Great Value” items are crap – only those that are regulated for quality – like their milk and butter – hold their own – Many people go to one of the larger chain groceries to buy meat – even if they pay a little more. How do you say Walmart’s meat looks “butchered”.

      Report Post » Eblaze44  
    • Eblaze44
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:46pm

      The Sears/Kmart story is sad. It is too bad that the Sears quality items weren’t brought into the K-Mart stores. K-Mart was being killed off by the mega Walmart behemoth that could outbuy them with quantity discounts. It also killed itself by celebrity branding of products like Martha Stewart – which wasn’t the greatest name in anything for a few years because of her little insider trading and incarceratioin – she survived and made even more money. Her tv show isn’t near what it was pre jail, but it’s still a good “home ec” sort of place – sort of like what used to be on PBS before the socialists took it over.

      Report Post » Eblaze44  
    • benshivd
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 5:24pm

      I guess you haven’t been in a Kmart or Sears lately. I haul Sears and Kmart freight and i can tell you. Save for toys and apparel. ALOT of their stuff is made in USA. I know i pick it up from local companies every day. Nearly 100% of the new Smart Sense line especially. As far as apparel goes nearly NO ONE in the US makes clothing anymore. Toys are probably close to the same.Remember that when your buying at walmart theres an AMERICAN company around the bend that you could be supporting.

      Report Post »  
    • Mr.Fitnah
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:50pm

      Most walmart shoppers dont know or care about America. Its just the source of the snap ebt gift cards and where they send there kids for day care while they do their hair and nails.

      Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
  • ilikai
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:02pm

    The Deal hasn’t gone through between ATT and T-Mobile so T-Mobile is still alive, no matter what the first paragraph says….

    Report Post » ilikai  
  • bifgroovey
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:59pm

    Going into a K-mart makes me feel like I am rummaging through someones garage sale…

    Report Post » bifgroovey  
  • Steev
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:59pm

    frankly, I’m surprised the ones that are still with us are still with us. Our society is built on a free trade market and companys must evolve and with the infrastructure ( government regulation and manipulation, regulation which has subtley placed confines designed to weaken the business world foundation to the point that a very evil and vicious administration (( current administration )) can squeeze the life from it ) that has promoted it’s growth over the past 50 / 60 years can only take it so far before it tops out . Most of them are dug in so far with what they do that they can’t survive any other way { it’d be like some kid getting a full ride on a basketball scholarship, going on to the pros, having some career ending injury then becoming a hobo begging for money because he didn’t get a degree, and he had no plan-b. They were to blinded by a souless financial success and greed to see what was happening to them – to naive and thoughtless to realize it could all crumble like a house of cards.

    Report Post » Steev  
  • Locked
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:52pm

    Does theblaze have a deal going with 24/7 Wall Street? All of their “list” format articles lately have been going to their site, and the authors here only include about half of the list, forcing the readers to go to the site to get the rest. Seems like a way to boost a site’s viewers, but hey, I’m cynical.

    That said, I agree fully on myspace dying out. And I, for one, am happy to see it go.

    Report Post »  
    • Chuck Stein
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 6:20pm

      Good point about the incomplete lists & need to go to another site.
      I am kinda sad about Corn Pops, though. I remember when they were Sugar Pops.

      Report Post »  
    • Chris2
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 7:29pm

      No, some sites don’t allow a full posting of their articles.

      Report Post »  
    • Bro Geo Too
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 8:37pm

      Wait a minute, I agree with Chuck, Sugar (corn) Pops is too good to fail.

      Report Post »  
    • JJ Coolay
      Posted on November 29, 2011 at 12:35am

      Here’s a thought, instead of posting someone else’s article, write your own and the WHOLE thing can be posted on the same site.

      Report Post » JJ Coolay  
  • lawrench
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:50pm

    I think these companies should die if they are not keeping up with the competition. It is sad that American companies have sat on their laurels and are going to fail.

    Report Post » lawrench  
  • sillyfreshness
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:46pm

    Nokia-I remember 10 years ago when they were THE brand of cell phone. They also used to make Oki bag phones back in the mid to late 90s. They really blew it. Going with Microsoft for its OS isn’t going to fix anything either since MS makes a crappy OS for cell phones. And Sony Ericcson stopped making CDMA phones in 2002 to focus on GSM. They too had a good market position years ago. It just goes to show you not to become complacent. I think the moral of this story is SHTF is coming in 2012!

    Report Post » sillyfreshness  
  • sndrman
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:42pm

    hmmm

    Report Post »  
  • sndrman
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:41pm

    hope and change maybe these can be gov’t owned and run like gm is. just a thought.

    Report Post »  
    • Baddoggy
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:00pm

      Maybe Obama can save them for us!! But if he does, I will give them the same kind of business I give GM…The finger

      Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • Cold War Vet
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 5:28pm

      @ BADDOGGY

      I’m with you on your giving the finger to GM. They used money stolen from us to use communist union UAW labor to make their “green at any cost” P.O.S. Chevy Volt. They turned a profit on other lines later, and had the nerve to thump their chests and brag, while giving their commie buddies big, fat bonuses. Union commies scored big while American taxpayers got the shaft.

      GM treats America like dirt. I urge all REAL Americans to NEVER give GM their business. I give them a 1-finger salute with both hands whenever I see one of their billboards or ads on TV. GM blows. ‘Nuff said.

      Report Post » Cold War Vet  
  • kunman
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:37pm

    And their CEOs will walk away with millions. Servance packages should be tried to performance. If you crash a company, you should be made go down with the ship and be held liable.

    Report Post »  
    • Blackhawk1
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:58pm

      Tell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEO’s that. At least these companies are not taxpayer funded and if they go under the severance packages are approved by the stockholders and Board of Directors, not Obama and other idiots in Government that never had a job.

      Report Post » Blackhawk1  
    • Mil Mom
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 8:44pm

      @Blackhawk1
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:58pm
      Tell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEO’s that. At least these companies are not taxpayer funded and if they go under the severance packages are approved by the stockholders and Board of Directors, not Obama and other idiots in Government that never had a job
      ***
      But isn’t Barney Frank the big CEO who authored their demise, AND HE’S GETTING WHILE THE GETTING CAN BE. (But giving up his congressional immunity.) We can only hope he and Dodd make a big splash with them!

      Report Post » Mil Mom  
  • Warphead
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:36pm

    Sears. We used to get so excited when the new catalogs came out. Me and my little brother would write the key code number, page number and description down on a piece of paper for all the toys we wanted for Christmas. We loved the catalog. Then Sears started charging for the catalogs and we didn’t get anymore. We had bought almost every non-grocery item from Sears before the catalog charge. Then when the credit card craze hit and everyone started buying items from the catalog by phone using their new credit cards (didn’t have Internet yet), Sears decided it would discontinue their catalog. I still wonder why. We also visited K-Mart quite frequently when I was a kid. Then Walmart came and offered so much more and K-Mart kept on doing the same old thing. I stopped in my local K-Mart the other day, for nostalgic reasons. Why it was as if I stepped back in time 35 years. Everything was just as it was thirty years ago. It made a great museum but a lousy retail store. So in desperate decline these two Titanic passengers, Sears and K-Mart, joined hands. Now they wait together for the inevitable. I find it rather sad. These were the pillars of successful businesss. Sears had catalogs in almost every home in the country at one time. But like people, they must eventually die. I just wished they would have died naturally and not from self inflicted wounds. I saw it coming years and years ago for these two. Sears, discontinued their catalog? I’m still stunned. Oh well.

    Report Post » Warphead  
    • HotFixIt
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:45pm

      Oh, the many hours pouring over they toy section of that catalog before Christmas! I was just discussing that with my mother a few nights ago… how wonderful. I also bought my first lego set from the Sears catalog. A large set that cost all of $12.00 I think. I ordered and picked it up.. paid with my savings.. mostly pennies.. I remember those poor women having to count all those pennies!!!! Still have the box of legos with the majority of them in it up in the closet at my parents! .. have my old wooden lincoln logs I bought before that too! … also through the Sears catalog.

      Report Post »  
    • kunman
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:48pm

      When they cut out the Sears catalog, some farmers like my grandfather had to go out a buy TP for the first time.

      Report Post »  
    • kunman
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:51pm

      Is Sears / Kmart too big to fail?

      Report Post »  
    • Tman47
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:05pm

      Sears. They used to make good tools and stand behind them. Took a broken Craftsman ratchet wrench in for replacement. Instead of a new one I was given a ‘refurbished’ tool.
      Bought an expensive Kenmore freezer there a few years ago. It died 2 months out of warranty and would have cost more to replace the compressor than the whole freezer cost new! (the salesperson who owned the store assured me that it had a 5-year warranty just like the refrigerator I bought from him…turned out the freezer only had a 1-year warranty: He would not stand behind it)
      New Sears microwave, made in China, lasted 13 months. We are DONE with Sears (and Kmart)

      Report Post » Tman47  
  • HotFixIt
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:26pm

    I have quite a few things in my home that came from Sears.. unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, they tend to last a long time. I don’t have to shop there often. Garage door opener, water softner, trash compactor (yes out of fashion but I LOVE IT!), gas grill, main TV and I bought and expensive tool dad wanted last Christmas. It was the only place I could find what dad wanted. I enjoy shopping there because it is less hectic and the customer service is better than the box stores. When I need a large, durable item.. Sears is one of the first places I look.

    Report Post »  
    • HotFixIt
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:32pm

      Oh, forgot to say, Sears is also very good to its customers in need. When Hurricane Ike took my brother and SIL’s home, Left them literally homeless with NOTHING.. not even the government willing to help since they were on already on welfare rolls, … Sears suspended all interest fees on their credit card balance. Let them take a holiday on their payments for a while then only pay on the principal. That is being customer friendly in my book!

      Report Post »  
    • HotFixIt
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:36pm

      OOPS.. BIG OOPS.. they were NOT on welfare after IKE.. that is why the government would not help them! Had to fix that. If they had been on welfare, they could have gotten help.

      Report Post »  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:50pm

      NOW, where will I get my Craftsman tools replaced when I break one?

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • woemcat
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:26pm

    and what sucks is AMERICAN APPAREL IS MADE IN THE US!!!! it’s being crushed by CHINA!!!!

    Report Post » woemcat  
  • The10thAmendment
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:25pm

    Too bad facebook didn’t make the list of failed enterprises. Mark Zuckerberg has become a corruptocrat sell-out to the federal government.

    Report Post » The10thAmendment  
  • grayling646
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:25pm

    SOAP OPERA DIGEST!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    On a serious note, I hope all the folks who work for these various company’s are able to find employment if any of them do fail.

    Report Post »  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:24pm

    Quick! We must bail them out!

    Only this time let China bail them out directly, rather than an obuma union stimulant package

    Report Post » Stoic one  
    • sndrman
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:45pm

      watch the socialist in chief blame the upteen “jobs”bill not getting passed in full and blame republicans

      Report Post »  
  • yaygrr
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:22pm

    i remember seeing this story……in june.

    Report Post »  
  • Michael
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:21pm

    One day we will wake up and find one brand of everything. One brand of toilet tissue, soup, meat, etc. All will be government run and we will have to wait in line for hours to get it. This is what you get when you give up security for freedom.

    Report Post » Michael  
  • @leftfighter
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:19pm

    Sears.

    I can handle no myspace, Nokia- meh, Soap Opera Digest- meh, Corn Pops- there are other cereals, but… Sears?

    A Chicago-based company killed by economic mismanagement by a Chicago-based Marxist Malingerer-in-Chief.

    Report Post » @leftfighter  
  • cessna152
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:15pm

    I wish BIG government and corruption would disappear…

    Report Post » cessna152  
    • cemerius
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:20pm

      As long as their is “Big Government” there will be “corruption”……

      Report Post » cemerius  
    • I support God's Israel!
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 4:21pm

      As long as there is GOOD and EVIL, there will always be the devil trying to tear GOOD apart in more ways than one. So, our EVIL President will attempt to take down all that is GOOD in this country, including the GOD WE WORSHIP, since he can’t even say the word GOD in any of his prayers, IF THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL THEM.

      Report Post » I support God's Israel!  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:14pm

    Personally these are what I want to see disappear in 2012…

    Mr Obama
    Mr Reid
    Mr Biden
    Mrs Pelosi
    Progressives
    #Occupy bands
    Socialists
    Unionists

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • DavidZion
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:14pm

    Wow every other phone use to be a Nokia. Glad to see myspace going always thought it had the feel of a back alley.

    Report Post » DavidZion  
  • SheriS
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:14pm

    These companies are just a small part of the companies will go down in the recession we are in—just pray it won’t become a depression, but with Obama at the head, nothing will surprise me as he continues to spend and Dems won’t make the cuts that need to be made. Stupidity continues in my country while taxpayers brace for tax increases since the idiots on the Demo side won’t agree to the cuts that need to be made! Wiping out all the jobs Obama created in the White House and areas that he controls would go a long way to helping since he has invented so many jobs paying in the hundreds of thousands dollar—Obama and Soros’ goals seems to create another failed nation since Soros has bragged about all the countries he has killed—pray the USA is not his next!

    Report Post »  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:32pm

      By many a definition this IS a depression. The fed plays with the numbers so it can say ‘OH OH we were up last month’ only to revise the numbers down a quarter later.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
  • netmail
    Posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:10pm

    Why pick on poor Corn Pops when practically EVERY processed cereal (even organic ones) are nutritionally empty? Just do a search under ‘Boxed cereal is not real food’. Don’t store this crap in your bomb shelters or feed it to your kids. Just sayin’….

    Report Post »  
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