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E-commerce is often blamed on the ills of brick and mortar retailers. But on Thursday, Sears CEO Eddie Lampert accused the company's retirees, particularly pension payments, of emptying corporate coffers.
The statements came in a Lampert blog post in which he pointed out that since 2005, Sears has contributed more than $ 4.5 billion to its pension fund. This amount would be much lower – and most importantly, could be used to fund the company's operations – if federal interest rates had been higher since the 2008 financial crisis.
"If the company had been able to use these billions of dollars in its operations, we would have been in a better position to compete with other large retail companies, many of which do not have large pension plans and so have not to allocate billions of dollars to these liabilities, "he wrote. According to CNN, deposits indicate that Sears pays approximately $ 300 million a year in retirement pensions.
One of the ways Sears has remained dynamic in recent years: partnerships with Amazon. At the end of August, Sears announced that it would expand the pilot program that allows Sears to install and balance automotive tires that consumers buy from Amazon. The deal seems to be a win-win situation for retailers as well as for customers. Amazon buyers who purchase tires, including the Sears Die-Hard brand, can ship tires to a nearby Sears Auto Center for installation.
In August, Sears announced it would close another 46 stores, including 12 at Kmart. The news came after the company announced the closure of more than 100 sites in January, following the closing of another 300 Sears and Kmart in 2017.
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