Attn: Sears Employees

This post is very disturbing and I would recommend everyone read it. I bring it up now because we're entering what Sears is calling "Operation Fresh Start" (or, alternatively, "Operation Spring Cleaning"). As those who work there know, this operation involves everyone cleaning the store from top to bottom. Everything from dusting to repainting fixtures. I post this as a caution and as a "please take care" while you're doing this stuff.

This post below was taken by an ex-Sears employee from 2004 during a topic about cleaning the stores.

Not too long after I went to work for Sears I developed a severe asthma like lung condition. I couldn't walk across a room without panting and gasping for air and I had coughing spasm so severe that I would separate ribs and even pass out due to the pressure on the carotid and temporal arteries during a cough spasm.

It was diagnosed as adult onset asthma and since there is no cure, I began to receive treatment for the symptoms which helped somewhat. I worked there another 6 years before the symptoms got so severe that my doctors decided to look for a trigger. I had one coughing spell so severe that I actually had a small stroke that lasted until I passed out and the cough spasm subsided. These symptoms would grow in severity when I was at work and then subside somewhat when I was forced to take time off so I began to sense a pattern.

Aside: That's why my typing is so terrible today. I use the middle fingers of each hand in my hunt and peck typing technique and my left hand tends to fall behind my right if I try to go to fast. I used to type an accurate 40 wpm this way, and now I'm lucky to get 25 because I have to keep correcting right/left typos.

Anyway, I was sent off to LA for some extensive allergy testing and other tests that would determine what there was in my blood. Turned out I had no common allergies. My blood was full of mold spores from the type of mold that grows inside air conditioner ducts when they aren't maintained and I tested reactive to that.

The dust samples I took in, obtained simply by wiping a clean paper towel over the merchandise that I was dusting every day contained a significant number of asbestos fibers. The store had asbestos floor tiles that had been laid down when the store was built in 1975 and they were cracked an old. We suspected the floor buffers were stirring them up and causing them to float around in the air in the store. This was also during the remodel and they were constantly tearing these floors up and grinding them down to install new flooring in certain areas.

Their only precaution was to hang some loose plastic sheets around the construction area. The guys (contractors) doing the work all wore masks to prevent infiltration. We, as store associates, were of course not allowed to wear masks. Might frighten the customer into waiting until the project was over to come in and spend his dough.

The last thing that I tested positive for was organic spores brought about by... don't laugh... the infestations of pigeons that lived on the roof of the building and in the air ducts and AC air intakes. Our LP manager went up there and he said that not once did his feet actually touch the roof but that he was walking on inches deep crusts of pigeon crap. They had pulled all the rain gutters and downspouts off the buildings because they'd plug up with pigeon shit and flood the roof. The sidewalks under the edges of any overhang were often 2-3 inches deep in the stuff, especially in the winters when the rain would wash it off the roof itself.

So, pigeon mites, pigeon crap and the various little critters that existed in the dead, decaying carcasses of dead birds turned out to be not as harmless as you might think. This stuff was all being sucked in by the AC, and spread throughout the store and while others had various symptoms, yours truly had a hypersensitivity to all of it. In other words I got REALLY sick. It joined up with my heart failure to make me the grouchy old fart I am today.

Anyway, those are the three things you can look for if you're having any chronic respiratory problems or allergic reactions that ordinary testing isn't finding a trigger for. Toxic mold, asbestos fibers and pigeons. The unholy trinity Of Sears.

Oh by the way, once I had exposed this situation, Sears refused to run the air conditioners that year until mid-June, well into the 100+ degree season here in California's central valley and only after a couple of customers had nearly passed out and complained. Two associates had actual health problems with the heat also, but the BC manager accused them of being wusses, which was exactly what he had accused me of.

Remember, corporations may or may not care about you but no matter how they feel us employees should know better and deserve better treatment than something like this. Stand up for your rights and don't let them walk over you.

More SHC News

Well everyone, there's more news related to Sears Holdings Corp, its managers, its stores, or other. These are articles that I doubt you'll hear on CNN or find being broadcasted within the stores.

► 8 Companies that May Disappear in 2008
Sears is mentioned in this article (obviously). It mentions that the whole "temp CEO" thing sounds a bit like a prelude to an auction.

► Saving Sears Doesn't Look Easy Anymore
This is a great article that talks about what Eddie Lampert had in mind when he first decided to merge K-Mart and Sears (well, his front anyway) and now how it's a sinking ship. This is also a good quote from a side that we rarely hear about, the vendors. "Shoppers and workers are not the only ones complaining. Vendors who sell to Mr. Lampert say his relentless cost-cutting has steadily eroded their business at both Kmart and Sears, giving them little incentive to offer the chains their best new products. A result: a vicious circle of poor sales and second-rate merchandise."

► 1,000 O'Hare flights canceled due to brutal snowstorm
In Chicago the Westfield Hawthorn Mall closed at 2 p.m., making it the first time the mall has closed early in five years due to weather. "The decision is unusual, but necessary to ensure the safety of customers, retailers and staff, Kneeland-Woods said. " Why am I linking this? Because "one of the anchor stores, Sears will remain open" (emphasis mine). Yes, Chicago is being beaten by a brutal snowstorm, a mall that never closes has completely shut down .... except for the Sears store. Sure shows you what Sears thinks of its employees and their safety, huh?

► Sears' turnaround plan short on details, long on odds
"The desperate challenge facing Lampert is to turn around a storied 115-year-old department store chain suffering from a steep decline in sales and profits. But true to Lampert's secretive style, it's anybody's guess--not just on Wall Street, but also from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy at Sears' Hoffman Estates headquarters--how to fill in the details." In other words, no one knows what's going on except for the puppet master and he's not saying anything. This article also points out one more thing: "Lampert seems to want each of the new divisions to operate as separate profit centers. But that strategy creates the potential for confusion, because the separate units won't always work together. Conflicts of interest might arise." (emphasis mine)

► Sears filing outlines payout to ousted CEO
"Aylwin Lewis, forced out this week from the top job at Sears Holdings Corp., will continue to receive his $1 million salary through March 2010, Sears disclosed in a regulatory filing late Wednesday." Hush money? It seems very clear to me that Aylwin did not step down willingly. He was fired but they spun the news to make it seem like he was gracefully stepping down and taking responsibility. Hmm.

► Hanover Twp. Sears warehouse lays off 90
The layoffs have begun. "The Sears warehouse and shipping center in Hanover Township cut nearly 20 percent of its workforce Monday in the face of lean retail sales." I doubt you'll ever hear about this from anywhere else but here.

► Sears Canada and The Salvation Army Blanket the Country
FINALLY something positive! But it's from Sears Canada. From what I understand Eddie only owns about 70% of Sears Canada and the rest are still in the hands of the Canadian people (despite Eddie's efforts to buy all of it and make it a private company). Still, even though it's not completely our Sears, it was a good thing that they did.


That's all for this news update. There will be more to come (oh yes, there will be).

As an added bonus, I thought I'd go ahead and link everyone to a documentary called "The Corporation" (link). It's a three hour documentary that takes the corporation as a person (since corporations are, essentially, virtual people under the law) and analyzes the psyche and mental state. What kind of person would a corporation make? You'll have to watch and find out. (Note: broadband definitely required. dial-up would take the rest of your life to buffer it).

This documentary will open your eyes and will shock you. I HIGHLY recommend it.

The chairman, Eddie Lampert, is planning to split Sears up into multiple units. Everyone should check out this article. If the article isn't loading for you, read on (I'll c/p it).


Flagging Sears Plans Shakeup
In Latest Bid at Turnaround
By GARY MCWILLIAMS and JOANN S. LUBLIN
January 19, 2008; Page A1

In a fresh effort to halt a long decline, Sears Holdings Corp. Chairman Edward S. Lampert plans to reorganize the 121-year-old retailer into several businesses with broad authority to shape their own future.

Mr. Lampert, a hedge-fund executive who acquired the retailer in 2005 through a merger with Kmart Corp., now sees a holding-company structure as the best way to breathe new life into Sears's slow-moving culture, said people familiar with the situation.

The change was outlined to senior executives Thursday after Sears, with $50 billion in annual revenue, warned that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit would fall as much as 57% below the year-earlier level. Sears shares have lost half their value over the past year despite new marketing and advertising moves at Sears and Kmart.

A Sears spokesman confirmed the moves late Friday, saying the new structure will provide operating businesses with "greater control, authority and autonomy." Mr. Lampert wasn't available to comment, he added.

The restructuring is a high-wire act for Mr. Lampert, whose ESL funds own nearly 48% of Sears shares, according to securities filings, a big reason ESL was down more than 20% last year. Since acquiring Sears, he has been active in hiring decisions, strategy and merchandising despite his dislike of the spotlight.

It also represents the latest effort to turn around a pioneering department store chain, founded in 1886, that for much of the last decade has seemed lost in the past, unable to stop customer losses to more focused rivals. Sears's once-dominant place supplying refrigerators and washing machines to American homes has been chipped away by Lowe's Cos. and Best Buy Co. Its clothing business has suffered at the hands of Kohl's Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. Its identity as the nation's broadest one-stop shop was usurped years ago by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The contemplated restructuring would create separate units to manage Sears's real-estate holdings and run brands such as Kenmore, Diehard and Craftsman. It isn't clear how the units would be divided or which unit would run the stores themselves.

The structure would allow Mr. Lampert to spin off or close business units more easily, said a person knowledgeable about his thinking. "He warmed to the idea of a spin-off strategy," this person said. The company also is willing to be flexible about how each unit will be set up, based on the skills of its operating executive. One practical effect of that could be to reduce costs.

Mr. Lampert has argued retailing shouldn't be so inefficient, making big purchase decisions as much as a year in advance and without concrete information on customer needs. "He's trying to find a different way to manage the company where he can be involved in a more effective manner. The previous structure wasn't working," said an executive with knowledge of the restructuring.

Walter Loeb, a retail consultant, said the plan flies in the face of most retailers' strategy of designing a cohesive image for their business. "He's looking to turn it around by using a different approach," said Mr. Loeb. "I think it's risky."

Sears's turnaround efforts have been hurt by a revolving door of senior executives at its Sears and Kmart retail units. John C. Walden, Sears's chief customer officer, who was hired away from Best Buy less than a year ago, resigned this week, a Sears spokesman confirmed. Mr. Walden couldn't be reached for comment.

Details on how many businesses would be created and who would oversee the units were unclear. Aylwin B. Lewis, the company's 53-year-old chief executive, has been involved in developing the new organization but his position after the revamping isn't clear. Some retail experts have suggested that the company abandon its Kmart brand and convert the stores to Sears.

Mr. Lampert, a 45-year-old billionaire hedge-fund manager who is often compared to famed investor Warren Buffett, wants Sears to have a structure similar to Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. conglomerate. Mr. Buffett typically gives chief executives of his business units broad latitude. The Berkshire holding company has only a small staff.

Sears's dramatic profit decline comes amid rising customer complaints about its stores and service. Susan R. Russell, a Maine-based consultant to nonprofits and longtime Sears customer, says recent instances of poor service have sent her shopping elsewhere. Sears initially refused to honor a warranty for an oven that was delivered damaged, and another time it required hours on the phone and two service visits to replace a dishwasher rack covered by a warranty. "They value people's time at zero. That's outrageous," Ms. Russell said.

Mr. Lampert has been thinking about splitting up the company for some time, say people familiar with the change. He has been interviewing seasoned retail executives for positions atop the holding company, and for what might be as many as three dozen independent business units. The heads of the new business units are expected to include some existing Sears executives as well as outsiders.

As general partner of the Greenwich, Conn.-based ESL Investments hedge fund, Mr. Lampert has been careful not to be seen as running the company. He left Sears's Hoffman Estates, Ill., headquarters Wednesday, a day before the revamping was outlined by executive vice presidents Dev Mukherjee and Corwin Yulinsky.

Messrs. Mukherjee and Yulinsky described the plan to executives Thursday morning, saying it would allow the company to unlock the value of its real estate, proprietary brands, and online units by managing each as separate entities. The executive over Kenmore, for instance, could strike sales or licensing deals with other retailers, said a person who attended the meeting.

According to the Sears spokesman, each operating unit will have a "designated leader and an advisory group comprised of senior Sears Holdings executives to provide direction and oversee the business unit's performance."

The restructuring is an indication that Mr. Lampert won't be making big new investments in the business. The plan is for unit presidents to craft their own budgets and set spending priorities. With the U.S. economy heading downward into what some see as a recession, this year could be troublesome because Sears's cash cushion has declined. The company spent some $2.9 billion this fiscal year on share repurchases, some at as high as $150 apiece, compared with Friday's closing price of $89.43. Sears forecast cash and equivalents as of Feb. 2 of about $1 billion, down from about $4 billion a year ago.