A report Friday, October 21, in the Wall Street Journal that toy vendor Jakks Pacific Inc. has stopped shipping Kmart led the retailer’s parent company to defend how it pays vendors in a blog post on the Sears Holdings website. In a quarterly conference call, Jakks officials said concerns over Kmart’s fiscal health led to the decision.
Sears Holidings this year has announced the closing of 132 Kmart locations, which led a number of product suppliers and retail industry watchers to question the overall fiscal health and long term viability of the discount chain.
Jason Hollar, Sears Holdings CFO, wrote in a blog post, “Despite the speculation and rush to report the negative, we have always paid our vendors for orders we have placed and as part of the normal negotiations between retailers and vendors, there are occasionally disputes over prices, allocations of product and other terms.”
He continued, “We will continue to source products by working with our vendor partners with an eye towards meeting the expectations of our tens of millions of Shop Your Way members. We are focused on returning the company to profitability and recognize that mutually beneficial relationships with our partners are critical to our success. At the same time, we will continue to make decisions and take actions that protect the company.”
