If Sears Holdings goes down, as a number of retail analysts have predicted, its chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert won’t go out without a fight.
In a blog post on the Sears Holdings website, Lampert took issue with the opinions of “many commentators” who he feels have rushed to conclusions about the future of the company.
“Not only have these predictions been off the mark and based on incomplete and selective information or biased sources, but they have also been harmful,” Lampert said. “We have spent a lot of time educating many external stakeholders— we need each other for success— and while it hasn’t been easy, we are still here and fighting hard.”
Calling the past year “one of the most challenging periods” for brick-and-mortar retailers, he said that Sears Holdings— parent company of Sears and Kmart— needs the support of its members, vendors, lenders and the communities it serves to succeed.
While Lampert has taken issue over the dire predictions about the future of Sears Holdings by some analysts and members of the media, the company in its annual report also questioned whether the retailer would survive long term.
In its annual report, Sears Holdings said that its historical operating results indicate “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to continue.
Following an outline of several steps the company has taken to raise cash and improve liquidity that includes store closures, selling of brands such as Craftsman and securing loans, the company wrote, “We believe that [these]actions … are probable of occurring and mitigating the substantial doubt raised by our historical operating results and satisfying our estimated liquidity needs 12 months from the issuance of the financial statements.
“However, we cannot predict, with certainty, the outcome of our actions to generate liquidity, including the availability of additional debt financing, or whether such actions would generate the expected liquidity as currently planned.”
In his blog post, Lampert wrote that people have asked him why he is still committed to the company and why he continues to invest a significant amount of “my own money” in the company’s transformation.
“The answer is that I firmly believe we will succeed in becoming a company that helps our members manage and improve their lives,” he said. “I don’t know why people would root against a company that impacts so many people, but I can tell you that the board of directors and the management team are doing everything in our power for us to succeed— we are fighting like hell!”