Demise of Target, Sears highlights retailers’ different corporate values
It was the best of times for employees of one company; it was the worst of times for loyal employees at another. Sorry to plagiarize Charles Dickens but it strikes me that the tales of Target Canada and Sears Canada are somewhat eerily similar.
It was January 2015 and Target announced it was ceasing its Canadian operations. This was after two years of investing and trying to make it work in this country. Target sought and was granted creditor protection.
Target had always been about its team members, and here is where the company showed its true values. In an unprecedented move, the company announced it was putting aside $175 million dollars for all team members to receive full pay from January until May. It didn’t matter if an employee was staying until the bitter end or if the company no longer required her services — there were no strings attached.
It’s one of the reasons I fondly recall working for Target. I have heard it’s been said that in the hardest of times, the darkest of days, you see what a company is truly made of. Target clearly was living up to its values, right until the end, and in the most trying of circumstances.
And then there is the slow, painful descent of a once great company. I am, of course, talking about Sears and the death spiral it has been in for a number of years.
I have always been a silent cheerleader for this company. It gave me my start as a worker and I cut my teeth there as a leader. I started my career at Sears just as Paul Walters had assumed leadership of the company. I saw the power of a dynamic leader.
People loved Paul and would do anything to see him succeed. He was able to inspire us and get us moving in the right direction. He communicated a clear vision; he stated that we couldn’t shrink ourselves to greatness — we had several strengths and we needed to use those to show the world who we were.
As a result, the company achieved record results and profitability. I remember the Sears stock selling for $40 and upwards on the Toronto Stock Exchange (now the shares are being delisted from the TSX).
Contrast that with the scene currently playing out. A company that once employed more than 30,000 associates now has fewer than 20,000.
Divisions have been sold off. Favourable store locations and leases have been closed in the name of the mighty short-term cash infusion. Departments have been outsourced, while remaining stores are old and tired-looking.
Then came the announcement that shook the business world — Sears would be seeking protection from its creditors. It’s sad that this once great company would be forced to seek this solution.
Further, it was announced that 59 stores would be closing in small communities across this great land, and about 2,500 people would lose their jobs.
Then the kicker: Because Sears was granted creditor protection, it was not legally bound to pay any severance to these employees. Further, retiree benefits were to be cut off and the pension plan would no longer be funded by the company.
Talk about adding insult to injury — how could a company do this to its loyal employees?
What are Sears Canada’s values? When I worked there, the values were known by everyone who worked for the company: “We will make Sears Canada a great place to work, a great place to shop and a great place to invest.”
It would appear those values are no longer alive within the company in not paying loyal employees and throwing them out of work with no assistance?
Ebenezer Scrooge would approve of this bottom-line focus and wringing out every last penny, while serving the short end of the stick to loyal employees. Certainly, this does not look like a great place to work.
Is it still a great place to shop? Would you shop at a company if you knew it was giving employees no safety net, showing no compassion, and punishing retirees who gave their all for this company?
Sears Canada said this decision wasn’t easy to make — I would say that making the right decision isn’t that hard. Do right by those who stood by you; show that sometimes being ethical is better than being legal.
The company went on to say Sears was reinventing itself. I would submit it has already reinvented itself.
What was once a great company and innovative retailer has now become a morally bankrupt company.
I will continue to observe the activities of Sears Canada. However, I am no longer rooting for its turnaround. I will be watching to see how long it takes the Canadian public to see through the sham and scam, to stop spending money online and at its stores.
While I don’t enjoy the thought of the remaining 15,000 employees losing their jobs, the Sears I once knew and worked for is but a distant memory.
To those working for this company, I wish you the best — I can appreciate the difficult situation you are facing. Clearly, we’ve all seen how low this company will go to save a buck.
It would be enough to make Charles Dickens write another novel about greed and the almighty dollar.
Steve Elliot is a store manager at Starbucks in Mississauga, Ont., and has worked there two years. He can be reached on Twitter @sellio7.
