here's merger for ya:

Kmart, Sears to Merge for $11B, Create No. 3 U.S. Retailer
Wednesday, November 17, 2004

•Kmart Plucks New CEO From Yum Brands in Management Musical Chairs
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The discount retailer Kmart Holding Corp. (KMRT) is combining with one of the most venerable names in U.S. retailing, Sears, Roebuck & Co. (S), in an $11 billion deal that will create the nation's third largest retailer.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138801,00.html

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Can see Martha now making an ad for a Craftsman Hacksaw cutting through metal bars and her saying :and this is a good thing:

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

LOL

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

now I know where to buy my Kraftsman tools ...

__________________
72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

What will a loser like K-Mart do with Sears I am surprised that Sears has agreed to it. What banks in their right mind want to finance K-mart for the acquisition

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Flash Gordon

2003 E500 BlackOpal/Charcoal

2004 Infiniti G35X

What will happen to all our Craftsman tools if they fail?

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Both of these companies are losers. Its either merge or die on the altar of the Walmart God. Target needs to join in as well.

As many financial gurus have predicted, the merger and acquistion teams are back. Consolidation works if the share values are low and when the only feasible means of growth in a market is by buying somebody else's customers. Sears, after buying the Land's End unit, really continued to flounder in ready to wear fashion, where it devotes the largest selling space. K-Mart, coming out of bankruptcy, has closed or spun off the least productive stores and, due to the bankruptcy, has considerably lower debt . . . it's not a bad thing. It won't be a surprise to see more and more consolidation in other industries.

Target has one thing going for it. It's cool! They have managed to be cool toward those age 13 to 25. They latched on to this group in the 80s and have not let go.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

And Wal-Mart just posted double digit earnings recently.

I like the merger idea-- they'll both keep their present names and look mostly the same too.

So don't look for a blue-light special on Craftsman tools anytime soon!

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

As long as Craftsman tools stay around I would have to shell out big $$$ for Snap On if Craftsman went away.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

After the initial shock of the announcement, the analysis is starting to get interesting. One school of thought: Sears Holding Company will be a corpse in 5-6 years since they still can't compete against WalMart and HomeDepot. And here's why:

Ed Lampert, CEO of K-Mart (acquired 52% during bankruptcy) isn't a retailer, he's a hedge fund manager.

Lampert also holds 15% of Sears stock before the merger. Which is interesting since a lot of the cash that propped up Kmart out of bankruptcy was the cash infusion from Lampert AND the sale of store, some of which were bought by . . . Sears.

Both KMart and Sears have already lost most of their customer base. Aside from hard goods, like appliances and tools, Sears' biggest drain is in soft goods (clothing). KMart cutback services and operations so much, they pretty much forced their customers to become Warren Buffet faithful. The combination of the two is unlikely to undo the damage done, even with the savings of further closings, consolidations and economy of scale.

Lampert, skilled Wall Streeter that he is, knows he can't penetrate the market already dominated by the 800 pound gorilla in global retailing, so he's going to make some money for investors before the plug gets pulled and the various units get spun off or liquidated.