Now it’s the pensioners’ fault. Fast Eddie Lampert, in his eternal quest to blame anybody but himself for the mess he’s made at Sears and Kmart, is now saying if he didn’t have all those legacy pension payments to make, he could have used that money to make his stores better places to shop. One suspects he would have just taken that money and found some other way to flow back into his own pockets through a special dividend or some other financial quackery.
Reality check: One estimate is that the pension funding amounts to $300 million a year. Not inconsequential but hardly a deal breaker for a company that has drained billions out and invested virtually nothing back into the business.
Realty check #2: These retirees didn’t just show up on his doorstep last Tuesday. They’ve been part of the Sears picture since the day he bought the place.
This dog-ate-my-company whining is classic Eddie…at his very worst.
WarrensReport 