Sun Jan 27 2013 03:26 PM
by TOWARDS THE LAST DAYS OF BUTLERS[Thanks to Steve Rowland for this. I recall fondly the happier days, pretty much all my early life till I was 24.]
February 1988 articles
Footwear News
Sears PLC chief hedges on possible Butler sale. (Butler Shoe Corp.)
Footwear News
| February 22, 1988 | Fallon, James; Tahmincioglu, Eve | Copyright
Sears PLC chief hedges on possible Butler sale
Responding to a report that Sears PLC plans to sell its Atlanta-based Butler Shoe Corp. and that store closures are imminent, Geoffrey Maitland Smith, chairman of Sears PLC, said, "There are plans afoot to do certain things, which we are investigating.
"Closures are one of the possibilities open to us. We also have toyed with the idea of a management buyout. What I'm saying is that there are all sorts of things that could be in play."
"There is no third party involved," he added, in reference to a report that New York-based investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton has been involved in the effort. "Something happens there from time to time. I always say I'm a good listener."
Lynn Kelly, president of Butler, confirmed that closures were definite, but in regard to the sale of Butler, he said, "That's news to me. I'd be alarmed to find that out. There are a tremendous amount of rumors.
"As far as closing stores (goes), there is no question of negotiations (to close) unprofitable (locations). Some of the stores are very unprofitable, and others are profitable. I don't know of a retailer that isn't looking to close unprofitable stores. Normally, we close 20 stores because of leases coming up.
"We have targeted 30 unprofitable stores to close over a 24-month period and replace those with at least that many in shopping centers where we don't have a good penetration."
When asked about reports from a source close to Butler that the company had suffered a 1987 loss of $20 million, Kelly said, "That's not accurate," though he added that the company went through a restructuring and that it "had a difficult year."
As for '87 sales, Kelly said, "There was a downturn in total sales in the fourth quarter, but the end-of-the-year figures were marginally ahead of last year." He added that business in January and February was "slightly ahead."
p.s. Someone want to start a "Bultlers Veteran Site"?
Allen Greenfield