The numbers from Edison Trends and YouGov point to Sears’ larger existential struggle — bigger, arguably, than the company’s profit losses — coping with the long-term deterioration of the company’s customer base.
CEO Eddie Lampert told shareholders a little over a year ago, “We don’t need more customers. We have all the customers we could possibly want.” Even taking that statement at face value, the company’s comparable sales and outside data show that Sears has effectively lost more customers since Lampert said it.
