K Mart's Blue Period

摘要

If turnarounds were fashion, K Mart would never go out of style. The discounter has spent the better part of a decade reorganizing itself. The latest-and maybe the last-effort is being led by Charles Conaway, 41, whom the company plucked from drugstore chain CVS 18 months ago. Late last week the company's stock was pummeled, dropping 14%, to $4.71, after Prudential Securities retailing analyst Wayne Hood suggested in a report that bankruptcy would not be a bad move for K Mart. A Chapter 11 filing would allow the company to walk away more easily from the leases of underperforming stores and warehouses and move ahead with construction of new facilities in more promising locations. Hood believes that's the only way K Mart can even begin to compete with No. 1 Wal-Mart, which amid the recession is gaining share, embarking on a record expansion and even considering a move into banking.