Appliances drive Sears.

Implications: Bottom line is Sears goes as their appliance business goes.  with weakened demand and increased pressure from Lowe's and Depot there is no turnaround in sight. 5 years there will be lots of mall real estate available.  Sears customers are dying and attracting new customers is not in scope with their current format.

Analysis: Sears sales and profit will continue to fall as the pressure to compete with Lowe's and Depot in appliances increases.  Being the largest department in the store they will go as their appliance business goes.  The operating costs per store for Sears 2 largest competitors is a fraction of their costs.  Advertising effectiveness and foot traffic is so different that Sears faces a future with no more then 5 years to survive.  Short of some product magic Sears will evaporate faster than most people expect.