Sears thought about buying Best Buy in the late 1990s, according to its former CEO, the (Minn.) Star Tribune reported. Former Sears Chief Executive Arthur Martinez told the Wall Street Journal that in late 1998, he approached leaders of the Richfield-based business, as well as Home Depot, as a way to get access to off-mall locations. “The issue that we had was that 90 percent of our stores were in shopping malls. Everybody could see what was going on with Walmart, Target and the others going to strip centers," Martinez revealed for the first time in a story Friday. “That was increasingly more customer-friendly than the schlep from a big parking lot all the way into the mall.” The proposal hardly caused a ripple, by Martinez’s account. “Best Buy’s expectations were so high that there was no favorable return on our investment. I think the stock was at $7 and founder Dick Schulze wanted in the high $20s,” he told the Journal. A potential merger with Home Depot ran into antitrust issues. Sears emerged from bankruptcy in early February after a decades-long spiral and $5.5 billion in debt nearly sank the once-mighty retailer. A bankruptcy judge allowed chairman, former CEO and largest creditor Eddie Lampert to purchase Sears through his hedge fund. Sears is closing many of its stores, including the anchor spot at the Mall of America, which is scheduled to go dark later this month. The retailer eventually will slim down to 425 smaller-format stores. At the time of its chapter 11 filing last October, there were 700.
