汪翔
隨便想想
希爾斯曾經是美國昔日的巨無霸，曾經以在經濟蕭條，大家都不敢投資的時候，加緊擴張的步伐，最終一度讓自己占據先機，在下一輪經濟複蘇時大賺特賺，而震撼世界。
這一次，他們在金融危機之前選擇了一位當時被吹得神乎其神的善於玩弄地產的“天才”。在這個天才光環的照耀下，希爾斯的股價曾經一度騰飛。
隻可惜，假的終歸是假的。吹牛不可能為你帶來真正的財富和價值。
在一場金融危機之後，自以為聰明透頂的希爾斯，在自顧不暇的時刻，還牛哄哄的吃掉了一個必然會破產的 Kmart ，讓自己原本就很難自救的日子，過的是更加艱難。
如果謙虛一點，多數人都是不錯的 CEO 。如果牛哄哄的不知天高地厚，世界上有的就隻能是蠢材。不同的，恐怕就是掛在外表的遮羞布的顏色了。
當初，在希爾斯推出那個牛哄哄的“ Great Indoors stores ”時 ， 我還專門開了幾個小時的車，去好奇了一番。結果讓我非常失望，我怎麽樣也看不出那樣做的意義和價值實現的可能性，除了玩點“麵子”達到新官上任三把火的目的，實現點麵子上的滿足之外，那樣做的結果，就是在原本已經現金短缺的情況下，讓公司未來的日子更為難過。隻是沒有想到，噩夢會來得這麽的快。
美國的企業家製度有著內在的致命缺陷，這次的金融危機在一定程度上就是它造成的。在未來的日子，繼續在有意無意之中，為了自己短暫的個人利益和貪婪，還會有大量的公司會在類似的蠢材的領導下，繼續敗落。
我還記著巴菲特先生的那句話：如果一家企業隻能靠天才才能管理好，那麽，那家企業就不應該是值得你投資的公司。
希爾斯在這位新的 CEO 領導之下，吹出來的就是一位天才的故事。以他的邏輯和策略，希望讓這家大型零售店起死回生，也隻能期待奇跡的出現了。而創造奇跡，又隻能期待天才的傑作。結果，還是被巴菲特說準了：這個世界上沒有天才。至少，天才太罕見了。於是，當你以賭徒的心態投資時，你獲勝的幾率自然就會很小。
希爾斯書寫的，是一個很值得我們回顧和思考的故事。不僅僅是對於投資者，而且，對於企業的經營邏輯和理念，還有···
附錄： Polaris to lose another anchor
By Tim Feran
The Columbus Dispatch Sunday February 26, 2012
Sears Holdings Corp. will close all nine of its Great Indoors stores, including one at Polaris Fashion Place.
That store, which is Ohio’s only remaining Great Indoors location, opened in 2001 as one of the original anchors at Polaris.
Sears had hopes of expanding the chain to 100 locations when it opened its first Great Indoors in 1998 in Denver. The Illinois-based retailer hasn’t yet announced closing dates.
Intended to serve the home decor market with appliances, bedding and accessories, Great Indoors began struggling even before the recession, with three stores closing in 2003, including one in the Cincinnati area.
The planned closing makes Great Indoors the third of the original seven anchors at Polaris that did not or will not survive.
Lord & Taylor closed in 2003, and Kaufmann’s followed in 2006.
But the Polaris area’s strong demographics mean that the Great Indoors site won’t be vacant long, said Michael Simpson, vice president of brokerage at NAI Ohio Equities.
“I will predict that space will be backfilled with a deal at least before summer,” Simpson said.
Although the recession’s effects are partly to blame for the chain’s struggles, there are other reasons for the closings, analysts said.
“I never had the feeling that concept worked,” said local retail analyst Chris Boring, founder of Boulevard Strategies.
The high-end products at the store “need a lot of display space, and Polaris is not the cheapest real estate. Those are products that, in any environment, don’t turn over very fast, so you have to invest a lot in inventory, too.
“So, between the housing slump and the cost to absorb the concept, they had to be losing money. Then, when the company as a whole struggled, they just couldn’t afford to carry those stores anymore.”
Great Indoors’ parent, Sears Holdings, on Thursday reported a $3.1 billion loss in 2011 — including a $2.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter. It announced it would close some Sears and Kmart stores and sell off Orchard Supply Hardware stores to bolster its bottom line.
連接：
It's Kmart bought Sears! Please do some researches first.