Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Sears Executives abandoning the Company laden with stolen Illinois Taxpayer dollars

Sears executives are fleeing from the company one after another.
Sears Holdings Corp's Chief Marketing Officer Monica Woo left the struggling chain earlier this year after just five months, dealing yet another blow to the retailer as it tries to turnaround its business.

John Goodman, a seasoned retail executive who was executive vice president of the apparel and home unit, left earlier this year. Dev Mukherjee, president of the home appliances business at Sears, left the Hoffman Estates-based chain in March. Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan (Reuters)
In December, Governor Quinn gave Sears Holding Corp a special tax dispensation after the company threatened to move out of their Hoffman Estates, Illinois Corporate Headquarters and close numerous Illinois stores.

Sears used their leverage over Quinn to secure tax credits worth $15 million a year for 10 years, which it can use against withheld employee income taxes. The deal also extended a special taxing district, reducing the company's local property tax bill for another 15 years.

The reason a Corporation gets special tax district in a state is so they can funnel their profits to the Corporate HQ and report the income in that special district thus paying a lower rate from other states on the profits.

There was an obvious quid pro quo in place that Sears would spare Illinois stores, but last month Sears Holding announced it was closing five stores in Illinois.
The Illinois stores — two Sears locations and three Kmarts — join a list of up to 120 underperforming stores that Sears said in December would be shut. No Illinois stores were on the first list, but Sears didn't rule out later additions.
I don't know if Monica Woo, John Goodman, or Dev Mukherjee received a Golden Parachute special executive compensation severance packages for their bang-up work running Sears into the ground but, I do know the average Sears/K-Mart worker got a Corporate Golden Shower when they were terminated.

But, I wouldn't be shocked to find out those 3 received millions for helping with the special tax dodge and the Corporate "restructuring". Because this is how modern American Capitalism and Corporate business works. A company gets the state to absorb it's deficits and losses, cuts jobs and closes stores, off-shores manufacturing jobs and hires illegals with false social security numbers all to increase the bottom line and compensation for those at the very top.

1 comment:

Cirze said...

And we're begging them for MORE!!!

S