TRENDS: Covid-19 has accelerated a lot of trends. Few more than retail. Oddly, some people have taken the view that Covid-19 changed retail. Actually, it didn't. The pandemic has merely accelerated trends that have been driving industry change for almost two decades.
Back in 2004, Eddie Lampert bought all the bonds of defunct Kmart and used those assets to do a merger with Sears (SHLDQ) - creating Sears Holdings that encompassed both brands. The day of announcement Chicago Tribune asked for my opinion, and famously I predicted the merger would be a disaster. Clearly,