Trump slams Sears leadership after bankruptcy filing, saying the company was 'obviously improperly run for many years'

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Trump: "Sears has been dying for many years."

• President Donald Trump is mourning the death of Sears as it files for bankruptcy, calling the company's downward spiral "very very sad."
• "Sears has been dying for many years," Trump told reporters on Monday. "It's been obviously improperly run for many years. And it's a shame."
• Sears filed for bankruptcy early Monday morning and announced plans to close 142 stores before the end of the year.

President Donald Trump is mourning the death of Sears.

"Sears has been dying for many years," Trump told reporters on Monday morning. "It's been obviously improperly run for many years. And it's a shame."

Early Monday morning, Sears filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to close 142 stores before the end of the year. Eddie Lampert will step down as CEO but remain on as the company's chairman.

Trump told reporters that Sears' bankruptcy would hit his generation especially hard, due to the historic nature of the company. Sears is more than 125 years old and was once the largest retailer in the world.

"Sears Roebuck, when I was growing up, was the big deal," Trump told reporters on Monday morning. "And, it's sad what happened, very very sad."

The president also noted some potential positives from the store closures. Some of the "great sites" owned by Sears will be "put to good use," he said, creating new jobs.

Trump isn't alone in his criticism of Sears' leadership's role in the company's downward spiral.

Lampert has been criticized for maintaining his distance from Sears as the company struggled, visiting headquarters only about once a year for the annual shareholder meeting. Sales have plummeted, down to less than $17 billion in 2017 compared to $53 billion in 2006, and the company has closed hundreds of locations in an effort to survive.

"The problem in Sears' case is that it is a poor retailer. Put bluntly, it has failed on every facet of retailing from assortment to service to merchandise to basic shop-keeping standards," said Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData Retail. "That failure has manifested itself in lost customers, lost market share, and a brand that has become tarnished and increasingly irrelevant."

Read more about Sears' downfall:

• Sears is shuttering 142 stores with liquidation sales starting immediately - here's the complete list of closing stores
• Sears' top spokesman jumps ship as reports emerge of a potential bankruptcy filing
• Sears is closing more stores, with some layoffs starting 2 days before Christmas
• Sears' CEO is making a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy
• Sears debuts handwritten signs in stores in an apparent effort to slash costs
• 'This is all a sham': Ex-Sears executive says the CEO's new bid to revive Sears will kill off the 125-year-old retailer once and for all