Sears’ business is declining so rapidly that Wall Street analysts are now betting on who stands to win if the company closes all of its stores.
In that scenario, the retailer with the most to gain is Best Buy, according to a new analysis by UBS.
Best Buy might seem like an unlikely winner if Sears disappears. It’s best known for selling electronics, whereas Sears’ main businesses are apparel and appliances.
But Best Buy has been aggressively expanding its share of the appliance market in recent years. Thanks to that increasing emphasis on appliances, as well as its proximity to existing Sears and Kmart stores, Best Buy would get the biggest lift in same-store sales if all Sears stores closed, analysts found.
Home Depot and Lowe’s would also get a huge boost in appliance sales from the demise of Sears. Together, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s would capture about 80% of Sears’ appliance business if all its stores closed, analysts said.
Amazon is missing from that list — even though Sears is now selling its Kenmore appliances through Amazon — because shoppers still prefer to buy appliances in physical stores, according to the analysts.