Dive Brief:

• Sears Holding Corp.’s CEO Eddie Lampert is getting a fair bit of ridicule in the press for his annual chairman’s letter to investors, employees, and customers Thursday, in which the hedge fund manager more or less said critics of the company just don’t get it.

• Lampert noted that Uber, which doesn’t have to answer to shareholders, is often cited for raising $10 billion in capital but rarely for losing a billion dollars in its China operations. And that Amazon enjoys advantages as well, like most customers escaping state sales tax (although that's been changing in recent years). 

• But Lampert also acknowledged that the company was woefully behind in its apparel space and said it will be adjusting sourcing for its apparel, and adding more athleisure and other merchandise to its apparel assortment.

Dive Insight:

Lambert sort of threw down the gauntlet with his letter Thursday, but his attempt to head off critics also seems to have invited more scorn.

He attempted to put things in perspective, saying that the faltering retailer faces unfair expectations due to its iconic status, and that it’s doing the right things in its turnaround.

“Because of Sears and Kmart’s longstanding history and cultural impact, we are targeted for criticism when our results are poor,” Lampert wrote. “But it is unfair to evaluate our approach through the rearview mirror without acknowledging the changing circumstanced in our industry as well as our bold attempts to change the way we do business.”

He also noted that Macy’s and others are now closing underperforming stores, a process that Sears began years ago, in order to focus on its better stores, omnichannel efforts, and e-commerce.

But Sears problem isn’t just that it’s over-stored, but also that its stores have been neglected—and so has its merchandise. The retailer is running out of time and has been for a while.

As always these days for Sears, the question is whether it can make needed changes and turn things around before the place falls apart.