Plastischer Kristall

2009-07-19T20:45:18Z

PowerUserPCDude: Added {{article issues}} with parameters sections, tone and wikify tag to article. using Friendly

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'''Plastic crystallinity''' is a phenomenon exhibited by many materials that form molecular solids with relatively weak interaction between the molecules, usually just van der Waals forces.

Like [[liquid crystal]]s, plastic crystals can be considered a transitional stage between real solids and real liquids and can be considered ''soft matter''. Another common denominator is the simultaneous presence of order and disorder. Both types of phases are usually observed between the true solid and liquid phases on the temperature scale:

: true crystal -> plastic crystal -> true liquid
: true crystal -> liquid crystal -> true liquid

The difference between liquid and plastic crystals is easily observed in [[X-ray diffraction]]. Plastic crystals possess strong long range order and therefore show sharp Bragg reflections. Liquid crystals show no or very broad Bragg peaks because the order is not long range. The molecules that give rise to liquid crystalline behavior often have a strongly elongated or disc like shape. Plastic crystals consist usually of almost spherical objects. In this respect one could see them as opposites.

The name plastic crystal refers in large part to the soft plastic mechanical properties of such phases. They resemble waxes and are easily deformed.

In a plastic crystal there is a true solid lattice with long range translation symmetry inside of which there is considerable disorder. It was thought in the past that this disorder had to be of a rotational nature, hence the alternative term 'rotor phase' that was introduced. It was thought that molecules in these phases were more or less free to rotate around their center so that they would act as stacked spherical objects. This may be true for some plastic phases but certainly not for all. In [[carbon tetrabromide]] e.g. the molecules are restricted to only six possible more or less fixed orientations<ref>
Coupled orientational and displacive degrees of freedom in the high-temperature plastic phase of
the carbon tetrabromide α-CBr4 Jacob C. W. Folmer, Ray L. Withers, T. R. Welberry, and James D. Martin. Physical Review B 77 in press</ref>.

Although this represents far less disorder than completely free rotation, the X-ray diffraction patterns of plastic crystals are characterized by strong diffuse intensity in addition to the sharp Bragg peaks. In a powder pattern this intensity appears to resemble an amorphous background as one would expect for a liquid, but for a single crystal the diffuse contribution reveals itself to be highly structured. The Bragg peaks can be used to determine an average structure but due to the large amount of disorder this is not very insightful. It is the structre of the diffuse scattering that reflects the details of the constrained disorder in the system. Recent advances in two-dimensional detection at synchrotron beam lines facilitate the study of such patterns.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Crystals| ]]
[[Category:Physical quantities]]
[[Category:Soft matter]]

[[ja:柔軟性結晶]]

Sears Canada

2009-05-12T02:23:56Z

PowerUserPCDude: /* External links */ rv

{{Infobox_Company |
company_name = Sears Canada Inc. |
company_logo =[[Image:Sears logo.svg|200px]] |
company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ({{tsx|SCC}}) (54.3% of common stock owned by [[Sears Holdings Corporation]])|
foundation = [[1952]] (joint venture of [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpson's]] and [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]]) |
location = [[Toronto, Ontario]], Canada|
industry = [[Retail]] |
products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics. |
num_employees = 11,190 (2008)<ref name=zenobank>{{cite web |url=http://zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=CA;SCC&page=quotesearch |title=Company Profile for Sears Canada Inc (CA;SCC) |accessdate=2008-10-09}}</ref>|
market cap = 1.8 billion USD (2008)<ref name=zenobank/>|
key_people = Dene L. Rogers|
homepage = [http://www.sears.ca www.sears.ca]|
}}

'''Sears Canada Inc.''' ({{TSX|SCC}}) (more commonly referred to as "Sears") is a [[retailer]], headquartered in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], that operates in all provinces and territories across [[Canada]] with a network of 188 corporate stores, 180 dealer stores, 67 home improvement showrooms, 112 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and installation network. Sears also has a general merchandise catalogue with over 2,200 catalogue merchandise pickup locations. There is a Sears location within a 10-minute drive of 93% of Canadians. About 50,000 associates are employed throughout the company.

{{As of|2009}}, [[Sears Holdings Corporation]] of the United States owns 73.1% of Sears Canada common shares and [[Pershing Square Capital]] owns 17.3% of them<ref>{{cite web|url=http://argent.canoe.com/lca/infos/canada/archives/2009/04/20090407-165033.html|title=Sears Canada pourrait-elle être bientôt vendue?|accessdate=2009-13-04|publisher=Canoe}}</ref>; the remainder of the shares are publicly traded. As of March 31, 2005, the majority ownership stake was officially transferred to [[Sears Holdings Corporation]] (Nasdaq: [http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=SHLD&selected=SHLD SHLD]). Sears Holdings is attempting to buy back the outstanding shares of Sears Canada.

On September 26, 2007, Sears Canada announced the sale of its Jarvis Street headquarters to the [[Ontario|Province of Ontario]]. The company will relocate its offices to surplus space at its [[flagship]] store in the [[Toronto Eaton Centre]].

==Corporate history==
[[Image:Chinook Centre 12.jpg|right|thumb||A Sears store at [[Chinook Centre]] in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]]]]
===Simpsons-Sears===
Sears Canada began its operations as Simpsons-Sears Limited, a catalogue and mid-market suburban retailer, in 1952. The company was formed as a joint-venture between the [[Simpsons (department store)|Robert Simpson Company]] (Simpson's), an existing Canadian department store retailer, and [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]] of the United States. The purpose of the joint-venture was to take over the existing Simpson's catalogue operations, and to build new stores in markets that were not already served by existing Simpson's stores, leveraging Sears-Roebuck's strong buying power and organization.

[[Image:1953 Simpsons-Sears logo.png|thumb|left|''Simpson-Sears Corporate Logo circa 1953'']]

In 1973-1974, Simpsons-Sears opened its first stores in metropolitan areas already served by Simpson's (although in suburban areas well away from the downtown Simpson's stores), the first such being in Mississauga, Ontario. So as to avoid confusing customers, these new stores were opened under the '''Sears''' banner.

===Hudson's Bay acquisition of Simpsons===
The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] acquired Simpsons in 1978. Because of federal competition laws, the Hudson's Bay Company was required to divest itself of its interest in Simpsons-Sears which had been held by Simpsons, and the chain was formally renamed Sears Canada in 1984 (some Sears stores continued to informally carry the hyphenated name into the 1980s). As part of the original agreement founding Simpsons-Sears in 1952, Sears and Simpsons Limited were not allowed to build stores within 25 miles of each other for 20 years. This left Sears Canada with no stores in the downtown areas of major cities until this agreement expired, most notably in Metropolitan Toronto, Canada's largest city market. The Hudson's Bay Company eventually merged the remaining stores its Simpsons division in 1991, and the Simpsons name has disappeared from Canada's retail landscape. As a result of this move, Sears Canada took over eight former Simpsons and Bay stores and finally gained a major foothold in Toronto.

===Sears Whole Home and Sears.ca===
[[Image:SearsHomeMoncton.JPG|thumb|A Sears Home location in [[Moncton|Moncton, New Brunswick]]]]
[[Image:Searspacificcentre.JPG|right|thumb||Interior of [[Pacific Centre]] store, a former "eatons" location.]]
In 1995, Sears Canada opened '''Sears Whole Home''' furniture stores located in power centres, and renamed them '''Sears Furniture and Appliances''' stores in 1999, to reflect the addition of major appliances. In 2003, Sears Canada again renamed their Furniture and Appliances store to '''Sears Home''' stores. This change was intended to reflect their broader appeal for customers seeking a one stop experience for re-making their home decor. The stores' product line was expanded to include Home Installed Products and Services such as floor coverings, customer drapery, and other installed home related products in many locations.

In 1998, Sears Canada's website, ''www.sears.ca'' became an active channel, allowing customers to order from a selection of over 500 products. By 2001, the website became Canada's most popular retail internet destination with over a million orders placed that year.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}

===Eatons===
In 1999, Sears Canada acquired [[Eaton's|The T. Eaton Company Limited]]. With this acquisition, Sears Canada acquired some of the assets and the trademark name of the bankrupt chain. For the first time in its history, Sears Canada held the leases to a number of prime downtown locations in Toronto (Eaton Centre and Yorkdale Mall), Vancouver (Pacific Centre), Victoria, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Calgary (all former Eaton's stores), Edmonton (all former Eaton's stores). Sears had intended to obtain the former downtown Montreal store, although it lost out to the incumbent [[Complexe Les Ailes (Montreal)|Les Ailes de la Mode]].

Sears relaunched '''eatons''' (with the lowercase "e" logo) in November 2000 as a seven-store upscale mini-brand, with locations in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa. This operation was unsuccessful, however, and Sears converted the eatons stores to the Sears brand in 2002. Many said that the eatons stores were too upscale and/or too thinly scattered across the country for the mini-chain to have ever been profitable and worthwhile. The retail environment has changed with more of the population shopping at [[Big-box store|big box outlets]] and/or speciality stores squeezing out the middle market which is the base of the traditional department store.[http://www.lib.uwo.ca/business/Eatons.html]

===New Chairman and Sears Card===
In August 26, 2004, Sears Canada Chairman and CEO [[Mark A. Cohen]]'s contract was terminated and he was replaced by [[Brent Hollister]]. Cohen, was formerly President of Softlines and Chief Marketing Officer of the US parent Sears.

In 2005, '''Sears Card''' financial services was outsourced to [[JPMorgan Chase & Co.|JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.]] with Sears receiving $3 billion CDN for the sale, while Sears points system was retained by the retailer. Sears also paid a special dividend upon the completion of the transaction. CEO [[Brent Hollister]] said that the move would allow Sears to refocus on its retail operations; as the chain had been lately relied heavily on its financial services division.

Currently the largest Sears stores are located in the Toronto Eaton Centre & Vancouver Pacific Centre, the largest store in Alberta is in Edmonton at Southgate Centre.

==Privatization==
In January 2006, Sears Holdings Inc, the parent company and majority shareholder of Sears Canada Inc. made a bid to purchase the remaining shares to take the company private. Sears Canada CEO Brent Hollister and the board opposed the move.

Pertaining to the ongoing attempt of privatization on behalf of its parent company, Sears Holdings Limited; a recent ruling by the [[Ontario Securities Commission]], made in August 2006, has stalled progess on this front.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/08/08/sears-tues.html?ref=rss |title=OSC stalls Sears buyout |date=2006-08-08 |publisher=CBC News |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> While the ruling does not dispel the future possibility of the privatization of Sears Canada, it does pose a significant obstacle by ruling three major shareholding blocks ineligible to vote as the blocs were given extraordinary privileges by Sears Holdings Limited.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060809.wr-sears09/BNStory/Business |title=Sears Holdings smacked by OSC ruling |date=2006-09-08 |accessdate=2006-01-06 |last=McFarland |first=Janet |coauthors=Strauss, Marina |publisher=Globe and Mail Update}}</ref>

On [[November 14]], [[2006]] Sears Holdings' move to privatize Sears Canada at a bid of $17.97/share fell through by voting amongst the minority shareholder groups. Currently Sears Holdings owns 70% of the total shares of Sears Canada Inc., and there are no statements indicating a new higher bid would be made in the future by Sears Holdings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/finance/story.html?id=21fcf299-ef17-451e-9b83-5aa4300bdd47&k=43534 |title=Shareholders block privatization of Sears Canada |last=Shaw |first=Hollie |date=2006-11-15 |accessdate=2007-01-06 |publisher=Financial Post}}</ref>

Sears Canada offers an sick line for all employees, 1877-511-7425

==See also==
*[[List of department stores#Canada|List of Canadian department stores]]
* [[Sears Roebuck (Mexico)|Sears Mexico]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sears.ca Sears Canada]

{{Sears Holdings Corporation}}

[[Category:Department stores of Canada]]
[[Category:S&P/TSX Composite Index]]
[[Category:Sears Holdings Corporation]]
[[Category:Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Plastischer Kristall

Sears Canada