Actually from what the NY Times article said, we have Enron to thank for this. When Enron went belly up all the financial people panicked. Kmart did allright last christmas, they had cash flow, things may have been a little tight for them but they were nowhere near bankruptcy. The insurance companies, creditors and whatnot started getting tough on Kmart. The thing that supposedly chewed right through their cash flow was they are required to have insurance for certain things, pension funds and whatnot if I recall correctly. These companies who were perfectly happy with the way things were before Enron suddenly wanted more substantial backing from Kmart for their insurance. By the time the financial people were done Kmart's cash flow was in the toilet. A company can be turning a profit, but without cash flow it doesn't matter.
Caldors was turning a profit but they put their cash flow in the crapper and it was curtains for them. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any big business. No cash flow, no business.
So if you want to thank anyone for this, thank Enron and idiotic financial people who can't see 5 minutes ahead.