The end of Sears is 'very near'

[big dog cowboy]

I was talking to my dad about this. He is 87 years old and said he hasn't shopped at our local Sears in at least 20 years.

 

[jimmy40]

Craftsman tools have unfortunately degraded in quality. I have tools 30 years old that work like a charm but recent stuff is no different than the house brands at Lowes and HD.

Sears is a dinosaur; we have a Sears Grand here that never has more than ten cars in the parking lot. Entire aisles are bare inside and help can't be found. Prices are high and selection is limited.

Let Sears die off and invest the real estate in something else.

The Sears Grand model might have done better without the Sears in the name, when it didn't start off with a bang it was like the head dogs just said screw it. When Eddie Lambert (Kmart) took over Sears a heck of a lot of people thought he wanted it just for the real estate since pretty much every Sears owns it own building and property, surprising that he hasn't closed more stores and sold the real estate, maybe mall locations just aren't that valuable.

 

[Doomsday]

Always had a soft spot for Sears due to the fact that I worked in the sporting goods and home improvement sections while I was in college. It was commission sales, so it was one of the few retail jobs where you could make $15 to $20 an hour.

I am not too surprised that they are going down, times have changed and people no longer value customer service. There is just too much competition out there and people shop around for the best price. Even back when I worked there (early 90s), people would come in to look at a treadmill, I would explain all the differences in the models etc, then they would go buy it some where else for a better price. That was 20 years ago, before the internet.

The other thing that hurt them in my opinion is easy access to credit cards today. When I was younger it was always easier to get a credit card at a department store then it was a visa etc. It was one of the first credit cards younger people could yet, so you were tied into shopping at their stores.

 

[Seven]

OK...

Here's a taste...

THAT.......is awesome.

 

[CyberB0b]

That old reading comprehension thing causing another problem Bob?

Where did I post that?

The Target customer is different than the Walmart/Kmart customer.

It's not so much Walmart vs. Target or visa versa, it's more like the Dollar Generals and Family Dollars of the world that are a thorn in Walmarts' side.

Target seems to do better because it's focusing on more upscale products. While Kmart/Sears and Walmart are left to duke it out with the proliferation of Dollar Generals and similar ilk out there.

Maybe I misunderstood. You said Target is doing better, while Walmart, Sears, Kmart, and Dollar General and fighting over what's left. Cool trains, by the way.

There's a HUGE Sears near me, that was built on a big lot, probably a long time ago, that is always empty when I drive by. It was even empty when Google took their aerial photo, lol.

 

[JDSmith]

A story many find pretty cool is my home is a Craftsman Bungalow. Back in the day, people bought houses through the Sears catalog where they were delivered to the site as a complete kit to be erected with all needed components. Mine is circa 1906, we find it charming and built of solid materials. They really don't build them like they did back in the day. They're more common then you would think. Now that we've lived in one, when we travel we notice them all over but never heard of it before we moving in about 10 years ago. This picture is of the original footprint of my style, there are dozens, but there's been several upgrades over the years by previous owners. Another neat thing is on a couple occasions while doing some of my own upgrades, I found notes stashed behind a wall and another behind trim work from Italian immigrant carpenters who did work back in the day, one from 1922 and another from 1926. I found that fascinating and figured I'd share.

It's a shame to see Sears, which is a retail foundation of our country, fall but at the same time and as they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

https://encrypted-tbn3.***NOT-ALLOWED***/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQCB-8wd343ERNs2b9fE6LVKoGLRZjxq11gEd2skc_Y1qRjg6zdog

We have a number of those Sears ordered houses in my town. There used to be a train track that passed through and people ordered the houses and had them dropped by train just a few blocks from their final destination.

 

[CliffnDallas]

"In fact, it's in danger of not existing at all."

On that day, I shall morn.

 

[Seven]

And another thing.................my friggin' dishwasher broke this weekend!! KENMORE!!!

2 years old. Top rack roller pin, PLASTIC, sheared.

31 bucks plus shipping for a kit. I don't need a 'kit'. Just the mounting piece.

That's a dryer, washer, fridge, two ice makers, microwave and now the dishwasher for those keeping a running tally.