Sears is gone

[abunaitoo]

The last Sears store on island closed.
They still have an outlet, but sell only appliances.
Even the parts store closed down.
I miss Sears. Grew up with them.
Almost always found something to buy when I went.
We've bought lots of appliances from them over the years.
As a kid we would look forward to the Christmas catalog.
When older I would look forward to the new tool catalog.
I remember in it's prime in the 60's and 70's, they carried everything.
I knew many people who worked in Sears.
Brings back many good memories.
Very sad.

[Bazoo]

I member 25 years ago, I'd go up and spend my allowance on tools. Twenty bucks would get you a new saber saw or a socket set or a host of other sundries.

[Winger Ed.]

They were in a position to be Wal-Mart and Amazon combined as markets changed----- but they refused to.

[FergusonTO35]

I worked there in the 90's and writing was on the wall. They did it to themselves, no sympathy here. It always amazed me how many employees there were total sycophants for the company and it's imbecile management. Glad I got out when I did. That being said, yes, I do wax nostalgic about what they used to be. I have a bunch of my grandfather's tools from Sears.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, those that don’t adapt to change go the way of the dinosaurs.

[Woodbridge 30-30]

I agree, I grew up buying tools at Sears also. It bothered me to see how bad the quality became for the last 10 years or so before they finally went under. Maybe if the Craftsman brand could have spun off, before the failing department store took it down with it, it could have made a go of it. I won't be caught dead with a product with the Craftsman name on it that comes from Lowe's or the like.

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[Randy Bohannon]

I quit using Sears about 17years ago, I had just moved to Wyoming and bought a house that had the laundry in the basement my old washer was about to quit and didn’t want to wrestle two into the basement . Got on line and shopped Sears had a great deal on what I wanted and bought it, Sears is 35 miles away on line says they’ll deliver out to 50 miles, scheduled delivery all goes good. Lady from the Sears store calls and is making sure I’m happy and tells me in the future come to the store and we’ll give you a better deal than online.
New refrigerator less than a year later,go to the Sears store find what I want and wala $75.00 delivery charge,no thanks waited a few weeks and ordered it online same guys that brought the washer. I ask them who gets the $75.00 they said it wasn’t them they get paid by the hour. The Craftsman tools are ChiComm and not what they used to be don’t need to be cheated by either.

[d4xycrq]

Sears owned retail for decades. And died. Walmart learning any lessons?

My least favorite thing about Sears was locations. Usually an anchor store in a mall. I’d rather flick my eyes out than go to a mall.

Ray

[Handloader109]

I remember way back in the early 60s going to the Sears store. Was downtown Jackson, two whole floors AND a basement (where the good stuff was) We bought a lot of appliances and tools and clothes from them. I myself purchased a lot for a good while, yes their mall store.... About the time it failed, sears was going into the nosedive to the end. I had a co worker who bought a Sears mini store back about 2002 or 3. He and his wife ran it until he retired and sold it in 2015 or so. He sold a lot of appliances and parts through that place.
Yes, they along with a Lot of other stores just didnt get the potential of the internet until it killed them.. As always, Change or die.

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[Mk42gunner]

Sears was dying long before the internet came into being. My first real job, i.e. with automatic withholdings, was with Sears as an appliance repairman after high school in 1982.

It was a "full line" store that closed within six months of me hiring on. It stayed as a catalog store for a few years, the appliance repair got contracted out. Auto mainly tires batteries and exhaust got dropped cold.

Robert

[Petrol & Powder]

Sears is a classic example of mismanagement from the very top. They climbed to the top of the field with catalogs and mail order. They transitioned to retail with local stores and a huge catalog system. They branched out into selling goods from other suppliers and did well. But they did NOT adapt to changing markets.
They dumped their expensive printed catalog in the early 1990's, which was a smart idea; but they totally failed to embrace the then new internet world. This was a huge mistake because they had the infrastructure in place with a huge distribution system but they failed to utilize it.
They located the bulk of their stores in super expensive malls with some of the highest rent per square foot. Then when malls began dying off, they didn't get out in time.
Sears had some of the highest overhead of any retail in America.
It's a bit sad to see Sears die but business is brutal and you either adapt or die.

[CastingFool]

I loved getting their tool catalogs in the mail. I actually saved a few of them for reference material. Bought a whole bunch of hand tools when on sale, so I hardly ever had to buy a tool when I needed it. I took care of my tools, i still have and use screwdrivers i bought my senior yr of high school, but i also have three other sets besides the original one,

[John Wayne]

I went to Sears with my Dad starting in the 60's. I was a very loyal customer. The quality of merchandise dropped off in the late 90's. When I bought the best car battery charger they had and took it out of the box to assemble the wheels it was missing the 6-12 volt switch. I quit going. My friends had similar stories.

[762sultan]

I was a vendor who made deliveries to a local Wal mart and a local K mart, which was part of Sears. They were the most difficult account I had to service. They were bullies and demanded the same service that Wal mart received... no matter what. I told them when they sold the same $ amount they would get the same service. Manager was really upset when I told comparing K marts business to Wal marts was like comparing apples to oranges. I wonder what some of the clowns that worked there are doing now.

[BMW Rider]

Long live JC Higgins. I've still got a few boxes of ammo with JC Penny price tags on them and remember looking at the mil-surp rifles in Woolworths...

[Gtrubicon]

When I was a kid, everything came from sears, our town had a catalog store. In the early 90’s right out of high school, they gave me a credit card because I’d had a checking account since I was 16. I purchased the biggest tool set my credit would allow, I think it was $300. I made a living with them for a couple years, since then I have always looked to sears for a purchase. I am sad they are no longer, I have great disdain for Amazon and company’s like them that killed the local sears in all of our towns. As a young man I didn’t realize how much a credit rating would help me throughout life, Sears helped me get started with credit, I did and still take my credit very seriously. I still have each and every one of those tools, but they live in a snap on box now!

[namsag]

I thought Sears was the coolest place in the world when I was a kid, man you could get anything there. My first suit when I was a kid was from a Sears catalogue I'm pretty sure. I used to wear out the Wish Book every holiday season and later on the tool catalogues.

I had a friend who also bought the biggest tool set he could talk them out of, on credit, his live-in girlfriend at the time was against it but he did it anyway. The first thing he did was get home and dump out all the tools on the living room floor, and roll around in them laughing maniacally. He wasn't with the girl very much longer.

It's a shame, but Sears drove themselves into the ground.

[dannyd]

Sears started to go in March 1988: We closed the stores early to reprice everything and that was the beginning of the end. Best part time job I ever had: Division 9 Tools.

[Butzbach]

How would I ever explain to my Dad that K-Mart, Sears, and Oldsmobile no longer exist?

[Gtrubicon]

Namsag, that’s funny!