I had to go shopping for a new refrigerator...
All of our food has melted, due to the fact that our current fridge won't get cold enough to do what it's supposed to do. It's still running, it just doesn't get cold.
So last Monday, we went to a few stores, like Best Buy, Lowes and Home Depot, but they had nothing in stock at our budget of $500-600, which is basically rock bottom for a decent sized unit.
So we went to the Sears store in Pasadena, parked behind the store where the Sears auto service bays are, and went to the back entrance - which was locked and gated.
One of the auto service guys showed us how to get in the store from inside the service bay, and when we entered the store, it was like...a Ghost Store. I saw one other customer, and very few employees/floorwalkers* anywhere.
We went to the appliance section, found a fridge that we were interested in, just as a floorwalker approached. We showed him the fridge, he said that he didn't know if they had it in stock, and that he couldn't check, because their nationwide computer system had been down for a week. So they couldn't check inventory, and they could not even take credit or debit card payments, it was cash only.
The floorwalker said that the rumor was that Corporate HQ was trying to create conditions so bad that they would be "forced" to close more stores and let many people go.
We still don't have a refrigerator, and all of our food is now bad or almost there.
*I come from a family in Chicago that, that, back in the late 50s to late 70s, included relatives who worked for Sears, including an aunt who was the personal secretary to the VP of Sears Roebuck, and a couple of my uncles were floorwalkers - that was their job title.
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...I usually don't pay for service plans.
I'm so old, I remember a fridge my grandmother had in her basement - originally purchased in the 1920s - from my earliest memories until the late 1970s, when I left the area for L.A.
It looked kinda like this:
That f*cker ran for over 50 years.
For all I know, it may still be running, because grandma's long gone, but the house is still there, and owned by a direct family member.
It's state run and is fortunately quite busy - I took my brother there - and it's large enough to accommodate all the numerous desks, lines and waiting areas. My brother's experience at this state run site was a lot more complicated than mine, I got my vaccination at CVS in March and was in and out in a little over 20 minutes.
I'm not sure what they used the Sears store for before this. It was one of the anchor stores at the mall, they had everything. 
They really were very nice when I took my brother. They gave him a sticker when he got his vaccination and when I said I didn't get one (back in March at CVS) they gave me one too! 
And I sent for these plastic covers to keep them in. I heard that places like Staples are offering to laminate them for free, but we've heard that we may sometime need a booster - and there are additional lines on the card for it - so I thought the plastic envelopes were the best idea. I wish I could give you one, they came in a pack of 10 so I still have a few left to pass on. 
I'd read somewhere that laminating the original will cause the stickers to turn dark & may not be readable.
They're removable when the time comes. I wanted one for myself and gave a few to friends and relatives. Wish I could pass one on to you as well since I got a pack of 10, have a few yet to pass on.
Thx for sharing! I'll look into them.
Just like masks which you can find pretty much everywhere you go now. I got my masks at my usual gas station - they miraculously had really good ones, and I passed those on, too.
Ty for the heads up. 
...like this one from 1965:
My father worked at Sears so we loyally got everything we could from there.
we were a Sears family and always did our shopping there. What happened to Sears is heartbreaking,. I'm glad this happened after my father passed, he would be so sad.
... in Pasadena? I go to the Target on Colorado, but don't know where Sears is, there... I went to the Sears in Glendale, on Central, but I think it closed. It really went downhill... the Sears brand went kaput. I moved recently and was going to buy a new fridge, but decided to take the old one. The movers scuffed the walls getting it in... chipped off paint and left dents. My brother said he got a new refrigerator and the delivery men did the same thing. Nothing you can do... if you cant move it yourself... Tell them to be careful!
