The end of Sears is 'very near'

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: sfgate

Sears has been crashing for the past decade.

The retailer, which also owns Kmart, reported a loss of $454 million in the third quarter.

________

But many retail experts believe Sears is denying a darker truth: It is beyond the point of returning to its post as a major US retailer. In fact, it's in danger of not existing at all.

______

Sears is like a rudderless ship, devoid of compass heading, manned by a demoralized crew and worth nothing more than the old rotten boards and nails it's made of," Doug Stephens, founder of industry website Retail Prophet and author of "The Retail Revival: Re-Imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism," told Business Insider.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/The-end-of-Sears-is-very-near-6674088.php

---

[Freddie]

1. Not surprised

The Sears Hardware here is closing after 20+ years.
Wonder if another retail outlet will take over their major appliances, as that is the one thing Sears still seems to do well. Needed a new stove and dryer in the past few years; after research and comparison shopping, bought Kenmore for both.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Got my appliances at Sears also

[Ilsa]

8. The problem for us with Kenmore

Appliances was getting service for them. You call, and maybe someone will be available in a month.

[KittyWampus]

53. All appliance repairs is now an issue with planned obsolesce engineered

into products.

Appliances are made as throw-aways.

And the people here I know who work for very wealthy have commented that upscale/expensive appliances are only marginally better.

We had to replace an ice machine a few years back that was purchased in the early 70's!

That's over 40 years from one appliance. The guy who helped fix our appliances could no longer get parts for the old warhorse.

Now that fix-it guy has retired and moved to N.C.

[Phentex]

57. Sad but true!

I hate it but that's how it is with almost everything these days. My grandparents are rolling in their graves!

[truedelphi]

80. And it is not only planned obsolescence - it is also the made in

China or Bangladesh aspect that is much of the problem.

My dad bought a garden hose for $ 28 in the late 1980's. I thought that was quite a price to pay, but he pointed out that was made in the USA.

He died in 2002, and the garden hose was still working. Not a single leak or hole.

I have purchased several $ 7 hoses, but none of them lasted more than 18 months. All were made elsewhere.

[lob1]

101. A couple of years ago the fridge I had for over 20 yrs finally made

its last ice cube. I went to Sears to buy a new one, and the salesman asked me how long I had my old fridge, and I said 21-22 years. The guy said, "Well, they don't make 'em like that anymore. It doesn't matter which brand you pick, it won't last more than 10 years" I checked out another store, and they said the same thing when I asked them. They last half as long and cost exactly the same.

How do those guys do advertisement? "Come buy us! We're half as good as we used to be!"

[mopinko]

58. since kenmore is all just relabeled major brands,

what is the point?

[csziggy]

60. Often Sears sells their Kenmore brand for much less than the name appliances

For instance I bought a refrigerator/freezer set from Sears for my new house. It was made by White in Canada and the identical set sold under the Frigidaire brand name. List price for the Frigidaires was $1500 each and the local dealer had to buy three of each from the manufacturer to get an order - which they could not unless I found two other people who wanted them.

Sears had them listed for under $1000 each and could ship whatever number needed to the local stores. I bought mine at their spring sale, got 20% off. Plus the local dealer wrote me a contractor's bid at 5% over wholesale so I could get Sears to match that price with another 10% off.

I ended up getting that set of dedicated refrigerator/freezer for less than I could have purchased a regular refrigerator and dedicated freezer normally. Plus I got my wall oven and dishwasher at 20% off and a rebate of $500 on them.

[mopinko]

65. well i also assume

that in order to get those prices, like home depot and walmart, they special order a stripped down version. often replacing metal parts w plastic, etc.
dont know that, but do assume as that is the way it is usually done.

[csziggy]

71. I don't know about all the models but the ones I bought are specialty items

And there is/was only one place that made them. For something like that, it would not be worth making different models for Sears.

It used to be that Kenmore appliances only differed from the name brands by the name on the exterior. That, and that appliance repair people not working for Sears wouldn't touch them. Then as it became common knowledge that they were only rebranded, appliance repair people outside of the Sears system would do the work.

Since I have been lucky to not have to replace my appliances often I haven't paid much attention to how the brands have changed. At the time I need to replace appliances, I do my research and select based on the current information. SO I don't know the total history of Kenmore brands.

[yeoman6987]

76. Definitely not a surprise

Home Depot, Amazon and yes Walmart are the places people shop for their goods today. Traditional department stores are dying.

[cannabis_flower]

114. I bought a chest freezer at Lowe's

It was a 10 cu. ft. freezer and was $179 and they delivered it in one day for free.

[Not Sure]

3. Its "leadership" is Radio Shack level clueless

I would be surprised to see Sears at Christmas next year.

[PADemD]

4. Sad

The closest retail store to me is a K-mart, which is clean, convenient (4 miles away), and well stocked. If it closes, I will have to drive 8-12 miles away to shop, and I hate the thought of a Walmart moving in to that location.

Guess it will be on-line shopping if they close.

[LiberalEsto]

66. Kmart has a far better selection of plus-size women's clothes than Target

and the clothes are far more affordable.
I haven't set foot in Mall-Wart for many years because I'm boycotting them
Guess I'll have to go naked.

[TexasBushwhacker]

95. JCPenney has a pretty good selection

especially online and if you buy something online and it doesn't fit, you can return it to your closest store.

[LiberalEsto]

111. Too expensive for me

and the last few times I was in their stores I found the syles and colors unappealing.

But thanks!

[TexasBushwhacker]

112. It depends on the last time you were there

I liked them up until they brought that awful CEO from Apple, Ron Johnson, in 2011. They fired him in 2013. During his tenure, I found that the plus size department had turned into POLYESTERLAND. The clothes looked cheap but were far too expensive for what you got. After he was canned, it took awhile to unload all that gastly inventory, but I think it got better in 2014 and continues to improve. More natural fibers like cotton and rayon that BREATHE.

I shop the sales, use the coupons online and go thru Ebates.com or Mrrebates.com to get a few % back.

Here's a link for Ebates:

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=7NFPMrNVSfW72Q2G2zFMew%3D%3D

They pay your rebates by check or Paypal.

Here's a link for MrRebates.com

http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=594495

[cannabis_flower]

115. Penney's was..

the only place I found decent priced dress shoes for my daughter to go to job interviews in. She wore a size 5. They were about $20.

[Gloria]

141. Their Basic Editions line is EXCELLENT

ANd, I buy boys' Canyon Blues jeans at Sears.....by far, less expensive than the stupid women's crap you see elsewhere...

Walmart is overpriced and I avoid that place if at all possible.....

[callous taoboy]

5. And they would be so deserving: My Sears story-

Granted, I'm not a very good consumer, so I didn't do a lot of research before I bought my Samsung fridge from the local Sears here in my little town. I paid about 2K for it, and really loved it since it was such a step up from the old fridge that was crapping out on me.
I did get a 2 year extended service plan and I am relieved I did that at least, or I'd be out about another grand on this piece of junk.

2 months after purchase water started collecting in the left vegetable bin. Coordinating a service call turned out to be the first headache. You basically have to take a day off from work to accommodate their window of showing up between 8 and 5. All they did was defrost the condensation exhaust tube.

8 months later same issue. I went in to see the store manager, a real tea-party wanker, and he treated me like I was some turd that was in his office. This time I was aggressive about when the service tech would show up, and I didn't have to take the day off. They put a thicker piece of styrofoam in to keep the tube away from the cold.

10 months later same issue. They put some heat conducting probe into the tube.

Now, almost 2 years after last service call same issue, but I am SOL since my service plan expired. I was livid. Nobody was willing to do anything to satisfy me, they would not call it a defective fridge, they would not replace it, and they would not admit that there has never been a fix for this defective fridge.

After threatening to get a lawyer and go to the BBB, I was finally put in touch with some regional manager. He has offered to sell me another fridge at a reduced cost, and I feel like this is my only option.

[Person 2713]

13. Have heard similar stories about their appliances as of the last 5 years

Dishwasher bad after 6 months and the service guy told him that the part fixed would have to be replaced again in about a year and then his washer. Then his stove door
He inherited some money and thought he would get new stuff since everything he had was broken or old
So stove dishwasher wash dry . Except for the dryer everyone had problems less than one year after purchase
Hey maybe dryer too he just doesn't want to say he is so pissed

I was over there one of the day's repair was visiting fixing something and they were like this is normal
No it is not Normal

[callous taoboy]

35. They went into total deflect mode with me.

They were trying to make it sound like there was more I could've done, and that the fridge is now "too old" to just replace. When did 4 fucking years become too old for a major appliance?

[Phentex]

56. guy at Sears told me a dishwasher over 5 years old was too old to fix...

I think ours was 18 at the time.

New one does use less water and is so much quieter. And works better. Damn well better get more than 5 years out of it!

[callous taoboy]

68. My parents still have the Kenmore fridge I grew up with in the 70's.

Sucker is damn near 50 years old. Keeps the beer ice cold out in a very hot garage. They are purposely making shit these days so as to make more money on repairs and replacements.

[Liberal_in_LA]

84. Good luck. My most recent dishwasher broke down at 3 years

[Freddie]

6. Wonder if Kmart is next

Since they're the same outfit.
My town has had a Kmart for 35 years. Since Walmart and Target opened nearby, the place is empty half the time. That's why I shop there when I need something of that nature: easy in and out, no-hassle parking, no lines. Since they have a points-reward system tied in with Sears, where we've spent a lot recently (see above) I've gotten over $100 of free stuff at Kmart. Gonna really miss the place when they finally shut the doors.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

63. Same with me

I love my local KMart because no one goes there.

[Liberal_in_LA]

85. Lol. I once told my local ymca gym manager that I loved the place

She immediately responded "because it is empty!" And then told me their plans to increase membership

[LeftyMom]

99. Every time I check my email Kmart is throwing reward points at me.

If they really, really want to give me $30 in points toward a $40 apparel purchase I guess I'll let them. My kid needs longer pajama pants again, and pajamas are on sale anyhow.

They sure aren't making any money on me lately, that's for sure.

[davidpdx]

105. Yes, they are the same company

The only way to save Kmart would be to spin it off into a separate company. I always thought the K-Mart/Sears merger was a really bad idea. The problem with mergers is they don't always create enough value to make it worth the money spent buying a company. Time-Warner and AOL ended up splitting back into two. That maybe where this is headed.

[bklyncowgirl]

7. Sad to see but the decline has been there for years.

They used to have good people who knew their products working there--maybe some still do--but the the last few times I went there the good sales people seemed frustrated by a crappy inventory system. "Sorry, the computer said we had three in stock but there are none there." I also ran into many who did not understand the stuff they were selling. I tried to get the amp hour rating for a deep cycle battery I needed for my trailer--it wasn't on the label. The salesman had no clue as to what that even was--and didn't want to know. The guy may have been a sexist jerk who couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that a woman might actually know something about batteries but I'll just say he was ignorant and untrained. He kept pointing to the cranking amps while telling me how great Die Hard batteries are. Well they have a good reputation, that's why I was there but a good salesman would have headed to his computer and gotten the information I wanted. Can't blame him alone, a good company would have insured that that information was clearly visible. Hell, Walmart does that.

As for Kmart, don't get me started.

[LiberalElite]

11. IMO the worst thing they

could have done was merge with Kmart. That was the kiss 'o death for Sears.

[DhhD]

19. Kmart became the Sears outlet store. Sears had to have a place to pass along all the

stuff that would not sell and all the returned items that could not be repaired and resold.

[LiberalElite]

22. Here in NYC

Kmart still sells their own special crap.

[rjsquirrel]

9. Does anyone care?

mommy, what was a Sears?

[LiberalElite]

10. Sears did once have a well-deserved

great reputation. Maybe there were problems before the merger with Kmart but that merger was the kiss of death for Sears. Now they're chained to each other and sinking. Not to mention MORE people out of work.

[Art_from_Ark]

29. I remember as a kid oohing and aahing at the pages of the Sears Christmas Wishbook

Once in a while, I'd actually get a present from there, like Winnie-the-Pooh or Snoopy books, and it was always a happy occasion.

Ah, memories...

[trillion]

97. True. As a Kid I used to love looking at the sears catalog. My family never ordered from it. I think

it was brought over by an aunt.

As an adult I haven't shopped at sears in decades, and it is just up the street. I remember their clothes prices were steep in my early 20's(the 90s) so I avoided the place ever after.

Right now I get my appliances from Lowes. I don't trust them though because of all the returned models with what was wrong tags I saw on my last visit.

[lunasun]

120. I remember the feel of the paper pages i flipped through filled with toys to look at

Fun times

[47of74]

126. Yeah me too

I have fond memories of the wish books as well as the JC Penney catalogs.

I first loved the toys section, then later it was the toys and electronics sections. It was a way to see the different things the mail order operation had that the regular stores around here didn't have.

[Art_from_Ark]

134. I don't remember getting any JC Penney catalogs

which in those days was just called "Penney's", I think.

Anyway there was a Sears order store in my hometown where you'd place an order, and then pick it up when it came in, or have it delivered if it was something large like an appliance.　But then the store burned down sometime in the '70s, and I don't think Sears reestablished a presence in the town for several decades after that. I think they were expecting customers to go to their retail store in a new mall in Fayetteville, some 20 miles away

[47of74]

135. We had Sears, Penney's, and Montgomery Ward's catalogs

All three of them had retail stores fairly close to where I live. Penney's is the only one of the three still around here.

[Art_from_Ark]

137. Montgomery Ward's and Penney's were also in Fayetteville,

which in those days might as well have been on the other side of the state.

The Sears fire seems to have coincided with the decline of the downtown business district, leaving two department store establishments standing in the town-- the original Wal-Mart (Discount City), and Gibson's Discount Center, which then became Howard's, which then faded into obscurity. Some local people at the time thought that Gibson's was the one that was going to go nationwide.

[BeyondGeography]

43. Not about the store so much but their departure will leave a lot of big holes in towns

that won't be able to fill them. On top of all the other big boxes that have gone out of business in the past five years.

[Liberal_in_LA]

86. Daddy, what was a Montgomery ward's? The ward's building still stands

In los angeles sfv

[kentauros]

103. My 20+ y.o. KitchenAid stand mixer was purchased at Service Merchandise.

Remember them? The big-box stores put them out of business, even though they'd been around since the 1930s.

I think the one I visited was later re-purposed into a Target store. It was in the same shopping plaza as CircuitCity, which then became the OfficeMax, and now Office Despot.

[Docreed2003]

106. I miss Service Merchandise...

[bigworld]

109. and BEST....

[ileus]

12. The only place worse than Sears is K-turd.

Sears lost my business in my 20's when I learned to do a 250 dollar brake job for 40 bucks.


As for appliances, everyone can repair their washers/dryers/diswashers from youtube.

I've completely rebuilt a affinity frontload washer and dryer the past several years.

[elias49]

14. No. Walmart is worse. nt

[gordyfl]

15. K- Mart quality

I've been waiting for Sears to go under. They've been selling K-Mart quality at Sears prices for too many years.

[AngryAmish]

16. They had a jumper at HQ a few days ago.

Things are serious.

[mikeysnot]

30. I guess he was a high up

executive jumping from the Mahogany Row Stairwell.

[AngryAmish]

47. The culture there has been toxic for a long time.

[paleotn]

17. So sad...

...such an icon has fallen so far.

During my very middle class upbringing in the 60's and 70's, Sears was the automatic choice for appliances, hardware, lawn mowers, tires and batteries for the car and truck, etc. We knew the Sears sales people personally. I went to school with their kids. Hell, I worked there part time while in college. I still buy hard goods there. I wouldn't think of buying tires anywhere else. Guess that's about to end. Sad....really sad.

[Freddie]

20. Me too

And when I had young children in the 80s and 90s I always went there for kids clothes, great prices and selection, better quality stuff than Kmart. Got lots of furniture and appliances over the years there too. Sad to see the decline of a retail icon.

[frazzled]

50. Me three

My memories go back to the 50s, when my parents would take us to the big Sears downtown and we'd always get a paper cone full of hot cashew nuts from the stand on the first floor.

My Kenmore washer and dryer ran for 26 years. (I bought a Kitchen Aid washing machine after that I didn't like half as well.) My husband still has his Sears Craftsman tool chest.

But I have to admit I haven't shopped there in years and years. The way people buy things has changed. I think they needed to focus on what they do best: tools and appliances. The full-scale department store concept is, alas, dead.

[jmowreader]

73. The kind of full-scale department store they are is dead, but the concept is not

It is very hard to build credible mall anchors with stores selling overpriced Walmart-quality merchandise, which is what Sears is trying to do and failing.

OTOH, Macy's and Nordstrom seem to be doing okay.

[Liberal_in_LA]

88. Oh yeah! I do recall getting warm peanuts at Sears in the late 60s

[shanti]

92. I liked their Swedish fish

Sears is where mom would take us for back to school shopping, Penneys too. But that was in the 60's.

[Liberal_in_LA]

87. Yes it is sad.

[Buzz Clik]

18. Bummer. I like their tool department.

[restorefreedom]

70. agree they always had good tools

a notch above home depot i always thought

[sofa king]

123. They even f&*^% that up.

In the early 70s, Sears defrauded a guy named Peter Roberts out of his design for the quick-release socket set that we all have (except the 10 and 13mm sockets, which we have all lost).

Sears then spent over fifteen years fighting his lawsuit, and losing. According to my father, that was when Sears' tool quality dropped to merely average.

At the same time, Sears concocted a hilarious "strategy" that came very close to saying, "we are ignorant flyover state people who are better off following someone else."

And so they did, closing stores, killing off their catalog business the year before the Internet began to expand, and spinning off the financial service divisions which were keeping them afloat. They've struggled ever since by acquiring even worse-off retail companies, like K-Mart, and quickly driving off whatever talent those entities retained.

I've never really seen a company come unsprung in such slow motion, pretty much continuously downward and without a noticeable rebound, since 1976. They must have been absolutely enormous in the 1970s, to be able to ablate stores, expertise, and customers for forty years and still not die.

But it won't be long now.

[restorefreedom]

124. jeez, didn't know about the lawsuit

the catalog was a big loss. if they hadn't made so many strategic mistakes, i believe they were perhaps one of the few companies that could have survived the home depot era.

don't know what they were thinking with kmart.

too bad. its always a loss when consumers lose choices.

[Brother Buzz]

74. Keep the faith, baby

The Craftsman label may just survive Sears' demise; I've noticed small independent hardware stores have begun carrying the fine Craftsman line of tools (albeit just the mechanic line), so I want to believe it might make economic sense to spin Craftsman off to operate independently from Sears. The cheap, crappy Sears branded tools can die with the department store.

[Snarkoleptic]

21. Part of their trouble is the hollowing-out of the middle class, but their CEO is an Ayn Randian

who has really mucked things up.

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/ayn_rand_loving_ceo_destroys_his_empire_partner/

Lampert is now known as one of the worst CEOs in America — the man who flushed Sears down the toilet with his demented management style and harebrained approach to retail. Sears stock is tanking. His hedge fun is down 40 percent, and the business press has turned from praising Lampert’s genius towatching gleefully as his ship sinks. Investors are running from “Crazy Eddie” like the plague.

That’s what happens when Ayn Rand is the basis for your business plan.

Crazy Eddie has been one of America’s most vocal advocates of discredited free-market economics, so obsessed with Ayn Rand he could rattle off memorized passages of her novels. As Mina Kimes explained in a fascinating profile in Bloomberg Businessweek, Lampert took the myth that humans perform best when acting selfishly as gospel, pitting Sears company managers against each other in a kind of Lord of the Flies death match. This, he believed, would cause them to act rationally and boost performance.

[TheBlackAdder]

28. We've been boycotting the store because of their labor practices, like Amazon's. nt

[Snarkoleptic]

33. We've been boycotting them due to their constant efforts to dodge their tax responsibility

to our local school district. This story is aorund 4 years old, but they really stung our schools and a particularly critical time for local school funding.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20111013/news/710139616/

Community Unit District 300 Superintendent Michael Bregy channeled one of his favorite movies Thursday in sending a message to legislators, Sears Holdings executives and Hoffman Estates officials during a rally to protest the proposed extension of tax breaks for Sears that funnel property tax revenues away from the school district.

"We will not go quietly into the night," a defiant Bregy told about 3,000 students, parents, staff and community members who filled the gymnasium of H.D. Jacobs High School

[Locrian]

23. crazy eddie

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/20/why-sears-so-investors-should-lovehate-eddie-lampe.aspx

Breaking open the piggy bank with a sledgehammer
From early on it was clear Lampert's goal was not to resurrect their respective retail empires, but to use them to bolster his hedge fund, ESL Investments, which to Lampert's credit was and to this day remains Sears Holdings largest shareholder.

Back when Sears Holdings was still generating profits, Lampert was using the company's available cash to buy back its high-priced stock to juice per-share earnings. Between 2005 and 2010 (the last year the retailer reported a profit), Sears recorded net income of almost $3.8 billion, but spent over $5.8 billion on share repurchases, sometimes at prices as high as $170 a share. It was a careless decision at a time when many other businesses were curtailing their buyback programs to adjust to the recession and constrained consumer spending.

That was money that could have been better spent shoring up the financial position of the damaged retailers, remaking the stores into destinations shoppers actually wanted to visit. Instead Lampert eschewed deploying any maintenance investments in the stores, viewing the troubled companies as distressed retailers from which the last ounce of value could be squeezed.

[rurallib]

24. CEO is (or maybe was) a big Ayn Rand fan

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/10/how-ayn-rand-loving-ceo-tanked-sears



Stoked by his Wall Street success, Lampert plunged headlong into the retail world. Undaunted by his lack of industry experience and hailed a genius, Lampert boldly pushed to merge Kmart and Sears with a layoff and cost-cutting strategy that would, he promised, send profits into the stratosphere. Meanwhile the hotshot threw cash around like an oil sheikh, buying a $40 million pad in Florida’s Biscayne Bay, a record even for that star-studded county.

Fast-forward to 2013: The fairy tale has become a nightmare.

Who could have seen this coming? Who could have known that cutting into the muscle and bone of a company and throwing your management team into a steel cage death match wouldn't result in a bright new day of soaring profits? Why, just about any of a store's minimum wage workers! If you'd bothered to ask, that is.
<snip>

As his company was descending into Randian mayhem, Lampert continued to cheerfully inform stockholders that his revolutionary ideas would soon produce earth-shattering results. Reality: Sears has lost half its value in five years. Since 2010, Sears has closed more than half of its stores. Sears Holdings is financially distressed and Lampert’s own hedge fund has reduced its stake in the company. The Sears store in Oakland, California, open for business with boarded-up windows, has even been cited for urban blight.


They may have finally fired his ass this year but he had already pretty much sunk the ship.

[SCantiGOP]

116. I was going to post this

Too bad the old witch wasn't around to see the practical application of her theory in the sacred business world. The asshole CEO ruined a major company.

[rurallib]

117. and she never would know how her theory would play out

because she would never adhere to it herself.

'do as I say not as I do'

[SCantiGOP]

118. You probably know

That she accepted Social Security. I doubt her heroes of Atlas Shrugged would have taken government handouts.

[Codeine]

25. We went into a Sears last year after about fifteen years of not shopping there.

It's like stepping into a time machine that only goes to 1983. The place hasn't changed since I was buying 7th grade school clothes with my mom, and I'm in my 40s.

Sad for all those workers.

[Phentex]

55. Realy? I had a different experience...

I used to think of Sears for tools and appliances. That's what we purchased there but I never thought to go there for much else. Then they opened a few Lands End departments and I decided to check it out. Well, the place had become a full on department store with so much more than the the basics I remembered. Eye Center, Tires, Appliances, Makeup, Housewares, Toys, Lawn & Garden (not just tools.) I think they wanted to be everything to everybody. I mean, you don't see regular department stores selling washing machines and patio sets. They lost their branding along the way. And the quality of Lands End has been going down for years, too.

[snort]

72. Sears had always sold everything.

It was a catalog based business and the original store fronts were simple counters with catalogs on them where you could order whatever you needed from a clerk. They really had everything and they needed to because that was the only way for many people to get goods (especially if you lived in the sticks) but that was long before the internet or even malls. The catalogs were gigantic. You could by anything from a wedding dress to a lawn tractor. That's exactly what Amazon does today.

[47of74]

129. Yeah, we have a production of an early 1900s catalog around here somewhere

They sold just about everything under the sun back then. Hell you could even buy houses from them.

[snort]

138. That's right.

They were called Craftsman houses I think. I'm going to check Amazon for houses!

[djean111]

26. My recollection of Sears was too-easy credit and over-priced merchandise.

K-Mart - overpriced drek, their customer base just assumed K-Mart was the cheapest.

[Vinca]

27. Sears sealed its fate when it did away with its credit card.

When we were first married (back in the stone age), our first appliances came from Sears along with our first credit card. Every time after that we were loyal to Sears and bought our appliances there because we could pay a paltry sum every month for a very good quality appliance. Even when we had more money and didn't really need the credit card, we would still go to Sears and if we were getting a very expensive item we would drag out the old credit card. Then, one day, we were in the market for a new television and the store informed us they no long honored their cards and asked if we'd like a MasterCard. We didn't and decided we might as well shop around. Shortly after, stores started closing. We still shop at Sears sometimes and the last time my husband was there they asked him if he'd like a Sears card. He declined. So much for some CEO's bright idea . . .

[csziggy]

61. They killed their brand when they stopped catalog sales!

I used to buy a lot of my clothes and linens through Sears catalogs. Their sizes were consistent and I could order different colors and styles without the hassle of going into the stores. They had great quality towels and sheets in a wide selection of colors for low prices - I still have towels I bought when we got married in 1977 that we still use and they are just as good as when they were new.

Sometime in the 1990s they went to solely "fashion" clothing catalogs with strange styles and without a wide range of sizes. I stopped buying my clothes through them but still bought tools and linens there when we got a larger bed.

Then they discontinued their various catalogs and the only way to buy was to go into the store and hope what you needed was in stock.

The last time I was at Sears was eight years ago to buy appliances for my house. I won't miss them at all.

[patricia92243]

31. Thousands and thousands of people out of work. Terrible situation. :(

[mikeysnot]

32. To Sears credit

I have a article cut out from 1993 Crains Chicago stating the same thing...

but this time I believe it is closer to the truth. The last three CEO's have been shit.

[Tarc]

34. Name-dropped in one of my favorite Three Stooges bits

Man: "This bed goes back to Henry the Eighth."
Curly: "That's nothin, we had a bed go back to Sears-Roebuck on the 3rd."

[Sunlei]

36. Way back Sears could have placed that awesome catalog online and been the first Amazon.

Sears online webpage still sucks, even the appliance and home repair services online web pages suck.

[SmittynMo]

37. My tools! My tools!

OMG. What is going to happen when I break my lifetime warranty Craftsman tools? I'm still alive!!!!

[yellowcanine]

42. I suspect the Craftsman brand will survive - someone will buy Sears and split off the profitable

parts. Kenmore OTOH probably will not survive.

[Xithras]

78. "Craftsman quality! Only available at your local Harbor Freight store!"

The NAME will survive, but it will be sold off to the highest bidder. Craftsman quality is already terrible compared to what it used to be, but you can bet that any buyers will simply slap it onto the cheapest Chinese stamped tools they can find to "maximize" their investment.

The Home Depot Ridgid brand is already well known, so they probably won't be interested. The Lowes Kobalt brand isn't nearly as well known, and some of the lower tier tool distributors like Harbor Freight would love the brand recognition, so you can bet there will be a fight for the name.


I think you're wrong about Kenmore though, because it's still a well known name. You'll probably see it become a sub-brand to one of the major manufacturers ("Kenmore, By LG&quot .

[arikara]

93. Craftsman, Black and Decker

and a couple other iconic names I read awhile back are now all made in China in the same factory. I don't remember where I saw it though.

As for Sears, I went into one this summer, the anchor store for quite a large mall. The store was dead as a door nail. I had to use the washroom which was upstairs, the escalator wasn't working. Several stalls in the bathroom had out of order signs on them, no hot water on the sinks. It was clean, I'll give it that. Sears has been sending out flyers weekly for several months.

[Kennah]

113. Lots of made in China B&D stuff for years. Made in China Craftsman is a recent thing n/t

[CRF450]

121. I like Kobalt, esp the 20v 1/2" impact they make.

I have a 155pc Craftsman tool set, it's been great so still keeping it. But, because I've been so underwhelmed by the Sears store experience and selection the last few years, I've been hitting up Lowes with the Kobalt tool brand for any of my needs. Latest Kobalt purchase is a 20v 1/2" impact wrench, ratcheting box end wrenches, and metric impact sockets. I wanted something more convenient than dragging the crappy compressor, and crappy pneumatic impact a long ways from the shop to the front driveway. I used the Kobalt impact for an entire day doing a full suspension upgrade on my '13 Mustang. It broke loose the upper control bolt that some say is torqued to 400lbs. At the end of the day it only used half a charge of one battery!

They have a Kobalt tool chest always on display that I would love to have but it's like $1200 IIRC, so, no. I'd rather spend that kind of money on my car than something that's only gonna be used occasionally.

[Danmel]

38. They were the first company to give me a credit card

When I was in school. I feel a little loyalty to them fit that. They are good for somethings. When my kids were little they had a kidvantage program that have points and discounts on clothing which was great because they outgrew everything so quickly. But their adult women's clothing is sort of dowdy. My husband likes their tools. Good Chanukkah gift is a belt sander from Sears. Yes, a Jewish man who knows how to use a belt sander. I hit r lottery!

[houston16revival]

39. Always ask yourself the question

How did the old Kmart, 1998 style, with non-profit marketer Floyd Hall as CEO,
suddenly find a new CEO from CVS, Providence RI, who hired a former dominant-
competitor's marketing guy, who launched a price war with Walmart by placing
little flag price stickers on all shelves, that turned customers off, and created the
supposed cash crunch that landed Kmart in bankruptcy? There had been rumors circulating in the financial
press for 10 years prior, that the next recession would topple Kmart. The sharks were circling.

Notice that the wiki article doesn't address 1997 to 2002. Wonder what happened there?

"On January 22, 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the leadership of its then-chairman Chuck Conaway and president Mark Schwartz.[25][26] Conaway, who had had success building up the CVS Corporation, had accepted an offer to take the helm at Kmart along with a loan of $5 million (equivalent to $6.58 million in 2015). In a scandal similar to that involving Enron, Conaway and Schwartz were accused of misleading shareholders and other company officials about the company's financial crisis while making millions and allegedly spending the company's money on airplanes, houses, boats and other luxuries. At a conference for Kmart employees January 22, Conaway accepted "full blame" for the financial disaster. As Kmart emerged from bankruptcy, Conaway was forced to step down and was asked to pay back all the loans he had taken."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart

How was Conaway chosen as CEO? Were there any links between him and bidders for the old Kmart in bankruptcy? Ordinary hourly Kmart workers and working class people who shopped at Kmart lost ALL their equity in the company. Common shareholders got ZERO out of bankruptcy.

Sears and Kmart in my view are being plundered for the cash, real estate, and perhaps tax writeoffs that only accountants in bankruptcy will understand.

[houston16revival]

44. And more from Wikipedia

"Until November 1990, when it was passed by Walmart, Kmart was the second largest retailer in the US, after Sears.[16] During the 1980s, the company's fortunes began to change; many of Kmart's stores were considered to be outdated and in decaying condition. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the corporate office shifted much of its focus from the Kmart stores to other companies it had acquired or created, such as The Sports Authority, Builders Square, and Waldenbooks."

"The company also began to offer exclusive merchandise by Martha Stewart, Kathy Ireland, Jaclyn Smith, Lauren Hutton, and Thalía. Other recognizable brands included exclusively licensed merchandising of products relating to Sesame Street and Disney. Actress and television personality Rosie O'Donnell and actor/director and producer Penny Marshall became among the company's most recognized spokespersons."


How could a company having so much going for it get so fouled up? They did spend something like $2.5 billion on renovations in the 1990s. Martha Stewart was a major amount of merchandise, there was also 'American Fare' and Kmart pharmacy.

[bigworld]

51. I think the rise of Walmart and Target played a role

I think KMart declined as Target and Walmart expanded.

Customers who wanted better design and a nicer shopping experience tried Target and found they liked it, while customers who were at KMart for the bargains went for more selection, better prices, and cleaner, bigger stores by defecting to Walmart.

Any KMart I've been in the last few years have been sad, dirty places. They're not a place you choose to shop.

[Freddie]

64. Plus walmart expanded in the 90's

Plenty of towns (like mine) where the kmart was the only game in town suddenly got a Walmart across the street. Don't really need 2 such places here.

[houston16revival]

81. The knock on Kmart at the time

was that they had inadequate computer systems. When something was sold it
registered as a sale, but inventory was not adjusted so they didn't know how much
of anything they really had. Stories were told of trailers stuffed with merchandise
behind some stores.

But it was the financials that torpedoed the old Kmart. And the sharks that
wanted to get their hands on it were only too ready to help.

[Kilgore]

108. Exactly what happened in my town.

See post #107

[roamer65]

94. Teldar Paper.

Gordon Gekko from "Wall Street".

[seamonkey58]

40. Lampert's Randian economics

are what are driving the GOP now. Speaker Paul Ryan is also a huge Rand fan.

[TreasonousBastard]

41. Yet another American institution down the tubes thanks to...

asshole "managers" who couldn't get a job managing a 7-11 if they didn't have their connections.

I actually like my local K-Mart. It's got most of the stuff I want and the prices often beat Wal-Mart and Costco.

But, for years I can't help noticing that while the local Target, say, is constantly upgrading their store, K-Mart is just plain seedy. Much seedier than the Wal-Mart that just moved to a new, larger location.

Walk into the store and it's obvious that no retail design type has been close to the place in years. Basic stuff like price labels are randomly updated, the lighting is harsh, floors are in disrepair, and displays are just thrown together. The older employees who knew a few things have all disappeared.

Then, when you check out, the register system is ancient and horrific compared to everyone else's.

I'll miss it when it's gone, but the place does have the stench of failure about it.

Retail was never easy, and there are new problems now, but managers get paid to deal with problems, not profit from them. Too bad it's the employees who get stuck, not the scumbags who caused this.

[Delphinus]

45. Your description of the store

sounds so much like what we experienced here in NE Indiana. All the K-Mart stores are now gone and there is one Sears.

[Freddie]

67. Sounds like our Kmart

Built in 1980 and never upgraded or changed in any way. Don't have a problem with the checkout because no one ever goes there, no line. Somehow the place must be making enough $$ for the corporate masters to keep it open, as most of the Kmarts in the area closed in the past few years.

[47of74]

132. Yeah sounds like ours too

The last major upgrade to the store was in the early 90s. Just seems like everything is thrown together in a haphazard manner. The store used to be a lot better, but it seems to me that they just stopped trying over the past few years. The place is a mess. I go there occasionally for stuff maybe once or twice a year.

[OkSustainAg]

46. Sears in NE OK has been dead for years.

You get Wal-mart or Dollar General for cheap crap. As far as tools and such luckily we still have farm stores and old fashion lumberyards. I by contractor level tools so they last way longer.

[Mnemosyne]

48. Kmart bought Sears in 2004 for $11 billion. nt

[bigworld]

49. Sears could have been Amazon

They had the cataloging, warehousing, order-taking, and shipping infrastructure in place, they even owned a big chunk of Prodigy, one of the biggest online access companies way back when (and think they started Discover as well). Then they sold off everything piecemeal to keep their brick-and-mortars afloat.

They should have kept their catalog unit alive and transitioned into online catalogs -- they'd have been what Amazon is today.

[Maeve]

52. A long, sad fall

Back in the day, the Sears Wishbook was the very dreams of Chirstmas in paper form. Their appliances were dependable, their tools were worthy of the name "Craftsman" and their stores were clean, organized and fun to shop. But then the stores began to look more like outlet malls and the quality of merchandise became....K-Mart at its worst. Out of the last 20 times I've been to a mall, I would guess I skipped Sears 15 of those times. I don't remember the last time I found what I wanted there, even at Christmas, when sweaters and flannel shirts used to be good buys from them.

[RandySF]

54. Once upon a time

Sears sold high-quality products and was staffed by lifelong employees cared about their work. Now they treat their stores and employees just as bad as Walmart.

[tularetom]

59. I used to go into Sears every time I went to the mall

Because it was the quickest way in from where I parked. But I haven't even been inside that mall in the past 3 years so I haven't been in Sears either. It was depressing to go in there even then. The store was badly in need of a facelift but it was obvious nobody wanted to spend the money to do it.

Funny, I used to buy all my tools there because they had a lifetime guarantee. I still have some that I bought new and I have a whole Craftsman socket set that my mom got me as a present for my 14th birthday, which was in 1955.

These days, if I buy power tools, I get them online. Hand tools, I usually get them at Harbor Freight. Yes, they're all cheaply made but at my age I don't worry so much about lifetime guarantees and stuff.

[lunasun]

79. Sears catalog . They had a history to build on for the future but didnt adapt

Hey they could have done great online business or something but now it s on its way out

[packman]

62. This is sad

Sears was high-end retail shopping store for the middle-class many years ago. If you shopped at Sears , it was saying something. True their brand names were just rip-offs from cheaper models. The Kenmore vacuum was our first purchase we could afford at their local store and we felt we were getting quality.

I can remember walking thru one of their mega stores back in the early 70's and stopping to look at their kitchen cabinet display. I interrupted a group of salespeople leaning against a counter bull-shitting the evening away. I asked one of them about the cabinets, what wood they were made of and she replied - not really answering me - "They're very expensive" and turned back to her interrupted conversation. Put me in my place.
Last time I was in a Sears it resembled a K-mart, goods scattered, appliances dirty even dusty and few people on the floor.

[Nitram]

69. We stopped buying appliances at Sears ten years ago.

Terrible service, difficult to schedule delivery, no notice when a delivery's been cancelled. The last time they messed up a delivery, we cancelled the purchase and went to Lowe's instead.

[47of74]

133. I bought an small fridge from them a couple years ago...

I also got a microwave from them too for work. I went with Kenmore in both cases because they seemed to be a bit higher quality than other brands. The microwave we had for work before the Kenmore the paint on the inside started peeling away before the microwave was even a year old.

I don't think of myself as an appliance snob by any means but I've had some experiences with the cheap brands one finds at Wally world or even places like Lowe's so I'm a bit cautious about getting stuff from there.

[jtuck004]

75. Exactly where their lousy leadership lead them.n/t

[Cleita]

77. I'm not mourning. It's an awful store and always has been.

I worked for them a couple of years in the past and it was poorly managed and they didn't care. They made their real money extending credit and selling warranties. They didn't care about keeping popular products in stock. In my neighborhood, they took over KMart and OSH. Both stores, once decent to shop in for everyday items went into immediate decline of empty shelves or outdated stuff no one wanted, yet suddenly everything had a warranty you could buy if you actually found something you wanted.

The stores from the past I really miss are the old fashioned dime stores like Newberry's. They had the small things in stock you wanted like thread, dish cloths and dozens of other every day items.

[fredamae]

82. Sears has been on the decline

for years.
"How the me-first corporate structure installed by hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert helped ruin the retail giant"
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/18/ayn_rand_killed_sears_partner/

[SunSeeker]

83. Sad. nt

[dembotoz]

89. tried to buy a dryer at a sears outlet about 3 months back

online it showed a number of gas dryer that would fit my needs
what was strange was for each model number there was a price range like over a hundred bucks dif for the same machine....
so i called
turns out it had only 1 dryer that would work in stock,,,,seems the computer does not know....
and the price was the preak of what the price range was.

needless to say with a bit of looking i found a better dryer cheaper elsewhere

[tabasco]

90. I just bought a car battery at K-Mart.

It was the cheapest battery anywhere. Not coincidentally, the battery before this one was purchased at the same K-Mart seven years ago.

[rockfordfile]

91. Bought a lot of tools from Sears

[TexasBushwhacker]

96. The American made Craftsman tools were the best

Then they started having them made overseas and quality went in the toilet. My still has my dad's Craftsman tools from the 60s - lathe, table saw, drill press, the works - and they still work great.

[4dsc]

98. All thanks to CEO Eddie Lampert

There is only one reason why Sears is dying and his name is Eddie Lampert.

[eringer]

100. Maybe Someone Else Can Breath Life Into Sears

Buying Sears/Kmart at a "fire sale" price would give Amazon instant presence in the retail market. Change the name of the stores to Amazon and allowing people return on-line product there as well as pick up orders there would probably pay the rent. If Amazon doesn't take this opportunity, one of the newcomers like Wayfair will.

[Kalidurga]

102. I would prefer Overstock

[bigworld]

110. Another Randian company.

[madville]

104. Something will fill the void

Even Walmart has to constantly adapt or they will get left behind.

[ozone_man]

119. Thread winner!

They had their run.

[Kilgore]

107. Our nearest "shopping" town had a Wards, Sears, Kmart, and a Safeway grocery in the 80's

Today we have a Target and a humongous super Walmart.

The Wards was the first to go, then the Sears, finally the Kmart. The Safeway closed after the "small" Walmart was converted to a super Walmart with groceries.

My eyes tell me that Target/Walmart divides shoppers by economics. Those with more income tend to shop Target, the rest go to Walmart.

[47of74]

131. Where I live in Iowa

We had a Wards and Sears too. Wards left town in the late 80s and their spot at the mall was taken by JC Penney. Sears moved out to the mall and took over what had been Armstrong's department store. They closed down about 1.5 years ago and a fitness place just opened up in their old spot. We still have a K-Mart here, it's been there for about 50 years now. I think we had one of the first K-Marts in Iowa.

The main grocery chain here is Hy-Vee with some Fareway as well.

[sofa king]

122. If only they had something like a catalog....

Then people could flip through page after page of Sears products without ever leaving the home. They could just order the stuff and it would be mailed to them, and that way, Sears could get products to people who can't even reach one of their stores!

I'm not sure if it's possible, but maybe that catalog could even be converted into an electronic version, visible on a computing device.

Anyway, I'm sure that Sears has considered these ideas in the past and found them wanting, for one reason or another, so good luck to them!

[JCMach1]

125. They threw that baby out years ago when they canceled their catalog... Amazon now OWNS that market.

[doc03]

127. What a shame another death from cheep shoddy Chinese shit from Walmart. I still like Sears, their

appliances and tools are the best.

[47of74]

139. We always had pretty good luck with their stuff.

My Grandma bought a lawn mower from them in the late 80s, we were still using it to mow her lawn when she passed in 2003.

I remember my parents first Kenmore microwave - that thing lasted nearly 15 years before it gave up and keeled over. My aunt and uncle had a similar Kenmore that lasted even longer than that, I think they got well over 20 years. My last assignment we had a microwave that was not even a year old and the paint on the inside started peeling away. When it came time to replace it I went and got a slightly more expensive Kenmore that was on sale and right at the top of the range my boss gave me for price. I figured I'd catch hell from my manager for getting a Kenmore when there were plenty of cheap ones available but he just shrugged his shoulders and said cool. I think he was on the same wavelength I was, better to spend a bit more and get something a bit more reliable than something else that would fall apart inside a year.

[47of74]

128. Sad to hear that.

Our Sears store shut down about 1.5 years ago. The nearest ones are about an hour away from us.

They used to be a go to place for so many things, so it's a shame to see them crashing like they are.

[Owl]

136. Very sad. I love shopping at Sears.

[Gloria]

140. Yeah, the guy who runs it has been selling off property...

I just checked a fridge out today...I get my appliances there....good service with my service contracts through them as well....

[Blue Hen Buckeye]

142. Pennys will be right behind them