Sears Roebuck & Co. demise

[BobPalma]

From your Post #45, Bob:

Sears revolutionized American retail not once but twice, and made a lot of Americans immeasurably better off.

AMEN to that. They had a good run and will be missed.

Wal-Mart may replace (indeed, is replacing / has replaced) Sears demographically, but not socially or culturally. BP

[Sdude]

I once bought an old Chevy truck and inside the glovebox was a nasty looking large screwdriver that had a busted handle and the blade looked like he used it to jump start the truck. I took that old screwdriver to Sears and walked out a few minutes later with a brand new one. No paperwork necessary, just instructed me to walk over to the shelf and help myself with a replacement.

[t walgamuth]

I still have a boatload of craftsman tools, but their bulletproof warranty is long gone and without that I have in the last decade or so bought lots of other brands as well. Mostly if they look good they have proven to be good.

A lot of the tools now are snap on knock offs.

[ddub]

Looked at some Craftsman tools in Ace Hardware yesterday, alas, they were made in China like everything else.

[Andy R.]

If only Sears had kept the catalog business going a few more years. It would have been a logical introduction to Internet shopping and all the shipping infrastructure would have already been in place!

Ironic, isn't it?
As a kid, Sears and JCPenney "Wish Books" were always preferred reading this time of year.

[toymobile]

The catalogs were also the yearly supply for the OUT HOUSE, more than reading material.

Johnny

[dictator27]

Ironic, isn't it?
As a kid, Sears and JCPenney "Wish Books" were always preferred reading this time of year.

They are still available here. The problem is getting one. My wife ordered two of them about the middle of November. They were supposed to arrive at the Sears near us on November 29th. Hasn't happened yet.

Terry

[raprice]

And this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2016/12/08/sears-lost-nearly-750-million-last-quarter-plans-to-liquidate-more-stores/#33b56deb6b8d

Here's an interesting survey we might throw into this discussion just for fun:

Who has owned a Sears-branded item the longest that they personally bought new (not bought by a parent or grandparent)?

My contribution: I bought a smallish new tool box with lift-out tray at Sears when I was 14 years old, placing it in my bicycle's large newspaper-carrying basket for the ride home. 56 years later, I'm still using it as my "in-car" tool box for mobile emergencies.

I'm sure someone can top 56 years, but I'll bet not by much. BP

Bob,
I bought my first Craftsman socket set in 1955 after I graduated from high school. I still have the set and it still works flawlessly. Most of my tools are Craftsman.
So I guess I've owned my sockets for 61 years. Wow, where did all those years go?
Rog

[wittsend]

If this had been posted on a Honda Civic site the title likely would have been, "Have you ever been in a Sears." And probably more than 50% of the respondents would have replied, "What?" The other 50% would have replied that they were reluctantly taken their by their parents and it was awful because they had no cell phone reception in the building.

[BobPalma]

Bob, I bought my first Craftsman socket set in 1955 after I graduated from high school. I still have the set and it still works flawlessly. Most of my tools are Craftsman.
So I guess I've owned my sockets for 61 years. Wow, where did all those years go? Rog

Woo-hoo, Roger; you win so far! (I bought that tool box in 1958, so you did beat me by three years.) BP

[Lark8girl]

Our small town Sears Store is closing in a week. The factor was High Rent from the strip Shopping center.
Almost all my tools are Sears beginning in 1970. And used almost exclusively on Studebaker and Hudson automobiles.
Sad to see a long slow decline of Sears, it kind of compares to Studebaker. Both had a great run and were so strong and a long and painful decline.

Husband of Lark VIII girl

[Bob Bryant]

In 1953 I worked at a Sears store in Kendallville, IN. I was in sales, but the receiving clerk had a serious emergency surgery and I was shifted into that position for a few weeks. I bought tires, a fishing rod, shoes, a Kenmore food mixer, etc. The store had an extensive farm equipment department and I recall roofing shingles that arrived at the store's warehouse nearby by rail. We had motorscooters and after I went to Germany they had the Allstate auto which was really a Henry J. The store did not have dry goods, so my shoes were mail order which had a store counter and was quite busy for those customers who wanted to order in the store and pick up their purchase upon arrival. Sort of like we can do at Walmart today. The Kenmore appliances arrived from Whirlpool in Benton Harbor, MI. A competitor was Montgomery Ward in near-by Sturgis, MI.

The largest area Sears store was in Fort Wayne. Kendallville now has a small Sears Homestore at another location which I think is a franchise effort of Sears. I don't know what will happen to those stores which are in many communities if the parent organization folds.

[BobPalma]

From the Indianapolis Business Journal daily blog for December 14, 2016:

http://www.ibj.com/articles/61675-three-area-sears-stores-set-to-close-in-january?utm_source=eight-at-8&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=2016-12-14

[showbizkid]

From the Indianapolis Business Journal daily blog for December 14, 2016:

Sad, but I fear it's just the beginning of the domino effect.

What's sad is that the retail "experts" in charge of these legacy American store brands have no idea how many people still value the name and have fond memories. If they worked harder on polishing and expanding their brand instead of engaging in "cost cutting" measures (read: store closings), they could save their stores... but they really have no interest in doing so. Their sole interests are the stock price and the BoD.

My local Sears still looks as if it was last updated in 1985 (it was!), and the staff has all the caring, warm demeanor of a cranky wolverine. I myself only go now in order to get water filter cartridges for my fridge; why would I want to wait in a line 10 people deep to have a surly teenager check me out while attempting to shackle me to a Sears Credit account?

[jnormanh]

Sad, but I fear it's just the beginning of the domino effect.

What's sad is that the retail "experts" in charge of these legacy American store brands have no idea how many people still value the name and have fond memories. If they worked harder on polishing and expanding their brand instead of engaging in "cost cutting" measures (read: store closings), they could save their stores... but they really have no interest in doing so. Their sole interests are the stock price and the BoD.

My local Sears still looks as if it was last updated in 1985 (it was!), and the staff has all the caring, warm demeanor of a cranky wolverine. I myself only go now in order to get water filter cartridges for my fridge; why would I want to wait in a line 10 people deep to have a surly teenager check me out while attempting to shackle me to a Sears Credit account?

That's not my experience. The Sears store here is at least 30 years old, at the end of a mall.

There are no lines. In fact there are very few people in the store.

But...

They have good quality goods at good prices.

And their sales people are helpful.

I need to shop there more.

It's not a crap store like KMart or WalMart.