It’s depressing that Sears has taken this long to die. If a human, the surviving family would deserve our pity for the decades of false alarms by which the hospital would call to notify the family to make a final visit - over and over and over.
It’s interesting that a line of good vs evil is being drawn between WMT & AMZN vs Sears. I suspect the small local retailer was not overly enthusiastic about Sears’ business plan at its peak.
July 13, 2020, 10:59 AM
konata88
I remember when Sears used to mail out thick catalogs.
There was a time when I perceived Sears to be a wondrous store. I was young so not sure how real it was.
But as a I grew older, I associated the brand with cheap shit. It paled against Macy's and Emporium Capwell at that time. It was likely, at that time, their tools were still above par. However, I grew up with a different perception - their clothes were cheap. They sell cheap stuff. So, I wouldn't buy anything else from them.
To me, that was their downfall. Cheapening the Sears brand cheapened their other brands, even if the products were actually above par. This was back in the late 70's, early 80's. I'm surprised they lasted this long. Last time I went to Sears was 20 years ago....
"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy "A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
July 13, 2020, 11:03 AM
Micropterus
quote:
Originally posted by konata88: I remember when Sears used to mail out thick catalogs.
Yep, they had a really thick one and at Christmas time they had the thinner Wish Book. I spent many hours looking at the back of the Wish Book at model train sets. And spent a little time with the thick one looking at the lingerie section (admit it, if you were a boy in the 70s, you did, too.)
_____________ "I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau
July 13, 2020, 11:17 AM
sigspecops
My 70’s childhood would definitely not be the same without Sears and it’s catalogs. I noticed a big decline in the cheapness of the clothing in the late 80’s and by the 90’s the interiors of the stores looked extremely cheap and out of date, especially compared to other stores in the malls. What a shame.
No one's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.- Mark Twain
July 13, 2020, 11:40 AM
jhe888
Sears stores have been depressing for many years now.
The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
July 13, 2020, 12:08 PM
280nosler
quote:
Originally posted by konata88: I remember when Sears used to mail out thick catalogs.
There was a time when I perceived Sears to be a wondrous store. I was young so not sure how real it was.
But as a I grew older, I associated the brand with cheap shit. It paled against Macy's and Emporium Capwell at that time. It was likely, at that time, their tools were still above par. However, I grew up with a different perception - their clothes were cheap. They sell cheap stuff. So, I wouldn't buy anything else from them.
To me, that was their downfall. Cheapening the Sears brand cheapened their other brands, even if the products were actually above par. This was back in the late 70's, early 80's. I'm surprised they lasted this long. Last time I went to Sears was 20 years ago....
I have an Honor Built Modern Home catalog packed away that was from my grandparents house they built in 1934.
July 13, 2020, 12:28 PM
arfmel
quote:
Originally posted by Micropterus: And who can forget Ted Williams branded sporting goods. Growing up, all my baseball mits were Ted Williams. My first pair of real hunting boots were Ted Williams. I had a Ted Williams shotgun.
Then there’s Ted’s predecessor- JC Higgins. I have a Jc Higgins .22 revolver (made by High Standard), and a JC Higgins .30-30 (made by Marlin).
July 13, 2020, 12:41 PM
71 TRUCK
quote:
Originally posted by LBAR15:
quote:
Originally posted by 71 TRUCK: My childhood has slowly been slipping away for years. Sears,Two Guys,Woolworth,Rickles home centers,Channel home centers,Best,Sam Goddy,KB Toys,Crazy Eddies(he lived in the town I grew up in) and the list goes on. I had grown up in the north east and had never been into a Walmart till I moved to Florida 21+ years ago. Pretty soon all it will be is,Walmart and Amazon.
71, sounds like we grew up in the same area. From Long Island originally I remember my Mom and Dad taking me to all those places. Shopping for our first VCR at The Wiz, going to TSS for back to school supplies, constantly losing my Dad in the tool section at Sears when he would run off to another isle to look at something else that caught his eye. A lot of good memories and now all kids have is a memory of the Amazon box showing up at the door. I can't even take my 10 year old to Toys 'R Us any more but I'm glad we had a chance to go when he was younger at least.
In regards to Sears, I have to say the past 10 years or so have been like watching a beloved family member slowly dying of a terminal disease. To the point where on my last visit, I was relieved the rumors were swirling about their demise. The store was so far gone, there was hardly any staff, the pickup counter and stock room in back (the employee told me to go on in and look for my own package) was falling apart and empty and the staff were as happy as POW's to be stuck there all day. Out on the sales floor, shelves were 3/4 bare, displays were dusty and neglected and the whole experience was just beyond depressing. Sadly, for Sears it was time and to tell the truth based on that last experience, I'm OK with it.
A child of the 80's I also loved visiting the mall and hitting the arcade with friends for hours. We're going to lose malls as we know them as well. That one hurts.
I was borne,raised and grew up on the Jersey Shore. In 1999 at the age of 33 My wife(who was also raised on the Jersey Shore) and I moved to Florida. It is a shame Sears is not surviving. Over the years I spent a lot of money there. My first credit card was a real Sears credit not the Discover card. Growing up as a kid, going to Sears was always a treat. As soon as we got to the store my mother would go one way and I would wonder the store. Tools were a big thing for me. I also bought my first real good camera, a Cannon AE1 with all the lenses,a bag and the such. I now live in central Florida where we have what might be one of the last Sears stores at the Florida mall that is always busy and may be making money.
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State
NRA Life Member
July 13, 2020, 12:50 PM
smschulz
It IS sad but part of the evolution of business. I think SEARS (original) may have been my very first Credit Card. It is not entirely SEARS fault (not that it matters) but they bear some of the blame. Not entirely fair but such is life and business.
July 13, 2020, 12:53 PM
92fstech
When I started seeing craftsman tools with made in China or made in Taiwan stamped on them, I knew the end was near. Our local Sears is long gone, as is our JC Penny and our KMart. Just empty storefronts in strip malls now.
July 13, 2020, 01:08 PM
maxwayne
I was stationed at Fort Sam in 71 and we got a vacuum cleaner from Sears on layaway. I was an E-5 making $500 a month and no one else would give us any credit.
I still have a 5 rd box of Sears branded 00 buckshot that I bought after I was discharged and had a job with some not so great clientele.
July 13, 2020, 01:24 PM
rat2306
Speaking of the Wish Books, there's a website with a number of them scanned in. Right about Columbus Day, they'd arrive in the mail and there was always a race between us younger kids, the older siblings, and parents to get the catalogs first so as to hide them until Thanksgiving.
Originally posted by mcrimm: Shortly thereafter, Sears decided they didn't need people who knew what they were doing and shit-canned department managers and went to central checkout areas. According to an internet search, Sears has only 83 stores left open and none in 26 states. We don't have one within 500 miles.
This started to kill retail before the internet came along. Stores stopped having competent employees, and then the internet came along and everyone decided if Im going to get shit service or no service anyway, might as well just buy it from the net, and have it sent right to my house. No more stupid useless employees wasting my time, driving to the store, etc.
Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
July 13, 2020, 04:06 PM
flashguy
Childhood in Detroit, Michigan 1940-1960 involved a lot of shopping at Sears, Wards, and J. L. Hudson's (largest store in the US at that time). Many memories of wandering the aisles of Woolworth's and Kresge's, too.
flashguy
Texan by choice, not accident of birth
July 13, 2020, 04:29 PM
2000Z-71
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd: Sad, but inevitable. If Sears had good leadership, Amazon would have never gotten a foothold.
quote:
Originally posted by old rugged cross: Kinda of harsh on the good folks of Wasilla aren't you.
That was being polite. Back when I lived in Anchorage, we referred to it as Wasyphilis.
A good friend lives there and really doesn't like it being referred to as "Sarah's trailer park" either.
Ever wonder why every episode of Alaska State Troopers has at least one segment of chasing a meth head around Wasilla?
My daughter can deflate your daughter's soccer ball.
July 13, 2020, 04:32 PM
drill sgt
Sorry to see but a lot of the large retailers overbuilt and got too big for their britches. have many fond shopping memories of Sears and JC PENNY and even Montgomery Ward. Still have a Garcia Ambassador 5000(red) bait casting reel 1963/1964 vintage purchased in Baton Rouge, La. and it works like new. .....................................drill sgt.
July 13, 2020, 05:37 PM
Brett257
I have a lot of fond memories of going to JC Penny and Sears for school clothes when I was a kid. If they didn't have it in stock, they would send it to the store.
We used to get two of the JC Penny Christmas catalogs, so we could cut pictures out of one for our wish list and keep the other intact to look through. Our Christmas lists were very ambitious!
July 13, 2020, 07:52 PM
downtownv
Sears did it to themselves. the t-rex didn't last forever, either. I won't miss them, but their real estate is worth millions/Billions.This message has been edited. Last edited by: downtownv,
Then there’s Ted’s predecessor- JC Higgins. I have a Jc Higgins .22 revolver (made by High Standard), and a JC Higgins .30-30 (made by Marlin).
I've got my Dad's J.C.Higgins (Hi Standard) 30/583.70 .22LR rifle (beautiful little gun). He bought it in 1951 at the Tucson, AZ Sears.
July 14, 2020, 04:01 AM
ftttu
Sad to see Sears at this point, and it was sad seeing others fail over the years as well. In Houston where I grew up, I watched Montgomery Ward fail a long with lesser department store like Sage, Globe and Fedmart. Now Penny’s is going down, too. Really sad.
but part of the evolution of business.