Season’s greetings at Sears:
Dingy shops, sparse shelves
Associated Press,
by
Anne D´Innocenzio
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
12/4/2019 4:11:04 PM
NEW YORK — Nearly 10 months out of bankruptcy, Sears is limping into the holiday shopping season. Eddie Lampert, the hedge fund billionaire who promised to save 425 Sears and Kmart stores and roughly 45,000 jobs when he bought the company out of bankruptcy, has seen his $5.2 billion lifeline wither. While there were plans for new small stores centered on appliances, only three have opened. The chain is still shrinking. By February, the store count will be down to 182. Many of the stores that remain have the same old problems. They’re grungy and understaffed, poorly stocked and losing
I went to Sears about 15 years ago to try to buy washer and dryer.
The saleslady was morbidly obese and wandered off, allegedly to get some information. She was gone for a bit, so we went hunting for her.
She was eating a pastry. Or maybe two.
My wife looked at me and said "Let's get out of here. The softer side of Sears is too busy."
We left, me laughing hysterically. Never been back.
4 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 12/4/2019 5:01:55 PM (No. 252774)
I am surprised that Sears is even still around. Lampert bet on a dead horse. It's a goner. The good old days of the Sears catalog schtick are gone...forever. I see that Sears has a huge pension liability. Hard to believe anyone would have stayed around long enough to earn a pension from Sears.
2 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
stablemoney 12/4/2019 5:03:09 PM (No. 252778)
Lampert is the biggest disaster to ever hit Sears. Now they are in his clutches, and dead ducks.
3 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bad-hair 12/4/2019 5:09:21 PM (No. 252782)
When I can order a car part that costs $2.85 and Amazon drops it on my doorstep the next day (shipped free) why would I waste gasoline and time driving to Sears auto center to see if they even have it?
Invalid business model.
5 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
qr4j 12/4/2019 5:16:51 PM (No. 252786)
As late as mid-1980s, Sears sold clothing that might interest fashion-conscious teenagers. JC Penney tended to offer more such clothing, but Sears was okay. And then Sears stopped offering things young people wanted. Those "young people" are now 50 years old!!! And we lost interest in Sears AGES ago because they no longer carried what we wanted.
6 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Terry_tr6 12/4/2019 5:33:30 PM (No. 252794)
Lampert stripped Sears and looted it. he had sears make deals that left him owning the valuable assets and sears holding debt. Now Sears is just a dry husk. An empty shell without any value.
6 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 12/4/2019 6:48:41 PM (No. 252840)
I'd love to shop at Sears, but they closed ours. Frown.
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
panther361 12/4/2019 7:10:06 PM (No. 252868)
Nice write off.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
HotRod 12/4/2019 8:25:16 PM (No. 252920)
Many here will not relate to what I say, but I miss the Sears and Roebuck of old. You would walk into the store and smell the hot cashew nuts, emanating from the nut and candy station. It would be manned by a young lady, probably a student, who would cheerfully ask what you would like to buy. You would proceed on into the store and admire all the high quality merchandise, with the Sears, Craftsman, or Kenmore names. You could have your car serviced while you shopped. The stores were big, bright and clean.
What happened? Cheap Chinese merchandise at Wal Mart and other stores. Sears was forced to compete by becoming ''Brand Central,'' selling the same cheap Chinese merchandise, just to compete. The Sears brand was diminished. It could not compete with quality merchandise, against the cheap Chinese junk. It could not out-Wal Mart Wal Mart.
Yes, we got stuff cheap. It is all disposable. When it breaks or dies, we throw it away and buy more cheap Chinese stuff.
8 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
chumley 12/4/2019 8:53:49 PM (No. 252935)
Along with Polskys, Monkey Wards, Higbees, and Penneys, Sears is the store of our grandparents. It has outlived its usefulness and is dying a slow, painful death. Better for it to just be gone, and something for us to reminisce about from the good old days.
0 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Luke21 12/5/2019 3:16:03 AM (No. 253079)
I remember the great popcorn at K-Mart. I think I last had it in 1991.
0 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
watashiyo 12/5/2019 4:13:10 AM (No. 253089)
Sears, once a favorite one-stop shopping destination for America's working middle class. Consumer attitude changed with cheap loans, easy credit cards, online shopping and the fickled demographics who are more keen on brands and image. In other words, Sears couldn't keep up with the speed of changes consumers were moving.
0 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
judy 12/5/2019 6:30:36 AM (No. 253136)
At one time Sears was the best. They were the only store way back in the old days that would give us newlyweds credit to buy furniture.
0 people like this.
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Last Rites will be needed soon. They are running on fumes.