Is this the last Christmas for Sears?

[TBoneTX 45,244]

Sad, mismanaged, and inevitable.

Is this the last Christmas for Sears?

 

[...]  Sears was once a powerhouse.  It has been a slow, quiet death for an iconic chain, whose groundbreaking catalog and anchor position at many malls nationwide once made Sears both the Amazon (AMZN) and the Walmart of its day.  [...]

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/business/sears-last-christmas/index.html

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

I spent many happy hours as a kid browsing the Sears Christmas catalogs.  

[TBoneTX 45,244]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

I spent many happy hours as a kid browsing the Sears Christmas catalogs.  

Me, too.  I liked the smell of the pages, as well.

[Mike E 11,739]

Sears still exists?

 

Ditto on the Christmas catalog --- Sears was as big in Canada as it was in the USA (Simpsons Sears instead of Sears and Roebuck though by the late 1970s it was just Sears in both countries)

 

When I moved to the USA in the 1980s, , I was shocked at just how involved Sears was in American lives. You didn't just shop there, you bought a new roof there, a new paint job for your house, rented cars there, opened a brokerage account there, etc. If Sears didn't have it, you didn't need it.

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

11 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Sears still exists?

 

Ditto on the Christmas catalog --- Sears was as big in Canada as it was in the USA (Simpsons Sears instead of Sears and Roebuck though by the late 1970s it was just Sears in both countries)

 

When I moved to the USA in the 1980s, , I was shocked at just how involved Sears was in American lives. You didn't just shop there, you bought a new roof there, a new paint job for your house, rented cars there, opened a brokerage account there, etc. If Sears didn't have it, you didn't need it.

From 1908 to 1940, you could choose from over 400 styles of homes to purchase through Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog.  Sears sold between 70,000 to 75,000 homes, so there are plenty out there, you just need to know where to look.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Mike E 11,739]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

From 1908 to 1940, you could choose from over 400 styles of homes to purchase through Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog.

Sears was letting people download houses and cars before there was an Internet.

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

Sears Sold 70,000 Homes From Their Catalog, Are You Living in One? (popularmechanics.com)

 

Interesting article.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[TBoneTX 45,244]

If the corporation had left the Sears Hardware stores open, I'd have bought every appliance there during kitchen renovation several years ago.  Instead, I was forced to deal with Lowe's and Home Despot.

 

Not many years ago, they closed the exceptionally high-volume Sears store near me, purely to sell the real estate.

That one had lines of people wrapped around 3 sides of the store while waiting for Black Friday openings.

[Dashinka 24,478]

It is sad, if only Sears had adapted to the internet and delivery, they would have been even bigger then Amazon.

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

It is sad, if only Sears had adapted to the internet and delivery, they would have been even bigger then Amazon.

Agree.  Some of my favorite companies fell behind the changing times and suffered.  Radio Shack is one.  

[TBoneTX 45,244]

3 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Radio Shack

Also one of my distinct favorites.

 

Mrs. T-B.'s relatives from Ecu all had different #1 favorite stores.

Their #2 favorite, without exception, was Sears.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

It is sad to see them go.  Might as well get it over with because they are just a shell of the company they used to be.

 

My dad was an avid woodworker when I was a boy, and Craftsman were THE tools to have in the 60's and 70's.  The brand was sold a few years ago.  Kenmore made great appliances too, but I suspect they were actually made by another brand.

[Neonred 3,562]

8 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

Kenmore made great appliances too, but I suspect they were actually made by another brand.

Many were made by Whirlpool and some were made by GE.

[TBoneTX 45,244]

Any KMart left in the Keys, or all closed now?

[Neonred 3,562]

3 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Any KMart left in the Keys, or all closed now?

I believe they are all closed now.  I know the one in Marathon closed last year, and the one in Key Largo was also closed as I have been told.  

 

Not 100% sure about the one in Key West.  I was in there early this year and I wondered how in the world they were able to stay in business.  

 

My wife's favorite Russian deli is right around the corner from that K-Mart.  Next time we are there I will check.

 

 

Just checked and found out K-Mart in Key West closed earlier this year, in March.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Neonred