I'd hate to see it go just because it always had great tools, but it looks like pretty big problems with it's co-owned K-Mart:

http://www.aol.com/article/finance/...21620815/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000058&

They killed their tool department when they went overseas with the Craftsman line. I may as well go to Harbor Freight now if I want some cheapass crap.

Writing is on the wall for all brick and mortar stores

I sure hope they keep open their online parts store.

Sears screwed themselves. They stopped selling firearms. Their warranty and customer service went down over the years. Not surprised really.

The business model that Sears is based on has been defunct since about the end of WWII. They should have gone out of business when the similarly-based Montgomery Ward did.

The Kmart deal was bad, it will eventually kill them.

Actually Montgomery Ward is still in business online website.

IMO, when Sears went the 'mall' route was the start of their decline, add the Kmart purchase fiasco and that spelled the end.

Sears signed their own death certificate when they got rid of the catalog. They could have easily converted that to online sales YEARS ago, before Amazon and other vendors got a foothold.

Other than hammers and pliers, virtually their entire tool line is offshore stuff (no worse, but certainly no better, than what Harbor Freight, Home Depot, or Lowes carries). At least I can count on those other three to be in business in 5 years to honor their tool warranty.

Sears, RIP

Screwed me on a super duper 7 year car battery for my Vette. It went bad in a couple years, and the free replacement included a testing fee and installation. It would have cost the same to get a replacement from Sams club. Never stepped in there since.

Sears online prices are stupidly high. I can find lower prices at a doz other sites no matter what I'm buying.

This, plus what others have said. I worked for Kmart during its heyday and I bailed when it was obvious things were about to go south.They had the right idea to make it go, but they discarded it, and basically ignored the new technology that was available to help out. Regardless, brick and mortar anything that doesn't offer a service as well as goods ( like a repair shop...) is in for trouble. On-line sales were up 29% on Black friday...

Walmart is really pushing online sales now. With the money behind them, they just might give Amazon a run for it. Their prices are much lower than what Sears is offering.

I worked for a couple of years with guy who started with Sears in high school, continued working there after graduating and over the years worked his way up to general manager of a large full service Sears store.

He said he had always loved working for Sears but it got so mentally unbearable dealing with ever increasing corporate pressure and demands after the K-mart deal that he felt he had to take early retirement or else go nuts.

The last I heard Sears offered him too good of a deal to turn down, on his terms, back in his former position, if he would come back with them again and he accepted.

Ironically, the guy who took his job at Sears after he retired wound up quiting Sears for the same reasons and came to work for our company too.

they just tore down the Sears near us. i remember that store from the 60's.

very sad, because they were truly of America's greatest stores

Sears and Kmart - kinda like tying 2 rocks together and hoping they will float.

and it's not just Sears. JC Penney is in trouble too. Fact it, brick and mortar stores are going to be pretty much a thing of the past before too long.

The K-mart here in Sierra Vista is either closed, or just about finished it's "Everything must go" sale.
Our Sears is a DUMP,....with rude, half azzed staffing, and has been for years.
....honoring warranties ?
sorry,....failed that, too.

Good riddance.

GTC

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...uy-jet-com-for-3-billion-to-fight-amazon

I don't know how it is with other Sears stores but customer service is non-existent in the Wasilla branch. If you do manage to actually find someone working in the tool department and can actually get them to talk to you, the odds of them knowing anything are lower than drawing a bison tag.

Walmart still doesn't have it figured out.

Note the disclaimer that notations of place of manufacture are conjecture and advising that you must read the label to determine manufacturer's statement of place of manufacture. For Pete's sake, you can't read the label until you've bought the item! What else is inaccurate about their descriptions?

Some of their orders are fulfilled by a third party known well known to refuse to properly honor warranties, return terms and refunds - to the point of systematic fraud.

While delivery to their stores is free and their huge network of stores could make that an incredible advantage, may of their online items do not allow delivery to the store so you have to pay shipping.

Lastly, they are so big they just don't know what the hell they are doing and you can't discuss it with them. I went looking online for a certain brand of airgun pellets and Walmart had the best price. I start the ordering process and get well into it before their site informs me they will not sell airgun pellets to Will County Illinois! Why the hell not? Airgun pellets are not regulated in Will County. How are they going to take on Amazon with a system that refuses to make sales?

Sears here just closed up about 4 months ago. But news from the white house says trump is inheriting a great economy so there's really nothing to worry about.

"Remain calm, all is well" .....Animal House

Sears near me closed up 4 YEARS ago.

I used to know the guy who was the manager for the Sears tire shop here. When he was a couple years from retirement, they moved him to manage women's clothing. That would have been ok but they put him on full commission. As manager, he didn't sell so his commissions were close to nothing. He was working for free and starving but trying to hold on until he could draw his pension. They were trying to screw him out of it.

Likewise, my sister worked in their home decorating dept. It was also commission. If they had a slow week, they could 'draw' on the next week's anticipated sales. When they worked extra, like doing inventory, they weren't paid. They had to draw ahead and pay it back later. She didn't work for them long before she wised up.

Amazon is going to eat their lunch

All the local K marts are gone...big stand alone Sears has long been gone...only local Sears is in what used to be a car dealership and I was told yesterday it is closing for good. Bye bye.

I have heard the Sears does a great job of supporting their employees that are in the Reserves/Guard. I really appreciate that and buy from them as much as I can.

"Sears Hometown" and "Sears Outlet" stores are independently owned and seperate from Sears Holdings.

Local Sears Hometown store stocks various brand name items including some Sears brands and appears to be keeping it's head above water for around five years or longer now, how high above I don't know.

As a Sears "Baby", my father worked his way up the ranks to the executive level, I have watched Sears' demise since the 80's. That is when the then President of Sears decided that they needed to increase the promotion process or continue to lose great people to Wal-Mart. For every large store manager that retired, 26 other employees were promoted. It was supposed to help launch Sears into the 21st century. What dad told me it was going to do was destroy Sears. Too many people promoted before they were ready and no one there to help them out. To accomplish this promotion flood, they wrote an early buyout program that was outstanding. Almost everyone that took Sears up on the buyout became instant millionaires. In the 80's that was huge. The vast majority of top level executives took that one time early retirement buyout, far more that was anticipated, and that left Sears with a quality management void that they were not able to overcome. Then Sears sold off it's very profitable Allstate Insurance Agency, and then came the infamous K-Mart/Sears merger. That was the end of what was once a great company.

Sears, K-mart and Western Auto, too.

I can't fathom how the one here pays their heating bill

The auto center and appliances must sell a fair bit if it's indeed a viable store, but my gut tells me they're hemorrhaging money

The last thing I bought from Sears was new tires at a Sears automotive center around three or four years ago. At that time they were the only local vendor who had the exact brand and model of tires I wanted and at a pretty decent price. They did as good a job mounting, balancing and installing as anybody although when I got home I discovered one of my hub covers was missing. Called them back asking if they forgot to put it back on or found it laying around in their shop or parking lot. Said they knew nothing about it. Cost me over $30 for a replacement.

Same for the Anchorage store. The only reason I go there is if they have something nobody else carries, which is rare.

Their employees are a sorry bunch of drones, it's like a zombie movie. I swear every time I've finally gotten around to paying for my purchase it's the first time the lady at the checkout counter has operated the register and it takes an additional 5-10 minutes to get out of the store.

The Sears and Kmart near me closed several years ago.

This.

We bought a mattress from Sears and it was defect, springs ends sticking out the sides. Customer services was a nightmare. They tried to replace the queen sixe with a twin. We said no. They took it back and brought us another twin... three times. No way for customer service to transfer us to a manager. Took over four months and we finally bought another mattress from elsewhere and has Sears pick up the broken one and refund out money.

Can't think of the last time I was in a Sears store. And I don't care. RIP, it's about time. When companies lose sight of what got them there, it only makes since they die.

Maybe it will go back to being a nightclub!

Well the went Chi-com so piss on em.

They don't even honor the warranty on the old Craftsman tools. When you piss of the people that helped build your company that's what happens.

Sears is still an anchor store at our local mall. It probably does a little better than its counterparts.

I remember Husky genes as a kid and I think Sears had a bicycle brand called Roadmaster that was popular with us adolescent boys. I can remember my grandfather buying a shotgun from them when I was a kid.

Sears is a victim of Americans wanting cheap schit.

I have no idea if a Sears Diehard battery was better quality than some Wal-Mart brand but I always thought it was, same with Craftsman tools and Kenmore Appliances.

So they tried to compete with Wal-Mart and started diluting their brands with crap quality.

Oddly enough the only thing I still buy at Sears is clothes. Every year they have a winter clearance around the last week of February to mid-march. I pick up $120 coats for like $30 for the kids.

I remember they were in pretty dire straights when they merged with Kmart. Industry analysts couldn't figure out why they'd want to take on a loser unless it was to pick up real estate in Wal-Mart country on the cheap.

Walmart is killing Sears

I am surprised they have lasted this long.

I do remember the days when Sears and KMart were on top. I guess Walmart wears the crown now. Who thinks Amazon will be the next to slay the giant?

Have not stepped foot inside Sears for well over 20 years. And not for all the common reasons that you guys boycott.

Regardless, you treat me wrong and I'll not be back.

Also, on that list are:

Avis, Hilton, and Campbells Products.

Sears fugked themselves silly. They had every mechanic in the country explainning that Mac and Snap-On weren't necessary for the "average guy" and they threw that schit away.



Dave

Pffffffftttt. Not even close.



Dave

Sears is killing Sears

Nailed it!

It's super ironic that Sears is getting killed by Amazon, considering that Sears practically invented mail order.

Pluses: Sears parts department. I had a Frigidaire freezer my parents bought in 1967. After 33 years of constant service the fan (which ran 24/7) died. I called Sears parts and they had one in stock, I had it in my hand two days later. The new fan was much smaller than the old one, but it came with an adapter.

Minuses: Their appliance repair service. Lying, incompetent crooks.



I've owned cars for over 40 years and every battery I ever bought was a Die Hard. Until the battery on my current car went out a couple of months ago. I bought a Duracell Ultra from Batteries Plus because I couldn't trust a 7 year warranty from Sears.

Can't believe Sears is still around.
As a kid the store was magical: guns, tools, even a candy shop in the basement of the Chicago store we had. CHicago was the home of Sears. (Sears Tower)

Now it's a wasteland.

They do have an online presence with outrageous prices they hope suckers will fall for.

A local neighbor recently had Sears do her NEW ROOF....lol. They will do anything to try to remain on life support.

Dang...could have shorted their shares after their merge with Kmart
They've been bleeding shareholder value forever ...they should move to Mexico!
They have "stupid" down to a science.
Sad ..used to spend a lot of time there shopping
Loved the catalogs

I loved going to Sears with my dad when I was a kid. That store was tore down five years ago. The local Kmart is a nice Hy-Vee now.

I will make the warranty scream, but they will never get another dime of my money.

We used to have a huge Sears here, 1/2 of a block, 2 stories, separate auto store, warranty repair shop, everything you could imagine on the shelves. Then they downsized to less than 1/4 the size, maybe smaller, and moved to a mall. It all went to crap.

Hey I helped generate some heat there when it was a nightclub

The roof baby

Fast times

The local Sears and K-Mart have both gone under here. Was a slow painful death to watch.

we still have one local K-MART but i really don't know why they are still open. i think the little restaurant thats in the store does more business then the store. the local ACE HARDWARE sells craftsman tools. i can remember when going to sears was a big deal back when i first got in to woodworking. i couldn't to see what new gadgets they had come out with.

Son is a manager at one of the automotive centers. He just told his manager he is done in May. He runs a branch about 150 miles from us. His fiancee lives down here so the move is more of plan to be in a area his future wife works. His branches are normally one of the highest in sales. He does it on service he says. He fired a tech last week for not tightening the lug nuts properly. Wrecked the rims and bolts when the guy drove it home.

When he told his manager he was leaving. They told him to pick a location and he could have it.

He has seen the writing on the wall to. They squeeze him just a little bit more every quarter. The automotive branch is for sale right now.

They pay the main store managers crumbs and do what they can to reduce the higher paying positions by elimination.

Only a matter of time.

Not that they'd be interested but Donald T..
Carly Fiorina could get this mofo turned around.
Remember...WLS...
call letters that stood for "worlds largest store"...another time...another age... ancient history

and, you used to be able to walk in and buy a gun from all of them.

This f sears honetly

As was said their tools went to crap and their warranty is awful now. No employees in the stores to help and terrible customer service. Too many other better options out there these days to even consider spending a dime there.

Sears is in a Death Spiral....... just a matter of time now.

Ace Hardware now sell Craftsman tools........

http://www.acehardware.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=21503026

Exactly.

While Sears outsourced Craftsman tools to China, a company bought the old SK brand of tools and are in the process of bringing manufacturing back to the US. This even includes using a foundry in Colorado Springs for the steel.

Casey

That's good!


Casey

Maybe under the SK brand?
That would be nice to see.

Based on our experience, I will say this in defense of stores like Sears and J.C. Pennys -- they always have offered a better quality, fit and selection of clothing for men, women and kids than any Walmart we've ever been in.

Even K-Mart sells a better quality and better looking clothing line than Walmart.

Sears and Pennys have been the go-to place for clothing for countless American working families for years.

Needed a dress suit for special occasions at an affordable price? Walk into a full line Pennys or Sears store and they had racks of suits to choose from in various sizes, styles, fabrics and colors to try on for fit and would alter as necessary.

Some things I just can't imagine ever ordering on-line.

Actually, you'd be better off ordering suits online from this place.

Indochino

You take lots of measurements of yourself using their instructions and get a tailored suit. There selection is way wider than any store is going to have.