Sears - RIP

KFC911 · 10-12-2018, 04:14 AM

How the mighty have fallen....

Their catalog, stores, Craftsman, Kenmore, and infrastructure (that most had no clue existed... that interconnected the financial infrastructure of the USA)...gone, if not totally....soon. Whatever happened to Roebuck? I remember going to their long candy counter as a little kid...they sold a lot of candy as I learned later in my career...

OK....storm cleanup time....and get off my lawn!

widgeon13 · 10-12-2018, 04:39 AM

Knew them well years ago, had mucho business with them.

Jims5543 · 10-12-2018, 04:54 AM

They sold a pretty good house back in the day. If you find one for sale now people actually fight over them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog_Home

If you ever want to stay overnight in one of their houses we have one locally that is part of a mom and pop hotel in Downtown Stuart Florida.

Hotel in Stuart Florida Blue House (3 Bedrooms: 1 King, 1 Queen, 1 Full, 2 Singles/2 Bathrooms) - Hotel in Stuart Florida

RKDinOKC · RKDinOKC's Garage

Husky at home depot and harbor freight put craftsman out of business.

cabmandone · cabmandone's Garage

Kind of amazing watching the fall. Sears was a store that as a kid my mom took us to find school clothes, play clothes, appliances, dish sets etc... Just goes to show that you have to keep up with the market changes I guess.

Norm K · 10-12-2018, 05:18 AM

As a kid in the mid-sixties, this was about the time of year the Sears Wishbook would show up in the house. Can't tell you how many hours my siblings and I (well, the four boys anyway - our sisters barely got their hands on it) spent pining for road race sets and mini-bikes.

None ever appeared but that never diminished the anticipation year after year.

_

pavulon · 10-12-2018, 05:20 AM

They missed the internet boat...Amazon didn't and is eating everyone's lunch.

drcoastline · 10-12-2018, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Husky at home depot and harbor freight put craftsman out of business.

Craftsman put Craftsman down. Their quality has steadily declined for twenty plus years. As the quality declined people started buying other brands including HF. And of course HD and Lowes both have no questions asked return policies and HF has a lifetime warranty just like Craftsman. So it doesn't stand above the crowd any longer. Craftsman will live on as part of the Lowes brand now. Kenmore may also be absorbed by someone.

The decline of Craftsman was just one nail of many in Sears coffin. I think what really started their decline was when they entered the money lending business, Credit cards and Mortgages. And of course hitching the wagon to Kmart just ensured they wouldn't survive. But that is the cycle of life. It's not the first time an institution has fallen and it won't be the last. One day we may very well be reading a thread on Walmart, Apple, Amazon?

KFC911 · 10-12-2018, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcoastline

.... It's not the first time an institution has fallen and it won't be the last. One day we may very well be reading a thread on Walmart, Apple, Amazon?

Bet it won't be on PPOT though....whatever happened to Dempsey

?

asphaltgambler · 10-12-2018, 05:33 AM

As someone here has said before, Amazon is essentially an updated version of what Sears core business model was. Even by the early 60's too much diversification - they lost site of their brick & mortar presentation. Most already way out of date.

legion · 10-12-2018, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pavulon

They missed the internet boat...Amazon didn't and is eating everyone's lunch.

Which is ironic, because Amazon copied Sears' original business model.

URY914 · URY914's Garage

Say goodbye to those shopping malls built with Sears and Penny's on each end too.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

My uncle Al got his first car from Sears in the 1920's

legion · 10-12-2018, 06:14 AM

Our local mall had five anchors 3 years ago:

Sears
Macy's
JC Penney
Kohl's
Bergners

The Macy's was originally a Famous Barr (a St. Louis based retailer that specialized in secondary markets), but they got bought out by Macy's 10 years ago. None of the locals were happy as everyone expected the local store to be closed the second Macy's had financial problems. But everyone thought Sears would be the first to go. Their traffic had been declining for two decades and they had done absolutely nothing to update the store or their archaic systems.

Macy's closed first two years ago. JC Penny was next, which surprised no one. Bergner's was the next to go, which surprised everyone as they had the best traffic of any of the anchors. Finally, Sears, which everyone had been anticipating closing, finally started liquidation this month.

Kohl's stands alone.

The JC Penney has been converted into a Planet Fitness and an H&M. Bergner's and Macy's still sit empty.

Rich76_911s · Rich76_911s's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

Our local mall had five anchors 3 years ago:

Sears
Macy's
JC Penney
Kohl's
Bergners

The Macy's was originally a Famous Barr (a St. Louis based retailer that specialized in secondary markets), but they got bought out by Macy's 10 years ago. None of the locals were happy as everyone expected the local store to be closed the second Macy's had financial problems. But everyone thought Sears would be the first to go. Their traffic had been declining for two decades and they had done absolutely nothing to update the store or their archaic systems.

Macy's closed first two years ago. JC Penny was next, which surprised no one. Bergner's was the next to go, which surprised everyone as they had the best traffic of any of the anchors. Finally, Sears, which everyone had been anticipating closing, finally started liquidation this month.

Kohl's stands alone.

The JC Penney has been converted into a Planet Fitness and an H&M. Bergner's and Macy's still sit empty.

Sears likely lasted longer because Seritage Growth Partners, the REIT that owns most of Sears's locations charged them rent at about 1/3 going market rates. Seritage is also 40% owned by Lampert which explains why Sears got the lower rent deals.

This does setup a somewhat value option in Seritage if you think they can navigate the short term loss of rent from Sears while they refill their various locations with more profitable tenants.

legion · 10-12-2018, 07:46 AM

Sears owned most of its locations prior to Eddie Lampert taking over. He sold the locations to his REIT. I've long thought that Eddie Lampert's bet was that even if Sears went out of business, he'd make money on the real estate that he forced them to sell. Well, guess what? Most malls are not doing well and finding replacement tenants is difficult.

His best bet would have been to revive the catalog business online, put money into Sears' backend systems (where everything requires a follow-up phone call or two to complete and which haven't been changed since the 1980s), and invest in the stores by transforming them into hybrid retail locations/order fulfillment centers/order pickup centers.

vash · vash's Garage

my work department is mired down in "tradition". management refuses to change with the times.

i pissed them off when i said, we are like the "Blockbuster Video" of the organization. now i could make it more relevant to the times and use SEARS.

man, as a kid, i would burn hours of my life going thru the sporting section of that catalog. i wanted this youth single shot shotgun BAD!! model 37A youth ( ?)

sammyg2 · 10-12-2018, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by URY914

Say goodbye to those shopping malls built with Sears and Penny's on each end too.

The local mall was the biggest thing for a long time. Had a sears and pennys and was always packed.

The pennys is gone, the sears is going, half the shop spaces are empty.
The only things still working are the walmart they build on the other end and the restaurants in the surrounding parking lot.

I figure in 10 years there will be a walmart surrounded by high capacity housing units.

sammyg2 · 10-12-2018, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by URY914

Say goodbye to those shopping malls built with Sears and Penny's on each end too.

The local mall was the biggest thing for a long time. Had a macys and sears and pennys and was always packed.

The macys and pennys are gone, the sears is going, half the shop spaces are empty.
The only things still working are the walmart they build on the other end and the restaurants in the surrounding parking lot.

I figure in 10 years there will be a walmart surrounded by high capacity housing units.

VincentVega · 10-12-2018, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcoastline

Craftsman put Craftsman down. Their quality has steadily declined for twenty plus years. As the quality declined people started buying other brands including HF. And of course HD and Lowes both have no questions asked return policies and HF has a lifetime warranty just like Craftsman. So it doesn't stand above the crowd any longer. Craftsman will live on as part of the Lowes brand now. Kenmore may also be absorbed by someone.

The decline of Craftsman was just one nail of many in Sears coffin. I think what really started their decline was when they entered the money lending business, Credit cards and Mortgages. And of course hitching the wagon to Kmart just ensured they wouldn't survive. But that is the cycle of life. It's not the first time an institution has fallen and it won't be the last. One day we may very well be reading a thread on Walmart, Apple, Amazon?

My first nice wrench set was Craftsman professional, early 90's. Great tools, use them almost every day. I lost a wrench, dumb move, and cant find a replacement. Sure, I can buy a twice as thick, clunky Craftsman professional but its a POS. Their rebranded toolboxes suck, pick the cheap model and scale it down. I cant stand the place. Was there earlier this year and I their couldnt have been 10 people in the entire store. Really weird feeling, like it was closed and I shouldnt be there. Rows of empty low quality stuff.