PSA: Sears: 28 December 2018 may be the last day

[Lanny]

Today may be the last day for the remaining Sears stores. This brief article explains the issues:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/sears-faces-critical-deadline-will-it-survive

[dirty ethel rackham]

My dad, who worked for Sears for 33 years, is rolling over in his grave.  He was a computer analyst back when the department was in its infancy (when the computers took up an entire floor, had to have their own separate HVAC to maintain the temperatures and they had vacuum tubes and had less computing power than a smart phone.)  3 of my siblings and I got our start in IT at Sears.  Growing up, all my clothes other than a school uniform, came from Sears. 

[Farrar]

Pardon me while I dance on their grave a moment. Sad for anyone losing a job, but any company as mismanaged and consistently as rude as Sears became in their final decades deserves to die.

[stephanier.1765]

It'll be strange to not have them around. I very rarely shop there but during my childhood Sears and JCPenny were the places to buy school clothes. It was a big deal to drive downtown and shop at a department store.

[Lady Florida.]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

Pardon me while I dance on their grave a moment. Sad for anyone losing a job, but any company as mismanaged and consistently as rude as Sears became in their final decades deserves to die.

I have to agree. I grew up with Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools, shoes and school clothes every year from Sears. That was when the Sears name meant something. But I can't tell you the last time I set foot in a Sears store or bought one of their appliances (actually I can - I bought a washer and dryer in 2000 but no longer have either). Their customer service went out the window along with the quality of everything they offered. Their management refused to see the writing on the wall, they wouldn't join the 21st century, and they thought they'd always be around. I'm not sorry to see them go.

[KungFuPanda]

Can we talk about the 24% interest rate on their credit card. Not a way to inspire loyalty. 

[Farrar]

A Sears customer rep once called me names and hung up on me. A Sears repairman once gave us one price, which we paid him, and then the company billed us hundreds more for the repair later. Sears is E-V-I-L.

Here, have a lovely article about why running your company based on what the internet tells you about Ayn Rand is NUTS.
https://www.salon.com/2013/07/18/ayn_rand_killed_sears_partner/

Edited December 29, 2018 by Farrar

[Farrar]

I hate Sears with a passion. I've never been more furious with a company in my life. Other places, you complain up the ladder... even if they don't make it right, at least they offer you some pittance or talk to you nicely or something. Sears went a different tact and told me I was certifiable, yelled at me, stopped responding to us. And it's not like I was harassing them. This was on my FIRST phone call to complain. I still get my ire up thinking about the money they tried to screw out of us. And the ways they lied and misrepresented services. I've been waiting for this final death for over a decade, ever since it became clear they would likely not recover from their corporate raiders. Maybe after they're finally gone, I can look back on the Wishbook and Sears Homes and other lovely nostalgia, but first they need to go down.

[PeterPan]

Not to be a dufus, but what will happen to Lands End if Sears dies?

[dirty ethel rackham]

22 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Not to be a dufus, but what will happen to Lands End if Sears dies?

Sears spun off Lands' End in 2013.  It began trading on NASDAQ as a separate company in 2014.  

[Lanny]

No telling how many DieHard batteries and Sear tires I bought at Sears when I was young.   And some Craftsman tools with a lifetime warranty.  

[Liz CA]

I haven't done business there in over a decade - in fact cannot remember when I was there last.

The sad thing is that they were an institution - Sears Roebuck catalogs, the tools you already mentioned, they even sold house kits.  It's a piece of American retail history.

Edited December 29, 2018 by Liz CA

[stephanier.1765]

9 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

I haven't done business there in over a decade - in fact cannot remember when I was there lasts.

The sad thing is that they were an institution - Sears Roebuck catalogs, the tools you already mentioned, they even sold house kits.  It's a piece of American retail history.

 

Oh gosh, that bring back memories of scouring the Sears Christmas catalog for the toys I wanted that year for Christmas. I haven't thought of that in a long time.

[sheryl]

Ohhh no!  I've always liked Sears.  And, JCP - dh says JCP is going through the same?  Is that correct.  Who remembers the Sears and JCP catalogs?  It's so cool to see a Sears catalog for the 1800's.  I think they sold cars and the kitchen sink! 🙂