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Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Benjamin Grimm Jan 05 2017 04:25 PM

Mine did. For now, anyway. List of 150 Kmart and Sears stores set to close A couple of months ago I found myself in Sears while shopping for hiking boots for our trip to Iceland. I remember thinking, "Wow, I'm actually in a Sears store! And I might actually make a purchase!" (But I didn't make a purchase.) I really doubt that any Sears will still be around ten years from now. I remember when I was a kid, going through the toy section of the Sears catalog, greedily making my Christmas list.

Fman99 Jan 05 2017 04:46 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

My mom worked at Sears when I was a kid. We have a couple of Kmarts locally, and they're pretty sad places to shop. The Sears is doing a bit better, being attached to a mall at least.

d'Kong76 Jan 05 2017 05:01 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Our Sears survived, again. Our store is really nice, and they've put a bunch of attention (money) into it the last couple of years. I'm pretty Craftsman loyal so news of them selling that off now too is kinda weird for me. My garage is filled with Sears stuff, including my Mom's Kenmore fridge from the early 80's still going strong as ever. We're buying tires at Sears over the weekend. It's funny, they've died so many times in the last twenty years the analysts have run out of forks to stick in them. Stock is up almost 5% today. I haven't been in a K-Mart in probably fifteen years.

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2017 05:06 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

New Mexico Sears 1000 S Main St Roswell NM So now where are the visiting aliens to buy a vacuum cleaner for their saucer?

d'Kong76 Jan 05 2017 05:12 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

From the extraterrestrials that work at Wal-Mart?

seawolf17 Jan 05 2017 05:12 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Looks like our local ones out here (Smith Haven Mall Sears and Farmingville KMart) are spared the axe.

themetfairy Jan 05 2017 05:14 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

My Sears survived!

Benjamin Grimm Jan 05 2017 05:15 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

The last time I was in a Kmart was in Jackson, Wyoming in 2011, buying bear spray!

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2017 05:17 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

And then there are the MACY's closings: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zht ... ID=2234057

Ceetar Jan 05 2017 05:21 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

I just bought a nordictrac eliptical actually.(and having trouble with the heart rate monitor? hmm) the 2 K-Marts around here are pretty dismal. one's been gone a few years now. the other has a giant parking lot that I imagine local skater kids hang out in. Wouldn't be surprised to see that one gone and turned into a strip mall. the Sears is one of the anchors of the closest mall here, I'd be surprised if that one got the axe. it's always sad when a wing of a mall looks so dismal. I remember when Sterns closed in Green Acres and it was always weird walking down that hallway and the mall seemed to fade to nothingness.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 05 2017 05:31 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

All retailers close stores in January (and typically try to open them in Oct-Nov) so as to take advantage of the Holiday sales season and expose themselves as little as possible to the non-holiday sales season. Sears/Kmart has been pretty much intentionally managed into the ground by the private equity mad scientist who acquired it who I think believed (maybe rightly) the stores would eventually be worth more as real estate than as retail assets, but first had to give up all the retail cash generation they had in them, so it's been a slow death spiral. If your local Sears or Kmart isn't gone in this round it will eventually go. I happened to be at the event where they "announced" the Sears/KMart merger (Kmart's private owners basically bought Sears but took on Sears corporate name and made it look as though Sears was leading the marriage). Even though these things are usually very carefully managed it was clear the then-Sears CEO was furious and humiliated, and the Kmart guy who was nice, had no idea how to answer questions.

Edgy MD Jan 05 2017 05:39 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Few things are sadder than the visual merchandising at Sears. High quality merchandise but it's all piled up on a narrow-aisled, indifferently lit sales floor like discarded crap. It's like the opposite of discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, where poorly made stuff is presented nicely. But it's where I go for my occasional needs for quality solid state merch, and I see darkly serious immigrant men and couples shopping there too. If you want an iron or a coffee-maker that you could kill somebody with in one blow, by God, go to Sears.

cooby Jan 05 2017 05:46 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive? Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 05 2017 08:14 PM

Even though our [crossout:1prxcveg]Walmart[/crossout:1prxcveg] Kmart has the oldest slowest geezers in the entire state of PA working there on checkout, it survived. Our Sears is how Edgy described it so it's prolly safe.

d'Kong76 Jan 05 2017 05:51 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Edgy MD wrote: Few things are sadder than the visual merchandising at Sears. High quality merchandise but it's all piled up on a narrow-aisled, indifferently lit sales floor like discarded crap. Doesn't describe our Sears at all. I'll take pictures on Saturday haha...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 05 2017 06:41 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Sears used to kick everyone's ass, had a reputation for value and quality that Walmart would kill for. Everyone trusted Craftsman tools and knew Toughskins jeans with their reinforced kneepads would never wear out. KENMORE appliances were identical to comparable GE's or Whirlpools (made by them in fact) only with a lower price. But Walmart killed them on price, Home Depot hurt them in depth of selection, Old Navy in apparel etc etc etc and Sears just said fuck it, we'll adopt the downmarket rep of Blue Light Specials, and expand our brands to stores with worse reps and it all went to shit.

Edgy MD Jan 05 2017 06:54 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Sears developed the DieHard battery. Is there any sub-brand that better said, "Fuck you, world, I'm the hardworking American, and I'm not here for your bullshit"? It was a brand that kicked so much ass that, by association, it turned Bruce Willis from a goofy, mugging TV pretender to a cinematic serial superstar action hero. The Sears Wishbook was the start of Christmas shopping season to us, and like JCL says, Kenmore and Craftsman were the peanut butter and jelly of solid state hard goods for the sturdiest of American homes. How could that much brand equity be fumbled away?

d'Kong76 Jan 05 2017 07:08 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Have my Mom's Kenmore sewing machine; one day I'll learn to use it and first one to make fun of me is going to get a DieHard battery upside the head!

metsmarathon Jan 05 2017 07:16 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

at my local mall, sears used to be the side of hte mall where i parked, because hte parking lot was reliably empty. they recently sold a quarter of their floor space over to raymour & flanigan, stripping me of my easy mall entry. but they survive. whoever the hell has been doing the in-store branding at sears for the past two decades should really not have that job. it's always been just terrible. it always looked like a dumpy k-mart. which made more sense once kmart merged with them, of course. see, what really should have happened is for sears and radio shack to merge, and pump out quality merchandise under the tandy, optimus, kenmore, and craftsman brands. instead, they both kinda went the wrong way. ideally, they'd also include blackberry into their menagerie of squandered brand equity, because the world really truly needs better handheld keyboarded phone thingies. with kodak cameras on them.

Edgy MD Jan 05 2017 07:59 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Ah hell, that's brain thinking.

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2017 08:04 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Sears also sold Ted Williams branded fishing equipment. Tough to get more 'mercian* than that. * although don't tell the president-elect that TW was an anchor baby to a Mexican mother

Benjamin Grimm Jan 05 2017 08:10 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Yes, let's keep that hush-hush. We don't want Trump to think he has to deport Ted Williams' severed head!

cooby Jan 05 2017 08:14 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

cooby wrote: Even though our Walmart has the oldest slowest geezers in the entire state of PA working there on checkout, it survived. Our Sears is how Edgy described it so it's prolly safe. I guess I shouldn't make fun of the geezers at our Kmart, since I called it Walmart

MFS62 Jan 05 2017 08:26 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

The two near me won't be closing. Like Case, the Sears in the Danbury Fair Mall was recently updated, but downsized from two floors to one. The upper floor was changed to a different store (Primark- an Irish based clothing store). The new Sears isn't bad. I bought a garage door opener there and gave them my email address. Since then I get 2-3 discount emails (up to 20% discount or money back) per day that are never in print ads. Unfortunately, I haven't found any reason to use them. There's a Kmart in Southbury (about 15 miles away)but have been in it maybe twice in the last 10 years, and was spectacularly unimpressed. I really like the Primark, though. Later

RealityChuck Jan 05 2017 08:50 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Ayn Rand strikes again! But neither our Sears or Kmart are on the list.

Ceetar Jan 05 2017 09:04 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

the previous owners of this house did in fact love Sears though. There's a Sears appliance and hardware store by us that often looks empty. Wonder if it survived. It's most useful for me to cut around an island trying to get to Kings.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 05 2017 09:05 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Somehow, someway ours hang on, despite being both dingy AND nowhere near the cheapest way within a half-hour of buying holiday lighting or cheese curls or a retractable garden hose. My first paychecks-not-cashwads job was in the kids' department at Sears, among racks of baby sleepers, strange secret-shopper and sales-quota prize incentives, and shark-smiling middle-aged women who were weirdly cutthroat about secret-shopper and sales-quota prizes. It felt like it was circling the drain THEN, and the Internet was just barely an extant thing.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 05 2017 09:11 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

I didn;t realize Sears also announced a deal today to sell the Craftsman name to Stanley/Black & Decker.

d'Kong76 Jan 05 2017 09:15 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Mentioned it around noon, but I know people Paulie my longer posts...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 05 2017 09:18 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

d'Kong76 wrote: Mentioned it around noon, but I know people Paulie my longer posts... D'oh!

Rockin' Doc Jan 06 2017 03:37 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

The local Sears in the mall closed 2-3 years ago. A huge sporting goods store now fills the former Sears. Sears quickly reopened a much smaller Appliance /hardware store in a small strip mall near the mall. The new store sells only appliances (washers/dryers/refrigerators, etc.) and Craftsman tools (lawn mowers and lawn implements of mass destruction). A "best of" Sears store, so to speak. Our Kmart finally closed up shop this summer after appearing to be on life support for the past several years. The KMart had the unenviable position of being across the street from a newer and much larger Target store and a block from a much newer Wal Mart superstore. It is amazing to me that the KMart survived as long as it did, given it's unfortunate circumstances.

Edgy MD Jan 06 2017 04:46 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Maryland loses only one of 16 K-Marts, and zero of about 15 Sears locations. Good day, I guess. Though I'm thinking some of those numbers might be out of date.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 06 2017 11:38 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

My local Sears is in Rego Park, I guess, and is closing. Our last significant purchase from there was our Kenmore garbage disposal sink thingy.

MFS62 Jan 06 2017 09:22 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Wherever he is, Mr. Roebuck (not Ed the pitcher. Mr. Sears' ex-partner) must be laughing his ass off. Later

Mets Willets Point Jan 08 2017 11:38 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Can't remember the last time I saw a Sears or a K-Mart, but I don't venture to the suburbs much either.

Ceetar Jan 27 2017 06:36 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

saw them taking down this sign at 8:30am this morning [url]https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8951973,-74.0722626,3a,75y,76.29h,83.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_n21lcMszKhdcqLyECg9nQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

d'Kong76 Feb 10 2017 03:49 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Sell Sears 'short?' Ooops...

d'Kong76 Mar 22 2017 01:05 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Looks like the end is near, again... http://fortune.com/2017/03/21/sears-bankruptcy/

cooby Mar 23 2017 10:14 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Just found out our Kmart is closing by June

cooby May 31 2017 02:44 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Our Kmart is down to its last days. Really getting the junk emporium feel. No air conditioning. Dance club music, racks of crap clothes. They had oodles of awesome toys brought in but they are going fast There used to be a bench where I could wait for my mom but it's gone and I am sitting on a checkout counter right now.

HahnSolo May 31 2017 02:48 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

I find that I'm using Sears more for its auto service division than anything else. I've been there for my car(s) multiple times in the last two years. For a non-car reason? Can't remember the last time I was in a Sears. Maybe to buy a hedge-trimmer about four years ago?

cooby Jun 07 2017 03:13 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

So mom and I stopped at Walmart today for the first time. I haven't seen her for about an hour

cooby Jun 07 2017 03:15 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Oh by the way on the subject of people at Walmart I just saw someone in a fur coat

d'Kong76 Jun 07 2017 03:33 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

The best is when they check out in a fur coat and whip out their SNAP card.

cooby Jun 07 2017 04:43 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Def fake fur. Looked like mackelmore's

cooby Jun 16 2017 02:09 PM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Last couple days of Kmart. Mom insisted we come in. I hope the hell she hurries up. Seeing lots of people that should be buying the last of the shampoo including some of the clerks

Ashie62 Jun 18 2017 12:43 AM Re: Did your local Sears or KMart survive?

Sears introduced the "Silvertone" guitar.