Very sad, only 25 Sears Stores Left in America

Very sad to see what was the original retailer icon going out of business. Sears was the first company to approve me for a credit card in 1972 I was a Private First Class in the military making $243 a month. Sears took a credit chance on me and I was able to buy a $50 black and white TV. Back in the 1970's Sears was the only store to go to for anything you would need around the house plus it was "top of the line" and made in America. Boy have things gone down-hill since!

Sears became part of a larger retailer in 2005, when it was essentially merged with KMart. It began a downhill slide shortly thereafter and filed for bankruptcy in 2018. At that point, only 223 Sears locations were left. The important reason for the slide was that Sears was battered by the tremendous move to e-commerce led by Amazon, which is now the second-largest company in America based on revenue — just behind Walmart.

These Are the Only 25 Sears Stores Left in America – 24/7 Wall St. (247wallst.com)

 

Booooo....hisssss...

 

Yes, very sad. Sears was on the cutting edge in many ways. It was the first large retailer that was racially "color blind" (via its catalog), and its catalog was the precursor to the web-based sales of today. It should have been in the place Amazon is today, but missed the opportunity.

 

My uncle lives in a sears home. Its a very nice house with some gorgeous trim and crown, and well built.

 

My wife and I always bought our appliances from Sears, she had a credit card with them too.
The one here in town closed a few years ago. Hard to beat Kenmore quality.

 

Agreed, it is sad. I bought a LOT of tools from my local Sears. Used to love looking through the catalog as a kid.

 

Yup, toughskins is all I got to wear. Didn’t they have a lifetime warranty? My mom had turn mine in for replacements.

 

Craftsman
Diehard
Tough skin jeans
Kenmore
Harmony House
Weatherbeater paint
And a lot I probably forgot

 

When I was growing up our Sears store outside of Houston Texas had an escalator. I must have ridden that thing up and down for hours while my Mom and Dad were shopping. Free entertainment! Lots of fun for a kid!

 

Our boys were so hard on Sears Toughskin jeans we stopped getting them replaced when wholes appeared in the knees. Wife started patching them. We felt guilty expecting the jeans to be constantly replaced

 

Ken more mostly is rebranded whirlpool. We looked at sears when we built our house and they had both side by side, sales girl admitted that they were the same.

 

Another piece of America gone. When I was a kid that Sears Wishbook was bigger than the schoolhouse dictionary.


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I remember going to the big Sears building in Wichita back in the 60's. My sister and I were treated to their slushies when we went (3-4 times per year probably). It was a big building back then, I think 3 floors and the only place we went to with escalators. The Sears catalog was huge and held everything. I think my BB gun is from there (I was 7-8 years old and my parents had to saw off part of the stock so I could reach the trigger).

I always loved Kenmore appliances as well as the Craftsman tools and outdoor equipment. The house that I am in now, bought in 2013, came with a Kenmore fridge and stove - I'm not sure I've ever owned a stove that wasn't Kenmore. Doesn't matter who actually made them, they were always tough and stood up to abuse.

 

Sad days. Sears was the iconic store back in the day, large enough to have motorcycles, cars, snowmobiles, etc. rebranded and sold under their name. Definitely remember those Toughskin jeans but had the misfortune of also having to wear their corduroy jeans as a kid (now there was a fashion statement from the 70's). Still have lots of Cratfsman tools, tool chests, and cabinets in the garage and even have a Sears & Roebuck Model 42 .22 rifle that has been in the family for many, many years. Loved the catalog as a kid (looking at all the toys my parents couldn't afford).

 

This is sad news.
Sears was our go to for a lot of years. Tools, appliances, clothes. They always had what we needed.
And their brands were good and reliable.

 

Well at least we can go to Kmart!

 

At one time Sears even sold milking machines for cows!