Very sad, only 25 Sears Stores Left in America

If their tools were called Craftsman, would the milker line have been called "milkman"

 

When I lived in SC, the house two doors down was a Sears house, ordered from the catalog, and assembled on sight.

Most of my hand tools are Craftsman, bought 35+ years ago as I was starting my career. My riding mower is a Craftsman, early 90s vintage, built by MTD, I believe.

I always appreciated the easy exchange of broken tools (lifetime guarantied) and the fact that Sears supplied parts for their appliances.

 

Yes, the Sears catalog was essential reading or at least viewing for any adolescent male back in the day…

 

My wife’s dad is partially to blame in sears demise. He did a lot of work requiring a tape measure. Bought sears tapes by the dozen. Lasted him just a couple weeks each and he’d return a pile every time he was near a store. Finally near the end they could only be returned once.

 

I've told the story here before about Sears kept rebuilding my 3/8" ratchet, and it never lasted too long...I finally demanded a new one and things got a lil heated...the store manager finally gave me a new one and said not to come back! I traded it (that day I think) on a Snap-On that I still have today.

 

I never understood how kmart was bankrupt and bought out sears.
Deals like that usually center around gutting the worth out of a company retirement plan

 

Heck, there's only 17 of those left! (and 4 of those scheduled to close!)
And 4 of those still open are in the US Virgin Islands, 1 in Puerto Rico, 1 in Guam...so only 11 left in the states, and 4 of those to be closed...the blue light is getting less n less special.
How Many Kmart Stores Are Left?

 

Very sad to see a once great company destroyed.It makes me think about where our country is going?Sears was the first credit card i ever had i purchased many of there tools ,tool boxsAndshop tools as a young mechanic.Many fond memories. one of the best christmas presents i got was from my uncle ,it was a massive sears tool set .At age 13 that tool set changed my life!

 

Funny how these big companies shaped our minds.
Some good; Those tools we all bought as young adults.

And some bad...

 

Another fun marketing scheme.
Create an urgency (or shortage) to promote a sale.
Gosh, consumers are stupid.

 

We have no more sears here, no more Kmarts either. From days in the past, Woolworths and Woolco have come and gone, used to love those stores as a youngster. Service Merchandise fizzled in the later 90s. Local department stores like Freese’s had a hellacious toy store within the store but went out early 80s. Sayers was pretty big here. Had a Kings store at one time JJ Newbury still has a few stores up in the county. Pretty much wallymart took over everything. Stinny can probably name some more of the old ones here.

 

Here too.
But our (closed up) BigK was just bought by Rural King.
RK is like TSC x¹⁰
The ones I've been in have a full Stihl display, a gun counter, fishing, hunting, outdoors, camping, work clothes, tractor and some automotive, lawn and garden. often live chickens and ducks, pet/horse feeds, fence/farm gates/feeders and lots of department store items.
Oh, and RK tractors.

 

I’ll be

Montgomery Ward!

 

My older brother had a Sears Allstate Scooter (Cushman) in the early 1960's. He used it to deliver the local newspapers.

 

Ah yes, the perfect mixture of toys and women's undies on display ...

 

My half inch ratchet crapped out. I took it in for replacement. They didn't have any of that style in stock so my options were having that one rebuilt or they would give me a new one from the higher priced line. Well duh!

 

It is very sad what's happened to Sears. Like a lot of people here, I grew up on Sears because of my parents. The quality of their products really started going down hill in recent years. I had a Craftsman air compressor that lasted about 20 years, it finally went out, so I naturally replaced it with another one, it didn't last a year. After a lot of hassle, they finally agreed to replace it under warranty, this was all done through email and phone calls, and the last request on their part was to send a picture of the power cord cut in two. Then they sent me a coupon for $232 credit. We're using the credit for a new microwave, due to be picked up in a couple weeks, we still have a Sears Hometown store about 30 miles away. We need to be using that credit before they close the doors.

But in the bigger picture, it is so sad what it's come down to for Sears.

 

Now if your old made in the USA tools break, Lowes will swap them out under that warranty (if they have a replacement in stock) with one that is made in china. I reluctantly had to do this with a 15" breaker bar recently. You're kinda stuck in this situation and it really sucks.