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Exaclty. I read that and it makes me laugh. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Barnes and Noble keeps doing that too. But none of these businesses will do anything to change their business formula, despite their customers continuously telling them what they want. For example, Sears customers have repeatedly told the company they dislike being hassled for all their personal info and credit card at the checkout, but they keep doing it. And they have difficulty finding cashiers in their mammoth stores. When they finally locate the cashier, the lines are too long, because no one else can find cashiers either. So they stop shopping there.
Yeah, the current ownership, Transform Holdco LLC is a liquidation company. They are not there to reorganize this mess. It really is comical listening to them try to convince people otherwise.
How long do you suppose it will be before Sears and Kmart are gone? I see that there are going to be 182 remaining. Seems like it's time to throw in the towel.
We used to have 3 or 4 Sears stores within a 30 min ride from the house. Now there's only one. I'd be hesitant to buy anything like a major appliance. Who knows if/when that only store will shut down. To their credit, I have heard some appliance repair reps doing a good job. The one time that we had one come to the house, they were most helpful.
We lost the KMart that used to be down the road from our house. DH was always remarking how their store shelves were so antiquated. I will miss/have missed their senior citizens/disabled wishes Christmas Tree. From the time I first found out about it, was fun to pick up a card, purchase one or 2 items on it and include a couple other little things to go in the bag. Guess maybe just as well now. Retirement is nice but doesn't pay as well.
We used to have 3 or 4 Sears stores within a 30 min ride from the house. Now there's only one. I'd be hesitant to buy anything like a major appliance. Who knows if/when that only store will shut down. To their credit, I have heard some appliance repair reps doing a good job. The one time that we had one come to the house, they were most helpful.
We lost the KMart that used to be down the road from our house. DH was always remarking how their store shelves were so antiquated. I will miss/have missed their senior citizens/disabled wishes Christmas Tree. From the time I first found out about it, was fun to pick up a card, purchase one or 2 items on it and include a couple other little things to go in the bag. Guess maybe just as well now. Retirement is nice but doesn't pay as well.
LOL. I really wish there was a Kmart near me, so I could visit it one last time. It looks like the closest one is about 300 miles away. Haven't been in one in over 20 years, but walking into a Kmart was always so trippy, like going back in time to 1969. They never updated those stores ever. They always looked exactly like I remember it from the first time I ever walked into a Kmart when I was eight years old. The exact same pegboard shelving, the same old gray dingy floor tiles, the same old 1960s drop down ceiling panels and rows of fluorescent lights. Kmart stores are true 1960s time capsules. I can't think of any other stores that evert went that long with absolutely no remodeling ever.
Yep. Sears sealed their own fate, the day they decided to shut down their catalogue business, and focus on their brick and mortar. That was their fatal mistake.
In my mind, Sears' fatal mistake was closing down their candy center and their popcorn machine.
The smell of buttered popcorn permeated the entire store and was like the present-day Walmart greeter - the smell said, "Welcome to Sears!"
..if Sears had the vision to get into on-line business at the right time, they could have been where Amazon is today. Their catalog had a little bit of everything, but they got out of the catalog business just as on-line retailing was getting started.. Sears missed the boat.
yeah, truth is Sears was Amazon 1.0..
Their catalog/mail order business had no peer for many years. And like u state, it could've been sustained. Sears had a geographically comprehensive network of shipping facilities, catalog pick-up locations, and a fast, efficient order-pulling/picking system. It's 20/20 hindsight tho..
Sad, the demise of Sears kinda felt like the end of a cultural era in a way..
Bad management happened to Sears. They made all of the wrong decisions for decades, starting with not putting their Sears catalogue on-line. They were all set up to be Amazon, before Amazon. And they failed.
Meanwhile companies who knew what they were doing - Wal Mart, Target, Kohl's, etc - left Sears in the dust.
As Gordon Gekko said many years ago in this speech ….. you either do it right, or you get eliminated.
They had bad management and fell behind, an investor bought them with the goal of carving them up into sellable pieces of real estate, he has done so, end of story.
Why is this still being discussed? People under 20 don't even know what Sears is. Used to be a pretty decent dept. store with well rated appliances and tools (Kenmore, Craftsman). Now there are better alternatives and Sears is dying a deserved death. Shame about the thousands of employees who lost their jobs, seniority, & benefits, though.
Exaclty. I read that and it makes me laugh. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Barnes and Noble keeps doing that too. But none of these businesses will do anything to change their business formula, despite their customers continuously telling them what they want. For example, Sears customers have repeatedly told the company they dislike being hassled for all their personal info and credit card at the checkout, but they keep doing it. And they have difficulty finding cashiers in their mammoth stores. When they finally locate the cashier, the lines are too long, because no one else can find cashiers either. So they stop shopping there.
So true. As turf mentioned in a previous post, it’s mainly those workers on the floor that hear and see the customer’s looks of displeasure regarding the store policies & displays and try to pass on to their managers at staff meetings but met with a wave off. Not many customers take complaints further up but are quick to relay their displeasure to those working on the floor. It’s also easier seeing it in person than getting it in a letter or email. Best managers or executives were those that started from the bottom, however, even some of them have a tendency to forget what it was like years ago when they were cashiers and/or other store personnel.
In my mind, Sears' fatal mistake was closing down their candy center and their popcorn machine.
The smell of buttered popcorn permeated the entire store and was like the present-day Walmart greeter - the smell said, "Welcome to Sears!"
Funny you should mention that . Boscov’s, near Hershey, Pa has that on 2nd floor. It’s been several years since we’ve been up there though so I don’t know if that is still there. Last time I was there I don’t recall smelling popcorn though. Maybe it was an off day? I don’t think one would be able to smell it all through out the 1st floor. Maybe some might. We had a popcorn machine at work and maybe it was the ventilation system, but you could smell it on the immediate floors above and below it. Freshly made, of course.
I was at sears just yesterday. It was totally deserted. I don't see how they stay open. The only reason i shop at sears is for craftsman tools.
Sears sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black and Decker. They no longer honor the lifetime warranty. Craftsman tools are now made in China just like all other tools on the market.
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. Boscov’s, near Hershey, Pa has that on 2nd floor. It’s been several years since we’ve been up there though so I don’t know if that is still there. Last time I was there I don’t recall smelling popcorn though. Maybe it was an off day? I don’t think one would be able to smell it all through out the 1st floor. Maybe some might. We had a popcorn machine at work and maybe it was the ventilation system, but you could smell it on the immediate floors above and below it. Freshly made, of course.
