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Thread: Sears Bankruptcy?

  1. #1
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    Sears Bankruptcy?

    I see the rumor that Sears (US) will file for bankruptcy tonight... to keep the stores open for one more Christmas holiday season.

    Sears Canada ceased operations in January 2018. It was rough on employees.

    In my little town, "Sears Hometown" would be missed, if it closes. It is one of the few places where we can shop for home appliances, tools, etc.

    Times changed … I remember in the 1950s and 60s how important that Sears Catalog was in small-town Mid-West America. I distinctly recall the feel of the coated paper and the soft sound of the catalog pages turning. I would call it the weightless sound of consumerism.

    We had indoor plumbing, but those who had outdoor privies made further use of old Sears Catalogs, to be sure.

  2. #2
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    In my neck of the woods, I see Sears declining and am not surprised at the bankruptcy filing. No one goes there for "the softer side of Sears." I do respect Kenmore appliances and have had many in my life. Ovens, washing machines, sewing machines... they were a pretty reliable brand.

    It's easy to be nostalgic about the decline of Sears, but there are so many retail stores that are dying. My favorite Lord & Taylor will be an empty building on 5th Avenue. Barnes & Noble are selling toys and novelties in retail stores now. The internet has signaled the end of an era. We old folk can talk about our trips in white gloves to the department stores of the past, but those days are gone. It will be interesting to see if malls can effectively re-invent themselves. I was at Paramus Mall in NJ a little while ago and they were touting a new "family experience" of shopping. I'll be interested in seeing what that means.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Honestly, I'm surprised Sears didn't declare bankruptcy years ago. They've been burning the furniture for firewood for years. At this point all that's left is the Kenmore brand (Craftsman and DieHard have been sold off) and the real estate on which most of the stores sit. Much of the rest has been stripped by their CEO and the various corporations he's formed for that purpose. A sad comedown for the "Amazon of the 20th Century".

    I don't see malls reinventing themselves, either, mostly because there are too darn many of them. The U.S. really is "over-retailed" and we're starting to see the reckoning of that. On-line shopping (Amazon in particular) has done its part, but the consumer landscape has changed so that waiting a day or two or five to have something shipped to our homes supercedes our willingness to go a store and get it right now. For numerous reasons, too, hanging out at the mall as a community gathering place has lost its charm; the number of empty stores in the mall because of that changed landscape provides even less of a reason to go.

    I'm afraid we're going to see for decades to come many asphalt seas surrounding huge empty compounds for which developers can find no financially-feasible reuse, leaving them breeding grounds for whatever happens to abandoned properties or leaving municipalities to bite the bullet and encourage other uses by throwing money at them.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  4. #4
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    My kids made their Christmas wish lists from the Sears’s and Penney catalogs.

  5. #5
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    My kids made their Christmas wish lists from the Sears’s and Penney catalogs.
    Haha.. I used to give my kids the Sears catalog and I would tell them to look through it and pick out things they'd like "Santa" to bring. So I left them with the catalog, but then I heard a strange chant coming from the living room: so I went in and they were going through the catalog, turning each page and sing-singing their wish to Santa: "Everything on the page".. (turn page) "Everything on the page." (turn page) "Everything on the page."
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  6. #6
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    To funny Catherine)

  7. #7
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    Beware folks Sears Canada decline was NOT good for employees, benifets and pensions
    lost, maintenance staff gone, warranties on appliances not hououred,
    gift card holders; a lot of people did not get that as of a certain day the store
    was sold out to liquidators and the gift cards ceased to have value.
    BIG liquidation sales that were a lot of crap never even sold at Sears barely
    marked down till the last days.
    SAD!

  8. #8
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    Some Kenmore appliances were good, and that should be worth a lot as there is no end of junk out there. But the rest of it I never shopped either. Too bad they couldn't just make a profit as an appliance manufacturer and retailer.
    Trees don't grow on money

  9. #9
    Yppej
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    I finally found found nice cotton camisoles I liked there for $4 apiece, after months of searching. I should get over there sometime and buy up what they have left.

    Discover and possibly Land's End should survive them.

  10. #10
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    It's kind of sad to see the end of an era. Every appliance we ever bought was from Sears. I liked that I could go there to try on Lands End items or return them if ordered online. They used to have a decent selection of petite jeans, but they got rid of their petite department about a year ago.
    Yppej: You should definitely get them while you can!

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