Sears is close to bankruptcy. A hedge fund guy has been running it into the ground lately, but it's been dying for a long time.

Some better articles on Bloomberg, but this gives you the idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: sears death spiral

Thanks hoovb. Ever since KMart took over Sears has been going downhill. I figured I would roll the dice since the price was so good. The oven was shipped but not 2 day UPS as promised. It is coming via pack mule from AZ and should be here the end of next week. I just hope I don't have to feed the mule.! LOL

I understand that the outlet stores are somehow separate from the regular retail stores. Recently, I needed a replacement fridge quickly and found one with some minor dings at a Sears outlet -- it was significantly more expensive than the same brand new fridge from Sears and the guy said they couldn't price match. That's right -- a new one from Sears on sale was much cheaper than a beat up one from the outlet. Baffling, really.

I bought a stove from Sears outlet. It was out of the box. They did not wrap it in transit so when it arrived at my place what had been a few beautiful stove was scratched to bits. I refused the delivery. It took them four months to refund the money, there were many excuses. What has happened to Sears is very sad. I loved Sears when I was a child especially the Christmas catalog and all the toys and matchy matchy clothes. I'm not sure of the strategic advantage of running the company into bankruptcy but they are definitely succeeding. Maybe it is the only way they can get out of some long-term leases and/or sell the properties. They have a huge brick-and-mortar operation to support.

UPDATE
The oven was delivered yesterday and the door glass was shattered with a big hole in the box that went right through the glass. There was no protective packing. Called the store, they referred me to Sears Outlet Customer Service who transferred me to UPS. Here we go...

UPS is picking it up today and will inspect and advise Sears then I will be notified. I asked for a time frame and was told it depends. I asked for clarification on what "it depends" means. They did not have an answer. I already contacted my credit card company. II will not wait 4 months for a refund. I will have them back charge Sears.

I should have known better than use Sears. I had a less than stellar experience with them a few years ago. I figured I'd give them another shot but it was big mistake.

We too recently had an issue with Sears Oulet in Canada. We bought a stove that we were taking to our cabin in the U.S. which we told the salesperson up front as we were given the extended warranty pitch. We were told the warranty follows the appliance and it would be no problem. The warranty is returned in full if in five years it is not used. That sounded like a good insurance so we bought the five year plan.

The first issue was the stove came with three racks one did not fit. The store manager refused to exchange it but we could return the stove. It had already been taken to the U.S.and installed, it is gas so returning it was out of the question. We then had problems with one of the igniters not working. Called about a service person coming, there is a large city abou 15 minutes away. After being forwarded to the warranty centre in the Philippines and about three hours over two days we were told no the warranty is good only in Canada. Trying to get the money back is another issue. Now we are told we could get the money back in the form of a store cupon at the end of five the years. We refused that offer and were willing to have the money applied to our credit card. I would never deal with Sears again, it is not a surprise they are in trouble!

Really? You are buying from outlets and having it shipped. Sears outlet is for refurbished, damaged, scratch and dents and so on. You do get what your pay for. In this case, to save, you got quite a bit of aggrevation.