I'm one of those who goes to stores to try on clothing and shoes. I don't go HOME to order the stuff - I order it right then-and-there, in the dressing room, using my phone. I save money, I save the hassle of trying to find someone actually WORKING in the store at an OPEN cash register, and I don't have to pay sales tax!!!

My father was a manager with Sears for more than 35 years, until his retirement. My first job was at Sears, as was my brother's; my uncle and two cousins worked for Sears, back in the old days. Growing up, everything in our house was from Sears--to this day, most of my appliances are Kenmore; most of my tools are Craftsman. I always liked and trusted Sears, and will miss them.

I will always remember their motto: Satisfaction Guaranteed, Or Your Money Back. And, of course, who can forget the commercials, "Sears has everything."

Just my personal opinion. Years ago, stores like Macy's and Lord and Taylor, met the needs of the consumer. You could pretty much go in and find what you needed for any occasion.

As years went buy, this just wasn't the case. I don't know who they are employing as buyers, but they sure don't have the average consumer in mind.

Then, there is customer service. I agree with Watchme. Years ago, sales women would ask if you needed help. Now, just try and find someone to cash you out so you can purchase your item. Who remembers when sales women would actually help you by bringing in a different size to the dressing room?

I do buy a lot of clothing online, but only because I am a petite and the in store departments are either non existent or very small. I can't imagine doing all my shopping online. I usually only buy online at stores that I can physically go and return the item. Then I can see what is there and also I will be getting my refund quicker.

ETA: Chloe, what about shipping? How do you not pay sales tax?

Lindsey, can you give an example of a Sears change that has been profitable?, do you know that Sears went out of business over 10 years ago?

I too,worked at Sears-catalogue order....on the phones/computer when I first left my old life in 2004.

I know not who "Jim Mat" is,but I do know that he is closer to right than wrong with the years-2004/05.

Lots of Sears & Roebuck memories. My mom worked in the credit dept. there for 25 years (60s - early 80s). She often brought home warm nuts. I remember she'd keep the bag in the oven, because it retained a little heat from the pilot light.

The high school I went to was catty corner from the store. I'd often go there on my lunch break and buy candy to snack on in "bookkeeping" class. Was a frequent visitor to the fabric department since my mom made a lot of my clothes. Loved looking through the pattern books and then picking out the perfect fabric.

I lived in a city near Amish communities and it wasn't unusual to see their horse and buggies in the parking lot.

Up until about 15 years ago dh bought most of his tools from Sears. Craftsman came with a lifetime guarantee. Don't know how many times he returned a tool for a free repair/replacement.

My first "real" job was at Sears. I worked there nine years while putting myself through college. I was a tire salesperson. We still buy Diehard batteries there. When I left, I took Sears, Allstate & Coldwell Banker stock with me. Discover Card was theirs also.

I will really miss Sears and Kmart. I like their clothes and their websites. It's too bad how poorly run they are. Sears had so many things 'free' this winter. Buy and get 100% of your money back in points. I bought my 24!year old $110 worth of small kitchen gadgets for her new apartment and got it all back. How can they stay in business? I got her a 'free' cast iron Dutch oven too. I find there in store pick up the best in the business -5 minutes or less.

Our local Sears and Kmart left last month and good riddance to both. I remember Sears from long ago. My father bought all his tools there. I never bought clothes there except flannel PJs. Kmart was an awful store. I did buy plants there because they had two big greenhouses in the parking lot. Then they were down to one and I had a bet with my husband every year would be their last and this year I was finally right. The parking lot was always empty compared to the jammed one one mile away at Target. BUT...the good news is we are getting a Home Goods and a new Marshall's. TJ's is next door and they'll close the Marshall's further out the pike. Sears is ripped down and a Dick's is going there. Husband did buy a nice new gas grill when they had their sale.

The holding company that owns Sears and Kmart will be closing stores this year that are not turning a profit in hopes that the remaining business will be profitable. If not, the businesses will be sold or closed. Sears has already sold the Craftsman line to Stanley Black & Decker. That's why you may have seen Craftsman products in places like Ace Hardware stores.

I am sad to see Sears receding toward oblivion. My mother's family lived out of the Sears catalog in the early 1900s, as did many other farm folks. The Sears catalog was an educational gazette displaying items beyond the small confines of the rural farm. These catalogs did double duty since the outdated copies were went to the outhouse. About 1908, Sears sold stereo- opticons and view cards. My Mother said that Sears gave view-cards as premiums. The number of cards given was determined by the size of the order. My Mother had about 200 view cards. My sister inherited Mother's viewer and cards. The cards were numbered. We have card no, 1. and it is a photo of Mr. Sears at his desk with an old style phone. Other views include views from the Klondike Gold Rush, early color photos of Yellowstone, telescopic view of the full moon, plus views in other countries.

The whole shopping issue has been changing- malls, brick and mortar etc. The Sears near me, is still open but it is like it gave up the ghost about 10 years ago or so. Even the lighting is terrible. When I first noticed it i thought they just hadnt gotten around to replacing flourescent fixtures. Well it still looks that way. I guess no one cares or notices It's to the point where it's a problem to see colors. The store has really gone down hill, is mostly deserted. we did buy a Kenmore fridge about 3 years ago (and my kenmore washer and dryer from 20 years ago are still going strong- ) but I strongly doubt that the next round of appliances I need will come from there.

I know the issue is larger than one thing but Sears is really a sorry store. (and the KMart in our neighborhood really did close up about 15 years ago.) I did like both of those stores back in the day, but I think they were knocked out at least in the clothing/home decor realm by Target and Kohls.

Our first charge card (in 1965) was Sears where we have bought almost all major household, automotive, tools and much clothing items since. Moving to Michigan away from all family and friends in 1985 due to hubby's job change left me at loose ends. I needed to get a job. It just seemed right to go to Sears and apply even though I had never worked in retail. At Sears I worked in Home Fashions and Small Appliances for a few years till my ever weakening muscles made working 'the floor' all day long an issue. So my manager created a job for me in Custom Decorating where I worked at a desk most of the day. I loved my days at Sears and loved even more working with the customers to fill their wants and needs the best way possible.

Our Sears store where we are now closed a year ago . I do miss it terribly.

I rarely shop in brick and mortar stores anymore. My mobility issues have caused this, plus I can rarely find what I want anyway. I used to love to shop - it was glamorous and exciting in many stores. It's not anymore, even in stores with merchandise that is outrageously priced.

When I was in retailing school in NYC in the mid-1960's, Bergdorf Goodman was my favorite store. Their elevators always smelled like expensive fur and expensive perfume! No escalator - a lady in a uniform and white gloves took me from floor to floor! I loved the Miss Bergdorf Shop. One sat on a banquette and a saleswoman brought out clothes for one to see. The fitting rooms were enormous with natural light. And they were CLEAN (something one rarely sees today!). Ones purchase was packed in reams of tissue and put in a lovely, sturdy box, tied with ribbon. Just opening the box when one got back home was a thrill! I loved the Jerry Silverman dresses they sold - simple, sleeveless dresses - very Jacquie Kennedy-like.

And their lingerie dept! Oh my! A feast of delicate bits of silk and lace! I still have two items I bought there all those years ago - just too pretty to throw away even if I couldn't remotely fit into them anymore.

Now, the prices are obscene, I hate the escalators, the salespeople are rude and in a hurry. Couldn't possibly afford to shop there anymore, yet the quality is not what it was when the prices were far lower. Progress???

My family was a Montgomery Ward family, not a Sears family. I adored the catalogs and was always fascinated by pictures of the most amazing engineering in some of the corsets they sold in the 1940's. I can't imagine how anyone even got them on! They used to have a made-to-measure men's suit program and my father often bought his suits from them - lovely fabric, nearly custom and very well priced. My parents felt "Monkey Ward" was a step above Sears.

I grew up shopping at Sears, Penneys and Wards in the 1950's. I loved it when we got the catalog, especially the Christmas catalog. I could spend hours making up a wish list. You could get all kinds of strange things from the farm catalog like chickens and bees and bee hives. I always wanted to order that just to get bees in the mail.

When we were married in 1977, the only credit card we had was a Sears so we bought almost everything there. I was never crazy about their women's clothes but DH bought most of his clothes there. Also bought all of his tools when Craftsman meant something. They would replace them for life and he did bring in some that broke after over 20 years of use, though the new ones weren't made as well.

I am sorry to see them go. It makes me feel old to see the end of an era.

Yes, Sears has been in the chopping block news many times. So has JCP. The store makes me nostalgic when I recall the very first grownup item I bought at JCP was the first marital bed. I felt so grown up, and I bought it with my JCP cc, no less! Ha.

in these days of struggling with thinning down possessions, the demise of these stores seems of little importance. I thought online shopping was a fad, guess not.

I shop no big department stores anymore.I love TJ Maxx , Marshalls and Target. I have a huge department store I could probably walk to and haven't been in it for over a decade. Same with Sears although it was probably 20 years for that. My mother bought underwear at Monkey ward or Sears but would never buy my clothes at either of them or Penneys back in the day. She always went to the big department stores. I was in one of our local ones recently which is enormous and thought...who goes to these anymore? This humongous store which you can barely see end to end had less people in than our small TJs.

Although I do shop on line, I much prefer to shop in an actual store. There's no way I would buy clothing on line without trying it on other than maybe a jacket. My last purchase of shoes on line through Shoebuy was a fiasco! I'll never buy from them ever again. I think a big problem with Sears is their prices aren't competitive to...say...Lowe's as far as appliances. For instance, if I'm in the market to buy a bottom of the line washer, am I going to buy one at Lowe's or Best Buy for $300 or at Sears for $500? Let me think.....Lowe's delivers for free too!

I remember growing up if you bought any major appliance, lawn mower or tools they came from Sear's. My family swore by Kenmore and Craftsman. When I first moved out on my own if I went to buy an appliance I always went to Sear's because they did have things that seemed to last forever. As the years went on their stuff started to become cheaply made and not last very long yet the pricing stayed the same. At that time I started to shop other stores and brands even though really most of the other brands aren't any better. Sear's tried to ride out their reputation for quality appliances, lawn mowers and tools for along time but never tried to bring it back to the quality it once was and the consumers noticed.

The comment about only lower income people shopping in brick and mortar stores is complete Bull$hit. When I was married and even now I would not be considered low income, far from it. My husband and I every Sunday that Football wasn't on or every Saturday if it was on got in the car and went to the mall, Target, Home Depot where ever the car took us. We would spend hours walking around the stores looking or buying depending on what we found. It was the way we spent time together when we had days off. We would go to lunch or dinner afterwards.

I still like to go to the stores and look around. I like many others like to see a product before I take the chance to buy it. With the convenience of smart phones I can look up the product online and find the reviews and also price the competition for the best price. Sometimes the store I am in will price match another stores price just from the internet price, sometimes it doesn't. In considering the price I also look up the stores warranty on a product. While sometimes I find I can get the item cheaper on the internet the warranty offered is not as good as buying from a brick and motar store so I will spend the extra money for a product if I find I am better covered by spending a little extra.

My internet shopping is not really a result of not wanting to walk around a store to shop my internet shopping is mostly because a lot of times I just can not beat the price I pay online. With free shipping and the price difference for some products it just doesn't make sense to buy at a regular store when sometimes depending on what I am buying the savings are significant.

I am one of those strange people that enjoy going to the grocery store. I like a lot of people will go to stores I don't particularly care for because the price difference is enough that going to those stores make sense.

I have never understood why people are so judgement over a store because of the people they see in it. I am no better than anyone. I am fortunate I do not have to pinch pennies and I know that. But I have no right to judge who I see in a store. People are People and those people in those stores are doing the same thing I am doing buying stuff at a reasonable price to feed their families. How they choose to dress is of no concern to me, they are people and should be treated as such. I have seen many insanely rich people dress worse than anything I have seen at the big box store every one loves to hate and would never ever admit to shopping there because of the stigma. Oh lordy! I do understand when people choose not to shop at a store because of their practices and the way they treat labor but because of the people they see shopping there that is crazy to me. It takes less time to ignore people and let them be than it does to look them up and down and make a judgement on them.

Retail stores are a dying breed. A vestige of days long past. I agree that Sears has been dying for decades. The catalog brought products to rural America with limited access to other buying choices. America's population is much less rural today.

When a retail chain (Sears) is bought by a hedge fund manager...it's over. He bought it for its real estate. Now they've sold off Craftsman. Hang the crepe.

Chloecat's link on Macy's had an interesting quote to the effect of, "Nobody needs most of what we sell." That reminds me of TV interviews with people losing their homes in the RE bust. Their houses were *packed* with stuff nobody needs -- stuff they'd bought with money they had taken out of their houses.

DH worked in PR for Allstate when we married. We had a discount at Sears, and many things in our first apartment came from Sears. About the only thing left is the kitchen shears I use every day.

Where will all the laid-off people from these former Mall Anchor Stores find work? What will happen to towns where there's no longer big tax revenue from these malls? If a vast percentage of the US economy comes from consumers, where will they shop? Will they be paying local taxes? Who will pay for the roads that carry the FedEx trucks bringing the goods you ordered online?

Jim Mat, do you really expect me to answer your questions when you haven't answered any of the questions I've asked you?

For some reason when I replaced my washer in recent years it was with a $600 bottom end one from Sears. I don't remember why I chose Sears or noticing that they were half as much at Lowe's - you'd think I would have gone and looked there also, but I don't remember what happened. The warehouse (and other) stores present in the market here do vary more than one might think in what they have. Lowe's has not been one where they usually have what I am looking for.

The Lowe's near here also had a wharf rat out moving around in full view on the stacks and floor at one point. Like the English Sparrows that come into big box stores and cheep, flutter about in the rafters. When I pointed it out to an employee working the floor he laughed, said he knew about it.

A reason for everyone to not always go for the very lowest priced source is to keep other options in business and available for our use. And employing people. People who are paid enough to take an interest in their work, offer a commensurate level of service.

When a retail chain (Sears) is bought by a hedge fund manager...it's over. He bought it for its real estate.

There it is.

Their houses were *packed* with stuff nobody needs -- stuff they'd bought with money they had taken out of their houses.

Yep.

Where will all the laid-off people from these former Mall Anchor Stores find work?

Wait until the current move into mass scale automation has been in effect for awhile. This is what happens when a few people with enormous commercial empires are running everything - the Corporate Organism has no inherent sense of social responsibility.

Our board room overlords are probably assuming they can just move operations overseas and sell to China and India, when the time comes.

I remember shopping at Sears and Penney's for baby equipment. That is where I bought the crib and mattress, dresser, rocker, stroller, and some maternity things. Then when DD came home the 4th of July to tell us they were having a baby, I took her all over to find the long sleeved maternity clothing she wanted for their cool climate. Everything she wanted was on the off season sale racks, and surprisingly her favorite maternity tops came from Sears that weekend. And she found her nursery furniture at Penney's. Fond memories. PS I forgot to add that when I was pregnant with our first child, I also took a crochet class at Sears. It was a skill I had been wanting to add to the knitting my mother taught me when I was about 9 or 10.

Wow, Sheila. Sweet memories, and you are still crocheting! I'm still knitting, nearly 50 years later.

This has been such an interesting thread. Sears has been a part of our lives in so many ways. Thanks to everyone for sharing. It has caused me to think further about Sears: remember Rosemary Thornton who posted here? She was an expert on Sears houses, even wrote a book or two about them. The books are on Amazon. I wonder if she is still around the KT.

Ever since I posted those few words about Sears, I realized I had left a wrong impression when I said We owed a lot to Sears during those times. We didn't owe Sears any money, but we owed them a debt of gratitude. The manager found an apartment for us close by that we could afford, which meant he wanted DH to stay with Sears. Don't remember now how long it was but it was a good whileand was the beginning of the rest of our life.

And yes, I remember Rosemary Thornton. We were well acquainted due to the connection to the Sears houses. She was here to visit me once. Would love to see her again.

Lindsey, I responded. Either my reply is hung up or was moderated. Spring can be a good time of the year!

If nobody's working, who's going to be buying the robot-produced goods? What will make up for the big chunk of the US budget that depends on consumer spending?

Socks, I leaned how to knit at the Sears in Key West in 1967. My (ex) husband was in the Navy, and I wasn't working, so I took a class. I still knit. In 1968, we moved to Albuquerque, and I worked for the Sears there for two years until we moved again. It seems our generation has good memories of Sears. These days, I go to the mall just to walk. It is a mile all the way around the inside of the mall. Three times around and I'm done.

He bought it for its real estate.

Very unlikely. It would have been cheaper and less complicated to just buy the properties only if that was their only interest. Many of the former Sears sites I've seen around the country in smaller towns look derelict and abandoned so I think your premise seems wrong on several counts

"Where will all the laid-off people from these former Mall Anchor Stores find work?"

These are mostly minimum wage jobs. Retail workers are not an engine of growth and development for the economy.

I have a Kenmore washing machine, dryer, and vacuum cleaner. And a Diehard battery in my car. Would buy all again. I hated the store, though.

I was thinking about this very thing today. DH took me on a shopping trip, because I'm am recovering from an ankle injury. (Normally he wouldn't be with me.)

Anyway, I had a list of things to buy. One in particular was refrigerator magnets for my toddler granddaughter to play with. Target, I thought, would be the ideal place to get everything in my list. I found 3 things out of my list of 8. But nary a refrigerator magnet to be found at a Target.

Well, then my foot hurt after wondering up and down all the aisles in Target. Plus, today is Saturday with crowded checkout lines. Did I feel like trying Walmart, KMart, or the mall next? Of course not. That was a "doh!" moment for me.

Online is the way of the future. Can't fight it.

I bought a Kenmore washer when my son was born and sold it on his 25th birthday for 25 dollars.

We are losing our JCP. I worked at JCP through high school and college. I helped move it out to the big Mall in my home town. Here, in the medium sized town I moved to as an adult, it was a 1/4 store. Lousy inventory and little or nothing for teens--when I had teens I needed to buy for. I shopped EXTENSIVELY on line. I drove to a town 50 miles away to shop A REAL JCP. I could safely shop on line there because I could count on their sizing to be consistent. In general shopping for clothes on line is a real crap shoot. The sizing and quality are variable and totally unpredictable. That adds up to a lot of shipping and handling charges!!!! It surprises me brick and mortar CLOTHING stores can't make it. Since the late '70's SEARS always felt like a half step up from Kmart. Not what one wants when shopping fashion, so it doesn't surprise me. It does shock they can't compete for "hard goods". As stated over and over above they have been the lead in quality for years.

"Monkey" Wards was the go-to store where and when I grew up. We still have a Sears here but I never think of going there at all...it is a ghost store in many ways and I suspect on its way out. The Kenmore name used to be very respected. I just replaced a 30 year old Kenmore washer/dryer last fall. That's kind of amazing.

After thinking more about this, I believe retail store are also suffering, not because everyone is shopping on line, which they are NOT, it is simply because there are way too many stores now. Think about it, back when we were young, there were hardly a hand full of stores in your town...am I right? Now there are stores on every corner and every inch in between. Is there really enough business to go around? Of course not! Just because they build store after store, there is only so much demand! Sure there are more people but not that many more! It is the same with restaurants too. There are hundreds of them in our small city. Way too many for the amount of people so also restaurants are always closing down over here.

If everyone was just shopping on line these days then there would be UPS, USPS and FedEx trucks going up and down the streets all day long but they aren't! I think it's silly to think that brick and mortar stores are no longer used. Just go to Walmart and Target on the weekends and all the grocery stores, packed to the rim with people!

I was also thinking about this....

Other than groceries.....and Home Depot. I haven't shopped "in a retail store" in a year..... Hhhhmmmmmm.......yes....there are FedX and UPS trucks going up and down our street aaaaaaaaaaaall day long.

With places like ebates and cash back deals from cards like Discover sometimes it just makes sense to buy things online. I bought Burberry shoes the other day online instead of going to the store which I love going to. I got 10% back thru ebates and then another 5% using my cash back credit card. So basically for just shopping online I saved 15% on my shoes which was quite a bit of money for those.

Business is absolutely booming for information thieves. I don't feed credit card information to web sites except for those rare occasions there seems to be no way around it. I also don't insert my card into gas pumps, or anything else where thieves could have installed scanners without being observed or interfered with. I may just stop going to a downtown theater I have been patronizing for decades because the usually available nearby, unmanned lot only takes credit cards now. Either that or go earlier, hunt around for alternative parking, perhaps many blocks away.

If I can count on finding something every time. I've run into the same credit cards only problem at an underground parking garage in the vicinity, which I drove into by mistake. And the machine was balking when a bunch of us were trying to leave all at the same time, so that we each had to swipe over and over before it would proceed with the transaction. Resulting in a backup.

. I can remember the Christmas Wish Book we all drooled over lol

^^^

Me, too, Aunt Audrey!

That catalog got dog earred and tattered from all the wistful wishing I did as a kid.

Arcy, I've shopped JCP for years too, but when they changed their marketing a couple years ago, it just didn't work for me, and they have struggled to recover from that mistake. Then Kohls came in and had so many stores, seems like every shopping center, and I think that hurt JCP too. I don't shop there any more, but it was great when the kids were growing up.

Eddie Lampert (surprise!) isn't interested in retail. He's sold off quite a bit of RE and has recently sold off some of the family 'jewels', Craftsman and Diehard. He has structured his investment in Sears to still come out ahead beyond his own losses when Sears finally folds. He has some things going with REITS, but I think the end use will be RE.

Old Sears stores won't reopen as retail. The land, though, has location, location, location. (Maybe Lampert will become a Trump!)

The retail that IS expanding is Discount Retail. I need to read up on TJMaxx, Ross, etc. I rarely shop *anywhere*, but the last few times I was in discount stores, management appeared to be Indian or Pakistani.

Just a heads up, there was an article in the Houston Chronicle today, if you have an appliance warranty it will probably be worthless if they file for bankruptcy.

embothrium, as hundreds of millions of people can safely and without any complications do what you're warning should be avoided, I hope that gives you pause to reconsider your concerns.

We still have a Sears at our mall, but they downsized to half size about 5 years ago. It used to be one of the few places I'd mall shop at. My dining chairs - oak - came from there. Also my garage door.

Our mall itself is also suffering, but that's probably what they get for building over the old Danbury fairgrounds.

To carry on from the above (typed on my new phone that constantly wants to change my words to words never intended, but now I am home):

Retail - yes, I still shop "in person". Many things are buy-able on line and I HAVE to buy most of my clothing on line since no one carries extra long slacks / jeans, or sleeves it seems. So it is kind of fun to go buy short sleeved tops retail, because I CAN! Plus you really can't see fabric quality from a photo.

Home decor, if colors are important for matching/complementing - this has to be in person, too. Computer monitor colors are never accurate, no matter how one fiddles with settings.

Chairs and anything I sit upon has to be tested in person for comfort.

Until I retired, I'd do most of my shopping Saturday mornings when places first open - no crowds, and I'm up early anyhow. With retirement, a new world of shopping times have opened up to me.

Currently, I'm setting up a new home, so stores (none at the mall) that I've been in within the past month or so: Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples, Home Goods, Kohls. A lighting store, because I had questions in person. Not counting supermarkets and the farmer's market.

Ordering things online from Amazon, SwitchHits, Long Tall Sally, Bed Bath & Beyond (some of their stuff is not in stock other than the demo items), Home Depot (ditto), and a few garden nurseries.

Growing up there was no Sears store in the county seat but there was a JCP store and we would shop there once in awhile. We did use all the catalogs, JCP, Wards, Sears and Aldens. We seldom bought appliances from Sears, did buy one refrigerator. I always liked looking at all the catalogs.

Sue

Socks I posted a thread for you :)

This afternoon I just asked a local retail shop owner if they were getting most of their inventory on line. They replied that when they tried to do some of that it backfired because even when there were photos on the site the stuff turned out to not be of the desired quality when it arrived.

embothrium, as hundreds of millions of people can safely and without any complications do what you're warning should be avoided...

The House just voted to wipe away the FCC’s landmark Internet privacy protections

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/28/the-house-just-voted-to-wipe-out-the-fccs-landmark-internet-privacy-protections/?utm_term=.2ef27ff02423

If you understood the topic and fully read the Washington Post article you've linked, I don't think you would have posted it in response to my comment that you've quoted.

I was at wish book dot com the other day browsing through an old 1970 Sears catalog and told my husband that it was the old day's version of shopping on line/Amazon. So really, how is it any different? Only the method of ordering is different but having the internet to browse through as opposed to a paper catalog....is it really all that different? It really brought back memories of thumbing through the toys as a child and having my mom order from Sears for our Christmas presents. The toys were so much better than what kids have today...just MHO.