And so it begins, the end of Sears

Jstas
Jstas Posts: 14,707
Saw this a few minutes ago. Not good.

But, Sears has enough profitable assets still in place that they might be able to leverage the unprofitable assets into a favorable package to settle debt and get out of it with some capital infusion.

https://www.apnews.com/1cbf64586e114ac38bab82a42b8be12e

They have made efforts in the past few years to expand their retail presence online and I think the only reason for the poor customer service has been the lack of manpower, not because they are jerks.

Anyway, I hope it sticks around. I'd hate to see Sears go.
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Comments

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    edited October 2018
    I don't know John. Sears sits on some very desirable land and the people running it seem bound and determined to cash it in and take the money and run. They've already sold off their items that pulled folks into their stores. If you can buy craftsman stuff everywhere else why the need to order it from them online?
    Sad our store is closing and the clothing side looks like they raided the 1976 time capsule vault.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2018
    I think the retail business (businesses -- K-Mart, too) are finished.
    The parade passed them by, two decades ago (at least).

    meanwhile, a reminder of happier times.

    http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/


    33tos6c89q5d.png
  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    I was wondering about how the lifetime warranty on Craftsman tools was going to play out now. I used to buy Die Hard batteries for my cars. I just put a set of Die Hard wiper blades on the car yesterday but I see on the back that they are a subsidiary of Trico
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  • SIHAB
    SIHAB Posts: 4,493
    Sears life, not yours.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2018
    halo wrote: »
    I was wondering about how the lifetime warranty on Craftsman tools was going to play out now. I used to buy Die Hard batteries for my cars. I just put a set of Die Hard wiper blades on the car yesterday but I see on the back that they are a subsidiary of Trico

    How much are bonds issued by defunct governments worth? ;)

    Actually, depending on how (and if, of course) the brand is liquidated, there could be some remedy provided for owners of lifetime warranted products.

    What is the status of Radio Shack's lifetime guarantee vacuum tubes? Anyone try to take back, say, a 2A3 with low emission lately?


    kfomvqipp7cr.png
  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,032
    Man I wish it would end. It's like life as I knew it is forever fading away. It started way back in the day when NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ went under. I loved that store. I mean there has been many other stores that went under but didn't sting like the Wiz did. Then when Tweeter and Circuit City went under I felt like part of me died.
    Soundex was another company when they fell apart it hurt.

    Sears is a place my family has been shopping at for decades. Back to my Grand Father and father before me. I buy most of my clothes there as I really like the Outdoor Life series.
    Man I hope they survive as I'm not a big of fan of Boscov's.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2018
    heck, I miss Luskin's in Baltimore.
    Where Jack-you-know will save you dough!

    Perhaps because I went to high school almost literally in the shadow of the Big Luskin's up on the hill by Exit 29 on 695 :) I only remember buying two things from Luskin's... one of which I still have :p (a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio).

    (we need a wistful smiley emoji)

    jwnww74816db.png
  • Sears is done.
    Wave goodbye.
    What they shoulda, they didn't.
    What they coulda, they didn't.
    This ship is going down by the bow.
    Sal Palooza
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    heck, I miss Luskin's in Baltimore.
    Where Jack-you-know will save you dough!

    Perhaps because I went to high school almost literally in the shadow of the Big Luskin's up on the hill by Exit 29 on 695 :) I only remember buying two things from Luskin's... one of which I still have :p (a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio).

    (we need a wistful smiley emoji)

    jwnww74816db.png

    Had to be Loch Raven.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2018
    F1nut wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    heck, I miss Luskin's in Baltimore.
    Where Jack-you-know will save you dough!

    Perhaps because I went to high school almost literally in the shadow of the Big Luskin's up on the hill by Exit 29 on 695 :) I only remember buying two things from Luskin's... one of which I still have :p (a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio).

    (we need a wistful smiley emoji)

    jwnww74816db.png

    Had to be Loch Raven.

    Nope :) There's another little private high school up there on Concordia Drive... right across from Spiro Agnew's old house (when he was Baltimore Co. County Executive). I was the first alum to serve on its board of directors :)

    ahem. The place rebranded itself a coupla years ago*
    http://concordiaprepschool.org/

    :/

    _____________
    * Not unlike our son's UG alma mater, which was Western Maryland when I was a lad, but which became "McDaniel College" somewhere along the line. :|

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    edited October 2018
    I think the last time I was in a Sears store was more than ten years ago. I had to use the bathroom and find a torque wrench. Never did find the wrench.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    I honestly have a hard time giving a rip. I mean, It’s another capitalist machine that couldn’t keep up with the times. Hasta la vista. They will be replaced (or rather already have been) by other capitalist machines. And on it goes...
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    heck, I miss Luskin's in Baltimore.
    Where Jack-you-know will save you dough!

    Perhaps because I went to high school almost literally in the shadow of the Big Luskin's up on the hill by Exit 29 on 695 :) I only remember buying two things from Luskin's... one of which I still have :p (a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio).

    (we need a wistful smiley emoji)

    jwnww74816db.png

    Had to be Loch Raven.

    Nope :) There's another little private high school up there on Concordia Drive... right across from Spiro Agnew's old house (when he was Baltimore Co. County Executive). I was the first alum to serve on its board of directors :)

    ahem. The place rebranded itself a coupla years ago*
    http://concordiaprepschool.org/

    :/

    _____________
    * Not unlike our son's UG alma mater, which was Western Maryland when I was a lad, but which became "McDaniel College" somewhere along the line. :|

    Perhaps amazingly, perhaps not....I've never heard of that one.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    I honestly have a hard time giving a rip. I mean, It’s another capitalist machine that couldn’t keep up with the times. Hasta la vista. They will be replaced (or rather already have been) by other capitalist machines. And on it goes...

    In a way, I feel sorry for you.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    I honestly have a hard time giving a rip. I mean, It’s another capitalist machine that couldn’t keep up with the times. Hasta la vista. They will be replaced (or rather already have been) by other capitalist machines. And on it goes...

    Sounds like you have your panties all twisted about capitalists.

    Sears has been circling the drain for a very long time now, this is no surprise to anyone. Their leadership failed on so many levels. Plenty of other retail joints for those people to work at.
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  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Tony, I haven't tried on the panties you sent me yet, so by definition they cannot be twisted...

    I am not completely against capitalism; I can't be, I own too much crap ;) But lets just call a spade a spade: the essence of capitalism is accumulation of wealth for its own sake. In the heyday of American capitalism, big companies (I'm not talking about mom and pop shops) thought that the best way to make money was to earn people's trust and make products that last. Once they made as much as they could with that model, they had to shift because they needed to accumulate more wealth. So globalization began in earnest (it had been going on since Adam Smith's day) and planned obsolescence (which had been going on since the 1950's) ratcheted into high gear. Then of course came the internet. Companies like Sears couldn't compete, so they die sooner or later. Simple as that. And the march goes on...
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2018
    F1nut wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    heck, I miss Luskin's in Baltimore.
    Where Jack-you-know will save you dough!

    Perhaps because I went to high school almost literally in the shadow of the Big Luskin's up on the hill by Exit 29 on 695 :) I only remember buying two things from Luskin's... one of which I still have :p (a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio).

    (we need a wistful smiley emoji)

    jwnww74816db.png

    Had to be Loch Raven.

    Nope :) There's another little private high school up there on Concordia Drive... right across from Spiro Agnew's old house (when he was Baltimore Co. County Executive). I was the first alum to serve on its board of directors :)

    ahem. The place rebranded itself a coupla years ago*
    http://concordiaprepschool.org/

    :/

    _____________
    * Not unlike our son's UG alma mater, which was Western Maryland when I was a lad, but which became "McDaniel College" somewhere along the line. :|

    Perhaps amazingly, perhaps not....I've never heard of that one.

    It was, and still is, pretty small. Been there since 1965, tho'. Prime bit of real estate, just on the north side of 695. Good school -- didn't teach about Moses and the dinosaurs or nothin' (at least when I was there) :)

    EDIT: unless you meant WMC/McDaniel :) That, too, is a pretty good little school. My son did well by them; his experience there helped him get a PhD in mathematics from UVA.
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,967
    Sears has stripped of its profit producing assets over the last ten years. The site were mere write offs while anything worth two cents was sold to the highest bidder....

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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    Tony, I haven't tried on the panties you sent me yet, so by definition they cannot be twisted...

    I am not completely against capitalism; I can't be, I own too much crap ;) But lets just call a spade a spade: the essence of capitalism is accumulation of wealth for its own sake. In the heyday of American capitalism, big companies (I'm not talking about mom and pop shops) thought that the best way to make money was to earn people's trust and make products that last. Once they made as much as they could with that model, they had to shift because they needed to accumulate more wealth. So globalization began in earnest (it had been going on since Adam Smith's day) and planned obsolescence (which had been going on since the 1950's) ratcheted into high gear. Then of course came the internet. Companies like Sears couldn't compete, so they die sooner or later. Simple as that. And the march goes on...

    You know nothing about Capitalism...
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    edited October 2018
    But their leadership knew an awful lot about greed. There is a huge difference between Capitalism and Greed. Their CEO strip-mined the company and plundered it's assets with impunity, and never really tried to turn things around. The SEC should be looking into that, but they won't, because Edward Scott "Eddie" Lampert did just enough to skirt the law...

    Here is a picture of the clown for your Sears dart boards...

    akwiy56x5439.jpg


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  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    Tony, I haven't tried on the panties you sent me yet, so by definition they cannot be twisted...

    I am not completely against capitalism; I can't be, I own too much crap ;) But lets just call a spade a spade: the essence of capitalism is accumulation of wealth for its own sake. In the heyday of American capitalism, big companies (I'm not talking about mom and pop shops) thought that the best way to make money was to earn people's trust and make products that last. Once they made as much as they could with that model, they had to shift because they needed to accumulate more wealth. So globalization began in earnest (it had been going on since Adam Smith's day) and planned obsolescence (which had been going on since the 1950's) ratcheted into high gear. Then of course came the internet. Companies like Sears couldn't compete, so they die sooner or later. Simple as that. And the march goes on...

    You know nothing about Capitalism...

    Please illuminate me dear sir.
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  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,907
    edited October 2018
    Sad to see them go, but that can be blamed on management like the person (Eddie) shown above.
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    I think the last time I was in a Sears store was more than ten years ago. I had to use the bathroom and find a torque wrench. Never did find the bathroom but I did find a lovely crock pot. They made me buy it or they were gonna prosecute.
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    Seriously, I thought Sears and K-mart were fronts for something. They were always empty except for me, I was in there.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    afterburnt wrote: »
    I think the last time I was in a Sears store was more than ten years ago. I had to use the bathroom and find a torque wrench. Never did find the bathroom but I did find a lovely crock pot. They made me buy it or they were gonna prosecute.

    Hmmm. Bathroom and a torque wrench? Not something I would ordinarily pair together :smile: However I'm happy you found a lovely crock pot! :smile:
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,032
    DSkip wrote: »
    mantis wrote: »
    Man I wish it would end. It's like life as I knew it is forever fading away. It started way back in the day when NOBODY BEATS THE WIZ went under. I loved that store. I mean there has been many other stores that went under but didn't sting like the Wiz did. Then when Tweeter and Circuit City went under I felt like part of me died.
    Soundex was another company when they fell apart it hurt.

    Sears is a place my family has been shopping at for decades. Back to my Grand Father and father before me. I buy most of my clothes there as I really like the Outdoor Life series.
    Man I hope they survive as I'm not a big of fan of Boscov's.

    If these are the biggest tragedies of your lifetime, consider yourself blessed.
    Never said anything about tragedies my friend. But it it's going to suck IF Sears falls to the waste side.
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited October 2018
    I'm sorry, but it's JUST a store, plenty have come and gone and they should have been allowed to die a loooong time ago. That's just life, adapt or die. Just ask Woolworths, Kennedys, Zayres.

    Stop living in the past wishing for the good old days which weren't that good and focus on the future. Otherwise, you will end up just as useless and irrelevant as the above stores.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    cfrizz wrote: »
    Stop living in the past wishing for the good old days which weren't that good and focus on the future. Otherwise, you will end up just as useless and irrelevant as the above stores.

    Shakes head in wonder...

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