The PCB Walmart is the only one where the holidays are their slowest time of year. This was told to me by the GM of Sams 5 or so years ago at lease at least.
Pretty wild.
Whats happened to Sears?
- Thread starter jamnolfin
- Start date
The PCB Walmart is the only one where the holidays are their slowest time of year. This was told to me by the GM of Sams 5 or so years ago at lease at least.
Pretty wild.
The downward spiral of Sears prob started 20-25 years ago. I remember being in HS (20 years ago) and I'd only visit Sears b/c their parking lot was empty so it was the closest way to get into the mall -- and even then, you didn't really want to be seen walking out of Sears.
Their elec/hardware/appliances seem like the only thing people care about, their clothes are cheap and unfashionable (and if you're going that route, there are plenty of non-mall low cost or discounted name-brand alternatives).
Sears was deaf to a changing economy, their CEO and board were asleep at the wheel, blindly taking the advice of MBAs and not spending enough time walking their own stores, understanding the shift to specialty big box retailers and the insulting stereotypes associated with their clothing, and finally, their death-knell the internet.
Their CEOs from 1990 onwards should be forced to repay their compensation, with interest.
Their elec/hardware/appliances seem like the only thing people care about, their clothes are cheap and unfashionable (and if you're going that route, there are plenty of non-mall low cost or discounted name-brand alternatives).
Sears was deaf to a changing economy, their CEO and board were asleep at the wheel, blindly taking the advice of MBAs and not spending enough time walking their own stores, understanding the shift to specialty big box retailers and the insulting stereotypes associated with their clothing, and finally, their death-knell the internet.
Their CEOs from 1990 onwards should be forced to repay their compensation, with interest.
LOL
I almost included that with my anecdote. Found the same thing to be true when I moved to Tallahassee...
It's amazing how quickly the market evolves where free to do so. People who talk about business So-and-So 'controlling' x% of the market don't understand what they're seeing...
I bought my washer & dryer from them a little over year ago. They had Beverly Hills Polo Club there.
I have to buy appliances pretty frequently for some properties. You are buying appliances from probably the highest two places around. Get the model # of the ones you like the most and go to some of the small independent dealers and I think you will be shock at the price difference.
OK, maybe that would've gotten you somewhere.I bought my washer & dryer from them a little over year ago. They had Beverly Hills Polo Club there.
In 1997.
Businesses (read: their overpaid CEOs) are keen to rest on their current market share or quarterly earnings, completely burying their head in the sand about what the future holds. There's a lack of vision among a lot of the executive class.
Detroit did it and destroyed themselves, building low quality, inefficient cars. Can't blame autoworkers for that, that's all on the C-suite. Sears and Kmart, and later Circuit City did it, that's not on their employees, that's on a bunch of execs who were getting fat on salaries by cutting corners.
How is it that nearly every mall-going 15 year old kid could have more accurately told you about the future of Sears than their own CEO and execs?
Perhaps they knew too but just weren't honest or courageous enough to do anything about it.
I don't think I owned another brand of jeans until I was about 13, maybe Rustlers. Toughskins were awesome, double knees and butt, and my mom would buy the big pack of iron on patches.
Bought a new refrigerator at the lowes in PC, actually wife did, she gave them exact specs for under cabinet installation. Arrived and...guess...didn't fit. It never came off the truck but lowes screwed up the refund. Sears had good selection, much more professional staff and...get this...price match.
I was in desperate need of a low end riding mower a few years back. I went to Sears to buy a Craftsman, picked one out and they told me 4-6 weeks,picked another one out,4-6 weeks. I asked why I couldn't buy the floor model and they told me they couldn't sell the floor models.
I have to believe when a person wants to buy a riding mower it is due to 1)new residence 2) old mower crapped out..Waiting 4-6 weeks for a riding mower is comical.
I also went there to have tires put on a car. I looked at the tires online,got the price then went to the store. The price they tried quoting me in the store was about $150 more than the online quote. I asked them about it and they said those prices aren't completely accurate.
I've never bought anything from them since trying to buy from them.
I have to believe when a person wants to buy a riding mower it is due to 1)new residence 2) old mower crapped out..Waiting 4-6 weeks for a riding mower is comical.
I also went there to have tires put on a car. I looked at the tires online,got the price then went to the store. The price they tried quoting me in the store was about $150 more than the online quote. I asked them about it and they said those prices aren't completely accurate.
I've never bought anything from them since trying to buy from them.
Basically Sears used to have good quality if not the best quality American-made products, but then not only did their suppliers start using the same (*&() Chinese made stuff but they purposely started purchasing from China and India as well. So they're basically selling the same (*&) you can get online or from anywhere like Walmart or Target. Frankly, if I want cheap (*&) from China, that's what Ebay and Amazon is for. If I want good quality products then I can no longer go to Sears.
Kind of funny, since they operated as a mail order catalog for something like their first 40 years...
They were essentially the Amazon.com of their day a century before Amazon.com
The disappearance of Toughskins led to the explosion of ACL injuries. The Toughskins were so stiff that you could not bend your knees.....ergo, no ACL injuries. The Toughskins went away and now look. Dead serious.
The Kenmore appliance line used to be considered high quality like Craftsman tools. Those are now made by others (LG, Samsung, etc) and rebranded as Kenmore. We bought our fridge, washer and dryer at Sears 5 years ago because the sale price at the time was way better than we could get for the identical LG branded counterpart at HD, Lowes and Best Buy by at least $100 each.
We haven't bought a single other thing at Sears pretty much since then. One thing I hate is house ferocious their sales people are in the appliance area. Reminds me if setting foot on a car lot. They likely work off commissions because they will each come up and ask if we need help or have any questions. There's a point where that becomes a hassle more than a help.
As far as Craftsman tools go, I do have a compressor, my hand tools (200 piece socket wrench set) and air tools from there. Other than that, prefer to shop at Lowes. Not a fan of going to the mall and we really do not live near enough to it to warrant going there.
My dad always bought his lawnmowers from Sears. Still does, I think. He got a lemon from them on his last one about 5 years ago. Nothing but trouble with it. Oddly, I noticed that Ace Hardware sells Craftsman brand lawnmowers too. Can't speak to their quality though.
Maybe Sears should just get out of the Brick & Mortar gig and start selling their tools to other stores and via online only. Cut out the overhead costs of trying to carry their crappy home goods.
Edit: appears they started selling their their Craftsman line of tools via Ace Hardware in 2010. Didn't even realize this until I Googled it. I knew they carried their Lawn Mowers, as I occasionally stop at Ace after work since it's closer to home than HD/LOWES. I haven't noticed their hand tools prominently displayed though. Will have to keep an eye out next time I'm there.
Sears online is also terrible. It has merged into this amorphous Sears/Kmart/random vendor site and it sucks. I have no faith in buying from their online store.
As an aside, for those saying Walmart has the worst customer service, you haven't been in a Kmart lately. I went to one when I was working at Port Manatee and stayed nearby one off I75. Jesus, worst service, terrible selection of stuff and miserable employees. The girl that was working the register was literally talking on the phone as she rung us up. Before that, my wife and I had gone into the one in Tallahassee a few years before it closed down just randomly to see what it was like. It was 7:50 PM on a week night. They started turning the lights off on us and trying to herd us out because store was closing St 8pm. Looked and felt more like a Big Lots store than a store with real goods. Even back then, most of the workers were playing on their phones and standing around rather than working. Don't miss Kmart at all.
Last edited:
Yup, add Makita to your list of quality products as well. Costs about more but lasts for a long time and has great customer service.
I have heard the same regarding Craftsman, power tools wise. stay away.
Yeah, well I liked it better when it was Petticoat Junction and the Suislide.
if you think about it, sears was thriving until the popularity of mega walmarts, HD, Lowes, Best Buy, etc. early to mid 80s.
Being near the top-grossing Walmarts in the country isn't really a badge of honor.
A few weeks ago Amazon passed Walmart in terms of market capitalization (stock price * # of shares of stock outstanding) to become the largest retailer (in terms of MC) in the world. However, Walmart's annual sales are astronomically higher than Amazon ($486 billion to $89 billion last year), and in terms of bottom line profits the difference is virtually immeasurable (Walmart has averaged around $15 billion in profits the last few years, Amazon has rarely shown an annual profit in its' history).
Those who love Amazon tout how they pour their revenues back into growing the business; those who question it point out that, at some point, you need to make money.
I'd forgotten about the iron on patches but I remember we went through a lot of those at our house as well...
Just about everybody price matches these days. Hell, my wife and I discovered that stores like Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby price match. I take full advantage of price matches, especially at Best Buy. All you have to do is bring up a store with a cheaper price on your phone and most stores honor it.
I've heard secondhand that the Sears price match is a pain in the ass. Basically they charge you full price and then "credit" you the difference within 30 days.
Oh lawd I remember the toughskins that had the extra knee patch added on. They were so friggin stiff that you'd run around like a toy soldier. I also remember being a po'd 9 yr old that had to wear the husky size, cause even though I was rail thin, I had long legs and the regular size made me have what we called "highwaters".
I think the biggest problem with Sears is location, location, location and not with the brand, the brand, the brand. Most Sears stores are tied to malls and malls are typically inconvenient. Back in the day the mall was the place but not anymore. I've got two Lowes and one Home Depot closer to my house than Sears and I'm in those stores way more often than I'm at the mall.
I will say that I've always owned Kenmore appliances and have never had a lick of problems with them. I forget when but not too terribly long ago I needed a washer and dryer so I bought a GE set from Lowes that were garbage. I got rid of them and bought a Kenmore set that work like a dream. Now I can't tell you who made either set but the Kenmore set is the better set imo so I'm sticking with it.
I've also bought my last three sets of tires from Sears and have been satisfied with the price and the service. Are there better deals out there? Sure. Am I one to shop around for 5% or 10% once I've found something or some place that works? No.
Somebody above also mentioned JC Penney. I believe they and the other traditional mall department stores have the same image problem. I get great clothes (Stafford) and prices at JC Penney and don't shop anywhere else unless I have to...
I will say that I've always owned Kenmore appliances and have never had a lick of problems with them. I forget when but not too terribly long ago I needed a washer and dryer so I bought a GE set from Lowes that were garbage. I got rid of them and bought a Kenmore set that work like a dream. Now I can't tell you who made either set but the Kenmore set is the better set imo so I'm sticking with it.
I've also bought my last three sets of tires from Sears and have been satisfied with the price and the service. Are there better deals out there? Sure. Am I one to shop around for 5% or 10% once I've found something or some place that works? No.
Somebody above also mentioned JC Penney. I believe they and the other traditional mall department stores have the same image problem. I get great clothes (Stafford) and prices at JC Penney and don't shop anywhere else unless I have to...
It's a convergence of things I think, the biggest one being that the mall is just not a destination for the kind of household shopping anymore. I'd put Kohl's top of the list of the stores that damaged them and the other mall anchors. That sort of mediocre and inexpensive, but somehow not quite KMart/Walmart experience, for clothing and household goods has made mall anchors totally irrelevant.
I'd also put it on a total crash in the importance of quality to the consumer purchaser. My family had the same TV when I left for college that they had at my earliest memory. How many people consider a TV a 20-year decision? Maybe a refrigerator or a couple of appliances, but generally, almost everything you buy is disposable anyway, so Sears can't get much leverage there.
Darning socks used to be a thing. Who would fix socks any more? Shoe repair isn't far behind...how many people spend the kind of money on shoes that warrant repair rather than replacement (and Sears isn't in the $1000 shoes game anyway)? People have been conditioned to replace their cell phones, what would have once been a major, major consumer purchase, every couple years.Just the fact that Sears was thriving in the period when people were patching jeans sheds light on it.
People still talk quality when things go bad, but other than maybe vehicles and major appliances, it's mostly pretty empty or irrelevant at this point.
I'd also put it on a total crash in the importance of quality to the consumer purchaser. My family had the same TV when I left for college that they had at my earliest memory. How many people consider a TV a 20-year decision? Maybe a refrigerator or a couple of appliances, but generally, almost everything you buy is disposable anyway, so Sears can't get much leverage there.
Darning socks used to be a thing. Who would fix socks any more? Shoe repair isn't far behind...how many people spend the kind of money on shoes that warrant repair rather than replacement (and Sears isn't in the $1000 shoes game anyway)? People have been conditioned to replace their cell phones, what would have once been a major, major consumer purchase, every couple years.Just the fact that Sears was thriving in the period when people were patching jeans sheds light on it.
People still talk quality when things go bad, but other than maybe vehicles and major appliances, it's mostly pretty empty or irrelevant at this point.
I believe the Kenmore brand has always been manufactured by other manufacturers. I know Whirlpool has always made the laundry.
Kmart bought Sears 3 years after Kmart filed Chapter 11. Being vulnerable to a Kmart takeover should tell you all you need to know about Sears.
I wouldn't completely write-off Sears yet. Eddie Lampert is making some big moves to shrink it, but what's left should be profitable and cash-generating.
It's like what would happen if Kohls and Home Depot had a baby together and immediately orphaned the lil bastard.
Anything tied to a mall is likely to fail. I was forced to visit a mall recently -- which I rarely do -- and it was the biggest collection of unimpressive people I've ever seen. Are food stamps and welfare checks now handed out there in a back room? Seemed like folks were gathering there solely for "entertainment" and to get out of the heat.
Where do HS kids hang out these days (before getting drunk)?
As for the death of the Mall - I think we're seeing a resurgence of mom and pop type local boutique stores, esp for women's fashions. Frankly I think it's a good thing, while sites like etsy are taking a cut from all of these folks, most of the profit winds up with a local business rather than some a-hole corp exec. The downside is we're seeing a huge reduction of "first job" type employement. Had a nephew try to get a summer job at Walgreens and get turned down because they decided to hire a 35 year old who wanted to work there year round, part time. Have heard the same about crappy fast food jobs as well. Doubly sad because people can't live their lives on those jobs, they're made for kids who don't have the full expense portfolio of an adult.
