Sears might be going belly up

[Bruce Wayne]

I hear Craftsman tools don't even have a lifetime warranty anymore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftsman_(tools)#Warranty

 

[scotrace]

And for the majority that won't follow the link - the warranty is still in effect and being honored.

 

[Lincsong]

Yeah, the warranty is still in effect. Until Sears does go under. Then I guess I'll just have to start flagging down Snap-On trucks.

 

[Old Rogue]

I worked at K-Mart as a department manager for 3 years, my brother worked there, and my sister works there. I always received a TON of complaints from people that the customer service was lousy. Most people that came in there regular would ask for me personally. I didn't know everything about everything in the store but I was always polite and courteous and gave people all the time in the world that they needed. If I didn't know something, I would go back to the office and do some quick online research.

I recently got asked to come back. I was electronics department lead when I left and they said the sales have never recovered. In retail, you get what you pay for. You won't find a lot of people willing to make a career out of an 8 dollar an hour job.

Tom that's pretty much the secret to success in any job. Take ownership of the customer's wants and needs, provide courteous service, demonstrate that you deal honestly and you'll be the one everyone wants to do business with.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I refuse to walk in the door of Wal-Mart. I did just once and never saw so much sub-standard crap in my life. However, I must admit that I only go into Sears when I need new underwear. I buy tools from tool specialists, clothing either off the internet or from more upscale sources and since Sears discontinued their Farm and Garden catalog decades ago, and stopped selling firearms and sporting goods there hasn't been any reason for me to buy from them. They should have gone internet about twenty years ago as an adjunct to their catalog. Bad business decisions=no business.

How the mighty have fallen! I too am tired of seeing nothing but the cheapo brands at places like Target and Walmart. At one time Sears carried the good-quality brands because they had a name and could dictate prices. It seems like manufacturers back then were falling over each other to put their product on Sears' shelves.

 

[kyboots]

I was under the impression that Kmart took over Sears several years ago. A bankrupt company took over another one that was larger but needing help too. That is why Craftsman tools are being sold at Kmart now, and they share some other inventory too. They are all not doing well in this economy; another reason I strongly support buying American products ( I know another thread ) from cars on down to Wesco boots and these stores. The economy sucks but we are told so often the "sky is falling" no one spends or buys anything.We keeping shooting ourselves in the foot.----John

 

[Gracie Lee]

While I agree that Sears quality and service has gone down the tubes, I have a fairly new Kenmore sewing machine that runs better than my old Singer and better than my mom's much more expensive White. I'll be quite upset if/when I can't get accessories for it any more. Guess I have to start saving to buy everything they have available...

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Craftsman tools are also available at Ace hardware since Sears, Kmart & Ace are all owned by the same company.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Craftsman tools are also available at Ace hardware since Sears, Kmart & Ace are all owned by the same company.

Craftsman tools can also be found at Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH), a hardware chain here in California.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I have always taken a lot of pride in my work. Good customer relations is an important thing. If people know you care, they'll come back, they'll pay a little more, they'll tell their friends. Word of mouth is the best advertising. Good or bad, things will get around. Stores like Sears have built a reputation for decreasing quality in service, knowledge, employees, and products. They have sunk their own ships.

Tom that's pretty much the secret to success in any job. Take ownership of the customer's wants and needs, provide courteous service, demonstrate that you deal honestly and you'll be the one everyone wants to do business with.

 

[_Nightwing]

I worked at K-Mart as a department manager for 3 years, my brother worked there, and my sister works there. I always received a TON of complaints from people that the customer service was lousy. Most people that came in there regular would ask for me personally. I didn't know everything about everything in the store but I was always polite and courteous and gave people all the time in the world that they needed. If I didn't know something, I would go back to the office and do some quick online research.

I recently got asked to come back. I was electronics department lead when I left and they said the sales have never recovered. In retail, you get what you pay for. You won't find a lot of people willing to make a career out of an 8 dollar an hour job.

I also worked for K-Mart, for two years. I started on the register, was promoted to customer service and then promoted to head of customer service. This was during their bankruptcy restructuring around 2003. I tried my hardest with what I was working with - trying to provide good service in a company that no-longer cares about service to a customer base that has prioritized other things. In the end they beat me.

Because I was handling things, first they took away my help and the customer service desk went from two people to one. That saved them some money, which to be fair they at least reflected in my pay. Just kidding. They didn't reflect that in my pay. Unfortunately I was still handling the lines, so next they took away the USCAN operator and had me walk over to take care of that as well. Now I was doing three people's jobs for the price of one.

It still wasn't good enough for them though, because after only two years I was the longest-standing member at the front end, and based on the dime and quarter raises you'd get every six months or a year, that meant that I was overpaid. I wasn't quite getting the eight dollars an hour that Tom mentioned. I dreamed of eight.

But it wasn't over yet, because how to get rid of me? Can't fire me. There's no good cause and then they'd have to contribute to unemployment benefits - something like fifty percent of the two-thirds income that I would receive of seven-fifty an hour for thirty-nine hours a week (can't work forty or you're eligible for health insurance). Obviously they're not paying out that dollar-fifty for me to get a candy bar on the weekend. Every other weekend.

So instead they started cutting my hours. First to thirty, for a few weeks, then to twenty, then to fifteen. They didn't tell me, but I knew what they were up to. I had savings, was obviously used to living cheap from working for them, and got a roommate to halve all my bills. I damn well enjoyed my time off. This was in Asheville. Eventually they had me down to coming in and working one measly day a week, but it wasn't soon after that the human resources manager called me into the back office and broke down and told me that what they'd been making her do to me wasn't right and so she was formally laying me off. I went and filed for the unemployment money immediately, to enjoy my fortnightly Mars bar. Such is Kmart. Such is the modern corporation.

I think the real problem is that the society that supported Sears for so long no longer exists -- people don't *care* about quality and service any more, all they want is cheap disposable flash.

DING DING DING. We have a winner. But I do hope that we can all in some small part change this situation.

On my resume now for K-mart, I put: "Enabled threefold efficiency gains."

XD

 

[Gregg Axley]

Quality is out there Lizzie, it's just more expensive than most want to pay.
My wife and I are not those people, we pay extra for quality because we want it!

 

[scottyrocks]

For a long time, Sears was one of a limited number of games in town. Now, everyone sells some form of everything. If a retailer doesn't get the mix of price, quality, and service just right, then it's OOB.

Around here over the years, there have been a number of discount retail chains that had opened up and then closed down within a few years, including K-Mart, Caldor, and the further distant past, and lasting much longer, Times Square Stores, E.J. Korvettes, Mays, Woolworth's and Woolco.

All of them were victims of the times in which they closed. Today, around here, Walmart, Target, and Kohl's are the dominant discount stores. They seem to balance price, selection, and probably the minimum amount of quality that people will stand for. I've not had a bad service experience in any of thee stores during the rare times I've been to them.

As far as tools go, I do most of my shopping these days at Home Depot and Ace, as they are much closer to my location. I have found that there are certain items at Home Depot that are seriously substandard but now I look for those brand names when I am shopping so as to avoid them.

I will say that if I can't find a particular tool at either HD or Lowe's, Sears almost always has it, especially things like odd sized ratchet extensions.

 

[Weston]

What I always enjoyed about Sears (and continue to, to some extent) was knowing that I could buy something there and not get junk. Whatever they had was of middle to high quality, with the tools being the best since if you waste a man's money he remembers long and well! I like Sears very much, but have fond memories of working there through college. However, that company no longer exists, it was eaten by Kmart.

 

[Widebrim]

My mother and I both worked for a couple of years at Sears in Glendale (L.A. suburb), and my father worked for 25 years as an auto mechanic at Sears, Hollywood. When I was an employee in the mid-'80s, there were still quite a few "adults" working at our Sears, although college-age employees were making inroads. By that time, the store (built in 1957) was only extremely busy during the holidays, yet still was doing good business otherwise. The restaurant where my mother used to work was long gone, but the popcorn machine was still located by the escalators. Upper management could be found in their offices on the third floor, and the store manager sent birthday cards on a regular basis to employees. We young people still bought clothes there from time to time, as well as other items, although the more "fashionable" stores at the local mall were already heavily competing for our dollars. And the catalogue pick-up department was alive and active.

Fast-forward to the present, and you find a Sears, Glendale store which often reminds you of a retail graveyard. (Sears, Hollywood closed about three years ago.) Most of the employees are college kids who (perhaps understandably) show little to no interest in what they're doing; you can walk through the entire store and not be approached once by anybody. There appear to be no managers or floor walkers of any kind visible, and the management offices on the third floor are now vacated and locked. Much of the merchandise is (as has been discussed) cheap, with the exception of large appliances, underwear, and some tools. I confess to not having purchased anything there in many years (except for a convection oven, which works quite well). Needless to say, the catalogue pick-up department is long gone...I have visited the store a couple of times in recent times, but mainly to run my hands on the wood bannisters while climbing up and down the stairs that I traversed so many times as a boy, thinking of how one of the last retail traditions I grew up with may soon be gone forever.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Sears only exists in name but the Sears of 25 plus years ago is long gone, as others have commented. The one near me is terrible. In the summer they barely have an air conditioning (and the temp is controlled out of state) so that I had to leave it was so hot and muggy in there. It's dirty. Customer service? Please. I tried to order an oven from them and it was a disaster. I tried to cancel my order and it took dozens of phone calls and months later I got a letter stating they were waiting for me to pick up my oven. Did they ever use their own employees to do installs? They use contractors now, and the one they were sending to me had no liability insurance even though they were "supposed" to have it.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

We had the temp problem by us at K-Mart, when I worked there. It'd be in the 80's in the summer and in the 50's in the winter. I started my shift 4 hours before the store opened and they didn't even turn the heat or A/C on until after the store opened.

Sears only exists in name but the Sears of 25 plus years ago is long gone, as others have commented. The one near me is terrible. In the summer they barely have an air conditioning (and the temp is controlled out of state) so that I had to leave it was so hot and muggy in there. It's dirty. Customer service? Please. I tried to order an oven from them and it was a disaster. I tried to cancel my order and it took dozens of phone calls and months later I got a letter stating they were waiting for me to pick up my oven. Did they ever use their own employees to do installs? They use contractors now, and the one they were sending to me had no liability insurance even though they were "supposed" to have it.

 

[Tomasso]

the Sears of 25 plus years ago is long gone, as others have commented.

This was the act that signaled the beginning of the end.




Sears to Close Flagship Store
Special to the New York Times
Published: November 1, 1982



. .CHICAGO, Oct. 31— Sears, Roebuck & Company, the nation's largest retailer, will close its flagship department store on Chicago's State Street next spring and sell the 91-year-old National Historic Landmark building for conversion into an office building.

Earlier this year, Sears said it was considering closing the huge store, which had estimated annual sales of $35 million but had been losing money for seven years.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/01/business/sears-to-close-flagship-store.html

 

[David Conwill]

November 1, 1982

I wasn't quite five months old. I would liked to have seen them in their glory. Their old catalogues are enthralling; they're such a peek into what the everyman of any given year was wearing and using.

-Dave

 

[in/y]

I grew up in the Philadelphia area. We had a huge Sears distribution center and store in Northeast Philadelphia that our family frequented for years. We bought mostly form the catalog and went to this Sears to pick stuff up. Because it was also a distribution center, we didn't have to any any added shipping charges for things. My mom had a regular Sear operator who would call her about once a month (now there's service for ya!). If she didn't want anything that month that was OK, the operator would call back a month later.

I still remember going upstairs to the catalog pick-up counter in the store. You went down to the back to pick up the really large things (like the extension ladder we got in about 1963 there that I now have and still use).

The store closed around 1990 and the catalog center a few years after that. The building was imploded in 1994 and the site is not just another boring big box shopping center.

Here's the building being taken down:
[video=youtube;s-nvu4SlD54]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-nvu4SlD54[/video]