Does anyone go to Sears anymore?

I generally walk through around once a year to see if I’ve missed anything. Nothing new in many years, but at least the staff don’t bother me with chit-chat.~

Locally we have a Sears and a Kmart. That joining always amazed me, like it was a mathematician’s merger… negative plus negative equals positive. Both our Sears and Kmart are run down and seedy looking, like re-painting the lines in the parking lot would put them under. Kmart has a fantastic clearance department because low traffic and high prices make for a lot of unsold goods. Sears doesn’t even have that appeal, not to mention you can buy Craftsman at Kmart.

Incidentally, I live between 2 towns, and both have JC Penny’s. Well, did. The big-box anchor store in one town went out last year and the clothing-only store in the other town limps along, year after year. I’ve probably been in it 3 times in the past 10 years, and not bought a single thing.

@ibstubro – interesting, I forgot that K-mart (Kresge) had been bought by Sears.

There used to be two K-marts within about 10 miles of me – one to the South and one to the north. Both are now out of business.

There is a pretty nice Sears at the two malls near me. We only have gone there over the years to buy gifts for my inlaws. They love Sears clothes.

I go to Sears sometimes to look at Lands End stuff. They have a Lands End section and although I typically order Lands End online, sometimes I go to see what they have on the racks. Also, if I order Lands End and need to make a return, it can be done in a Sears store. On several occasions, when doing that, I ended up purchasing tee shirts in the non-Lands End section.

When I was pregnant and received baby gifts, in the wrong sizes, I went to Sears to make returns. They had cute baby stuff.

Sears and Montgomery Ward were the Amazons of the day when I was a kid. But I had a rotten customer experience at a Sears a few years ago and have never gone back.

Once upon a time, Sears was my family’s everything. My grandmother worked in bookkeeping at the local store and got a discount. We picked our toys out of the wish-book and most everything came from there that could. Apparently her discount died when she retired, and then the local store closed.

I was raised on Sears. Sad note to my response above.

The decline of Sears is sort of a reference point in my head regarding the winding down of the country. Realistically, I know it isn’t an accurate or even relevant gauge. I still think of the stores instantly at the mere mention of the word tool. For better than 15 years the big Sears store in downtown Oakland had the smell of death about it, but I would doggedly hold out on tool purchases, sometimes even tires til I was in Oakland and could tour the empty but well stocked tool dept. The store finally succumbed without fanfare sometime last year. I need to replace a lost set of Allen wrenches. The San Francisco Sears closed down better than 25 years ago and there was a lot of noise about it. The suburban malls are the only outposts left. The once proud and mighty chain has been reduced to Kmart modeled franchises staffed with know nothing clerks and perpetual dreariness. Occasionally I come across their credit card in my stack (it’s a MasterCard) & wonder why I never use it.

They have a Scratch & Dent that I’ve been to recently with excellent prices. I would never go to a regular Sears and pay full price. How are they still in business?

My son once made the joke when we were going there to look for something, “Do you think we should call and tell them we’re coming?”

I do shop there occasionally for Land’s End clothing and water filters but it is hard to see how they stay open.

I haven’t been to a Sears in probably 20 years. When i was a kid that’s where we got my school clothes. I even shopped there for clothing as an adult. My how times do change.

Sears used to be the place for amateurs to buy decent tools. Then the quality began slipping, and customer service went down the toilet. I haven’t been in a Sears for 25 years.

I don’t go to Sears stores physically. I will buy stuff from the Sears web site cheap with free shipping. Got some good deals that way. Don’t know how they can do it and make money.

Sear repairmen are also excellent. They can fix anything (Not cheaply though).

tried the Sears Outlet? They have the marked down stuff and stuff they can’t sell elsewhere.

have not been to one in a loong time.

I’ve been to one close by a couple of times in the past few years. The purpose was for a specific item, so I didn’t look around.

There’s a Sears battery in my car, so when it needs checking (long story; not the fault of Sears), I go there.

The garage door opener is a Sears product, so when it was acting up, I called their home repair service. A guy came out, fiddled around, fixed the problem in a matter of minutes, and there was no charge. It wasn’t even under warranty.

I go to Sears as much as I always have. Maybe 2–4 times a year. My husband does go there to look at tools, so that would be 1–2 times out of the 2–4 times. The rest might be because they can change a battery in a watch or look at very casual shoes like shoes for the beach or maybe something automotive.

There is the times when I might happen to park near Sears and I walk through the store to get into the mall. Once in a very great while something might catch my eye. Not often. I don’t usually buy something if I didn’t plan to in the first place.

I didn’t know Lands End is sold in Sears. I don’t buy that brand often, but it’s good to know.

I go to Sears a few times a year. I buy some clothes there, and I’ve shopped in their other sections too. They have some good basic and affordable products that I like, and some good prices on things available at other stores. But specifically I much prefer the culture of the store to the newer noisier more commercial & annoying (to me) style of most other large stores.