How much longer do you think Sear has? Also, don't forget Siesta Mall and Retail Archaeology apparel and merchandise are now available 😀 teespring.com/stores/retail-archaeology
Sears doesn't have much longer... One in Mall St. Vincent in Shreveport, LA is gone and one from the Alexandria Mall in Alexandria, LA is gone as well... I bet after January 1st it will be a wrap.
This last weekend I drove to my local Sears, bought a diehard battery, and changed it int he parking lot using my American-made Craftsman tools. I'm sad that this will probably be the last time this ever happens. Sears was positioned to be the premiere internet retailer when the internet was born but they missed the boat and almost 30 years later they still haven't figured it out. Sad.
Same here, growing up we depended on Sears for virtually everything. I relied on them to provide decently-priced tools and I've always had good luck with Kenmore appliances and Diehard batteries. The local Sears Auto center isn't attached to the Sears store here, and the Sales person said that he's under the impression that if they shut down Sears locally the Sear's Auto Center will change names to the Diehard Auto Center and stay in business. I have no idea if there's any truth to that at all.
That lifetime guarantee is what made Craftsman the preferred brand of hand tools for tradesmen. Break 'em, bend 'em, you get a brand new one for free. I must have gone through hundreds of sets of sheet metal snips in my career, and never had to pay for any more than the first.
An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience... -Mitch Hedberg.
I think there has been cases of people falling down escalators and being killed because it was out of order (not moving which means you use it as regular stairs). They were expecting it to move and when it didn't it threw off their balance . And you know what that means, LAWSUIT! So they often don't let you use them in that case.
bob smith actually the steps can slip in position. Also steps are often removed during repairs. So they actually can be quite dangerous. The Sears I worked at did have problems with people falling and I witnessed something give way on the up one. Nobody was on it but there was a large bang and it screeched to a halt. However I have also noticed that Sears has been shutting down their escalators to save money. My local sears before it closed the elevator would arrive at the second floor very violently. That was not the one I worked at the one I worked at closed several years before that one did.
I used to work for Sears many years ago, and it was during the start of their major decline. They tried so many desperate measures to rope in customers, but threw out things that people liked. Credit card deals like 0% interest or cash back slowly gave way to their gimmicky rewards card. They got away from specialized sales staff, like shoes going from having sales reps, to just being a self serve, and eventually doing away with department specific salesmen and basically everyone worked everywhere. Then they brought in the furniture and got rid of their housewares and clothes... you could just see the spiral. Very sad.. Sears is an icon in American history... u can look through old Sears catalogs and it's like a time capsule of American culture. RIP Sears.. it's a shame you couldn't keep up with the changes in modern day retail. I would like to blame it on how poorly they treated employees and management, but tbh.. that's just retail. Great videos!! I love watching them, it's a sad, but true trip down memory lane.
Imagine if instead of Amazon for online shopping you would go on Sears' website to buy just about anything, I think that had they been able to do that they could've saved themselves
I'm sorry that was how your experience was at Sears. My dad picked up a part time job as Santa Claus and the employees were treated well, including managers were all so close, spent time with each others families. They had profit sharing, recieved decent pay and raises. At that time, Sears really did have everything plus the distribution centers could have made them Amazon. They had their own credit card which interest would go to the company. Switching to citi and forcing the employees to push that card was a mistake. The rewards program did get me some camping stuff and 2 bicycles after points from appliance replacements. The merchandise especially clothing was awful since E.L. took control. The employees wrote an epitaph around 2000 for Sears, clever but sad for dad. I truly am sorry for all those out of work. There's nowhere to work, some of these people had their whole career at Sears. And that ass attacks their pension. I have pleasant dreams of the place occasionally especially the candy counter in that downtown store. It has been demolished for many years replacing the architecture of long ago with blandness in a dying city.
And of course he's blaming all of it on Sears employees pension. PBGC has been all but dismantled, an agency in name only. Because Congress will always get their pension, screw the workers.
I worked electronics at a Sears store for about nine months in 09. I had fun but the store was a mess. Really seems like there is virtually no strategic thinking going on. We were urged to push credit cards and protection plans because they were huge moneymakers, but even nine years ago everyone knew they were a scam. It seems like Sears never found a legitimate way to make a profit again after that bubble burst.
I don't think Sears will even survive Thanksgiving and Black Friday, let alone Western Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa. If they're somehow still around by New Year's, I'll eat my hat. I'm surprised they've managed to survive this long. HOW? How have they not died?
@RavenTheShaman Livestream9999 If I were a chick, I wouldn't have the word "man" in my name. But yeah, Sears won't survive the end of the year, I think.
+Manuel Mejia One of the malls about a half-hour's drive from my house has a Sears with the original Sears Roebuck signage above the doors too, complete with the money back guarantee.
I know someone who offered to buy an interior Kmart logo that hung over the doors from a liquidating Kmart, the liquidator and store manager flipped on him when he asked if he could buy it.. They then said that Kmart was still a valuable and functioning company and that it was not a relic to be sold when it will be repurposed at another store... Needless to say when he was done shopping there he saw the manager throwing it in a trash can behind the returns counter.
I worked for Kmart for 1 year and Sears for another. That was in 2007-2008 and I knew they were in trouble but how long they have been holding out and shuttering along is truly amazing.
The consensus opinion is Mr. Lambert is using his hedge fund to keep draining Sears and K-Mart of "blood" as long as possible until there's nothing left but a dessicated corpse of a corporation. Which probably won't be long coming now...
Kmart has been in decline since the late 1990s when it became basically a junk store. They let their stores look dated and the quality of their merchandise didn’t match Target or Walmart. This is what I think is killing them.
Agreed. They still use old fashioned cash registers and don't have self-checkout that Walmart and Target have. Kmart & Sears have fallen behind in technology and have not updated many of their stores. Plus Kmart's website is not as good as Walmart or Target.
Put me in charge of Sears Holdings, in place of Eddie Lampert, and they'd be top dogs under my watch. Especially Kmart. In fact, I have a plan I'd like to call the "Kmart Revitalization" plan. I can tell you about it if you want.
The Sears where I live is practically giving away money at this point with the amount of sales and money-back deals they have. Nobody is ever in the store, not even a few people, and they only ever have one single worker manning the entire place. Most of the dressing rooms are broken and desolate, already looking abandoned despite the store not being closed quite yet. The shelves are barren and they’ve removed a lot of sections, very post-apocalyptically. It’s obviously on its way out, which is sad to see happen.
Sears will always be a childhood memory for me in the late 70's and into the 80's as it was the store for everything that my family needed that I can I can remember growing up with during that time. Whether is for back to school shopping, new appliances for the kitchen, new living room television, Atari/Atari games, toys, bikes, tools, new tires for the family car, etc., it will always have a place in my heart for all those trips as a youth with my mother or father. The Sears I grew up with actually closed many years ago when they moved to their new location in the next town over at the local big mall in my area. While that Sears is still open and operating currently, it's a sad sight and a far cry from what I remember as a child and even as a young adult as is a number of them that I've visited in my state recently. It was actually very depressing to me to see this once great franchise that I have so many fond memories of fall to this level, but sadly that seems to be a trend with many of these once great stores.
On the upside, Sears is a great place to shop for clothes, if you can find what you want. The sales are up to 80% off! I was able to buy a boatload of pretty nice lounge clothing for under $20.
If you can find something good for sale there, then yes. A few years ago I was surprised I found a really funny t-shirt there at a Sears, and I swear that must've been my first purchase at a Sears in probably like 10-15 years. The weird thing to think about, is that ONLY earlier this week(1st week of October 2018), it was announced that the Golf Mill Mall(Niles, IL) Sears will shut down soon. I do wonder with that mall having a walk-through anchor between both halves of that mall if they'll build a tunnel between both halves of that mall going through a former anchor(like Brickyard Mall in Chicago did after JCPenney closed), or if they'll just decide to demolish the unrenovated north hallway and make all the anchors up there(Value City Furniture, Kohl's, and Target) standalone? And of course I've always quietly wondered for years if the Golf Mill Target would eventually close in one of that company's annual rounds of 8-10 stores closing a year, considering it's smaller in size than other surrounding Target stores. Maybe that store isn't going anywhere, since for whatever reason it has kept managing to survive in the shadow of a Super Walmart. And considering that a short lived Meijer just west of there and the Super Walmart, only lasted for something like 2-3(?) years. I still miss that Meijer store, myself...
The Sears at Stonebrier Centre in Frisco, Texas is basically like this one. Storebrier is a very busy mall and the Sears also very well maintain is the least busiest.
Sears needs a complete makeover (new merchandise , store remodeling, new market focus, and new advertising campaigns) to survive. Don’t think they will be able to pull this off. It is a tired brand that was run into the ground.
If they have the most amazing holiday season in the history of retail, they can not make it. Their debts and cost structure far exceed any possible sales they could pull off.
Once again, great video. I'd say Sears has about a year left before they start getting dangerously low on stores to close. We've been saying for years that "this is the last year" but here we are today. It seems strange how Sears decides what stores are the least profitable. I recently found out my local Sears is closing, as well as one other near me. Both of those are located at very busy malls, and while I've only been to the one closest to me, it was way busier than the Sears shown in his video. I can only imagine how scary it must be for Sears store owners and employees not knowing when they wake up the next day if they have a job.
Funny thing is, they closed the ones closest to Pittsburgh, but if you want to go to Sears now you either have to travel 40miles south to Washington, PA or 40 Miles East to Greensburg, PA. Nothing is close to where the shoppers are anymore.
Curious if they owned or held a very long ground lease on the real estate at those very busy malls. Maybe the dirt is worth more than the sales Sears can generate on it.
Including the half-vacant Sears store at Deptford mall (N J) in spite of it being an otherwise thriving shopping mall. And the Kmart in Glassboro (only 1 of 2 remaining Kmarts in south Jersey) is a total joke!!!! Slow service, and it only seems that college kids work there, yet I hardly think college kids can afford the prices on things there. (I'm sure it would be cheaper for them to ride the bus to Walmart in Turnersville and STILL come out ahead!!!) I'm FLABBERGASTED that Walmart hasn't opened up a store in Glassboro yet.
Who's watching this in 2023? I think "SEA S" has successfully made it to 130 years. Just not where I live, where they closed. I got my Covid-19 booster in late 2021 in the remnants of the closed Sears, and I could still remember quite a bit of what the store was like when it was still a Sears. Fun times? D: 5:40 looks like restaurant seating. 7:38: "Sure was nice of the Princess to invite us over for a picnic, eh, Luigi?" "MAH BOI...!"
Your videos are really amazing. I've been taking a good look at the dying malls here in Florida, as I am not only inspired by your work but I recently leased space in a dying mall for my business. What an awful experience, and I'm sad to see how much of a huge problem this is across the country, too. It's next to impossible for small business owners to get a foothold anywhere and be a success.
I believe the fate of Sears is on a collision course, and has been for a number of years, with imminent closure. Sad to see but times have changed.....and not necessarily for the better. The vintage signs are great but makes little difference now. Thanks for your work in keeping a video history for what will soon be gone and forgotten.
Why wait when you can put Sears Holdings out of its misery and be done with it? They failed to see the future happening around them and it's too late now. If they'd seized that opportunity, they could have taken up the niche Amazon fills now.
That is interesting because the same thing is happening at a big mall not far from where I live. Every time I go into that Sears store, there are not very many people in it at all or no one in this Sears stores. It's really sad to see companies like Sears and Kmart struggling to stay open. I will be amazing if Sears will continue on into the future with the state that this company is in. I will be shocked if Sears makes it through the end of this year.
This Sears reminds me a little of the Sears at Park Place Mall. That Mall was very busy and look what happened, Sears still closed that store. As far as how much longer Sears has, then maybe(being very generous) they could make it to 2020, but that's it.
But Evil Eddie has all the cash, he never intended to save Sears. He wanted to destroy it while enriching himself since the beginning. Why else would he have combined bankrupt K-Mart with Sears? "Loaned" them cash out of his equity fund and taken their real estate. He is studied in business class. There will be no justice for what he's done to an iconic American company. He will be copied by others. Those employees, shareholders who got hurt are of no consequence to him or his type. And consumers lose another choice of retailers. Maybe with all these big abandoned buildings the homeless could have shelter. Not.
The Motorola logo made me reminisce about my black Motorola RAZR with its little puff ball phone charm dangling down. Good times. I do think Sears is the next to go. Makes you wonder what they would put in its place though at that mall. Please not another Spirit Halloween store 😫
There might not be an obvious sign that the Sears used to be a Montgomery Ward, but that scary elevator you were in is a Montgomery elevator! Montgomery Elevator Company went defunct in 1994, so that elevator was most likely the original elevator from when the store opened! Which is probably why it sounded bad.
Hi there it’s been a while since I’ve watched one of your videos. As far as time wise I’m not sure. As a sears employee I know them at Eddie Lambert our CEO is trying to buy most of the remaining assets. As well he is still trying to funnel money from “seritage growth properties” and “ESL increments” in to sears holdings. The store I work for is closing. The interesting thing is our store is not closing due to performance, our store has done wonders including some of the highest sales numbers for the company for example one week prior to our closure anounment our sales were up 9% year to date. The other odd thing is most of those customers were new to sears (people under the age of 30). If Sears is closing a very profitable store I would asume the brick and mortar stores are done for the most part.
Hey Nate, aren't you from the store in Utah? I'm sorry about this and can't believe the company is leaving the state entirely. The market there is pretty healthy so I hope you find a good job somewhere. Try Harmon's? Local family owned company. :)
There is always something I was an entry level manager there. So I’m hoping to find somewhere that will start where I kind of left off Home Depot offered me a similar position. But nonetheless I appreciate your support and welcome all the advice I can get. Sears just so you know is expanding its warehouse network. It seems like they are going to operate online only if they close all remaining stores.
the Sears in a mall near me was on the list of closing Sears and just closed at the end of August Yet the one all by itself that is mostly devoid of people whenever I'm in there and there is almost nothing in the area around it except a Kroger across the street (next to the Sears used to be a strip mall, which has been torn down in the past year), they say is going to be one of the last ones to close wtf
Most sears stores are getting toys in for the 2018 holiday season this year, all those toys are new merchandise they just haven't finished creating the displays yet
Sears has closed a handful of stores where I live around the Houston, TX area with another one closing in the Memorial City Mall in Houston in November which is actually a very busy mall.
My local Sears is like this. Very little people use it. Even driving by the parking lot. Its always almost empty. Other then the car mechanic part of the store.
I remember shopping as a kid with my mom at a standalone Sears with the old logo on the outside of the building. The building got demolished back in the 90s. I haven’t been in a Sears since 2008. It was a ghost town then. Surprised that any are still open now. 👻
There is a very successful mall by my house and oddly enough, they are completely remodeling the Sears there. Im excited to see how they've modernized it after it re-opens again.
My grandfather was a Sears tv repairman in the late 60 & 70s. He drove around a mint green Sears van. I have a small hand painted replica of the van in my china cabinet and will forever cherish it. My grandfather was always in the garage tinkering with radios and repairing equipment. He was also a WWII army veteran. He was a staff sergeant and was part of the Battle of the Bulge. He saw horrible things and never spoke of his experiences during the war. Can’t imagine what that must have been like. He was a wonderful man, a hardworking family man.
How this Sears shop can have a full inventory and no customers is just astonishing. If most Sears are like this, the company will croak a little after Christmas -- just in time for Lampert to drink the last drop of blood from the company's throat.
Been a while since I have visited a Sears but this video shows me that not much has changed. Since the 2000s I have felt depressed being inside of a Sears store. Barely stocked shelves, merchandise sloppily laid out, empty departments where you have to search for an employee to get any help, non-functioning computers. It's like the management just doesn't care. When I managed a little store we took pride in keeping it clean and merchandise attractively stocked. It was like if you came into our store you were visiting our house and we wanted it to look nice. I am sure the Sears employees just don't get enough hours to properly care for the store which in turn makes it a sad experience for the customers.
Speaking of the closure list for Sears, the local Sears in my city's mall is on the closure list. And the interesting thing is Sears owns the space the store is in, so once they're gone the mall won't be able to do anything with it. it'll just sit empty. Maybe some day soon I'll go to the mall and record some footage at that the Sears. And who knows maybe I'll put the footage up on my channel or something.
That's why Evil Eddie went adter Sears. They owned the land they sit on in most places, now E.L. does. If you manage to get in and record, I'd watch it. May look like one that I went in as a child with cool art deco lighting and stuff(demolished).
@@christinacope562 I have sometime off this weekend from work & school so I'll try to record some footage. I was actually talking with my boss about the Sears here because she previously worked for Sears. She was telling me how Eddie had this grand plan of buying Amazon and Sears becoming giant show rooms for products from Amazon. And the thing about the Sears here, you'll be lucky if the employees even speak to you.
@@React2Quick it just may be those of us who can, will be the ones to record the fall of these places. Kind of a chronicle of history. I've talked to old ones who said they wish younger people could see what was in the area before being demolished. We have the technology in our pockets now. There's interest or so many wouldn't be watching these videos. As to the former employee, she may have worked there in it's heyday before Eddie came in 2005 to destroy the company for his gain. The company used to treat their employees great. Today, they look like waiting for their funeral, they know it's just a matter of time. Good luck!
Sears- Sad enough where I can’t come up with a slogan Two of our local Sears just closed. And we missed all of the clearance sales, and I don’t regret it.
Probably moved it to another store anyways. Was eyeing a kayak, not cheap so after the closing announcement I went to get it. Not there. Employees were moving out stuff not to be liquidated, they said the best quality merchandise. I truly felt bad for them, they thought they were safe due to their numbers. Goung to miss some of those familiar faces.
I visited some of the liquidation sales, and left empty handed. Prices were jacked up, compared to the Sears.com prices for same item, or, just in general, like 65.00 for a Rosetti handbag that normally sells for 24.00.
Sears should have been able to take off with internet sales easily back in the day. The only difference between catalog and internet sales is how the order is entered into their system. When I was a kid I ordered tools from Sears on Prodigy. Since I didn't have a credit card or checking account, I had them delivered to the local catalog store and paid cash. I still use a 1/4" socket set almost daily I purchased this way. Sad to see them go since I really don't like online shopping, and that is all that seems to be left especially in my area.
If I recall the story correctly Sears management at the time-before Eddie didn't see the need to really push internet sales. They were the giant after all. The thought was customers would just naturally come to them.
Some of Sears Auxillary departments If I remember right: * Watch Repair * Picture Framing * Optical * Hearing Aids * Photos (Olan Mills) * Auto Center * Tux Shop (partnered with Gary’s Tux Shop) * Driver Education * Merchandise Pickup / Layaway * I think one of them even had a small arcade back in the 1980s.
Created Allstate insurance Tax services Dean Whitter Investments And they owned not only financing on their own credit card but also Discover card until mid 2000s. Car rental. Sears truly had everything. The 100 yo Craftsman houses in my area look way better than these new homes with the wavy vinyl siding. I would never be able to find my house in one of these cookie cutter subdivisions. Coldwell Banker is the 1 I always forget. Anybody else found a replacement for Easy Living interior paint and Weatherbeater exterior paint?
Growing up in Southern California, the Sears at South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa had a large arcade located inside the store. It was removed in the mid 90’s. AHHHH! Memories!
Christina Cope I remember Easy Living and Weatherbeater paints being a sears brand. Not sure if they are still produced but for a replacement I would check out Dunn Edwards, Vista, Frazee, Behr, Glidden, or Sherwin Williams. I bet you could find a similar color paint in one of these.
Sears/Kmart probably has some time left due to the fact that their owner can continue to close the stores or sublet some of the retail space for 3x/4x what he is paying for it. I am guessing sometime in 2019 or 2020 they will finally be gone.
I thought about my visit last year to a Sears store (Tanforan Mall, San Bruno, CA). I was in the area, and needed to swap out a simple flat blade Craftsman screwdriver. A basic 6" screwdriver #41584 with a 1/4" blade. The store had full displays of screwdriver sets, but was void of loose screwdrivers. We asked the salesperson to help us locate the item. After he did not see it on the rack, he suggested we order the replacement screwdriver, have it shipped to the store, and offered to issue a gift card as a voucher to cover the cost. It seemed like a lot of work to replace this simple screwdriver. The Tanforan store is 36 miles from my home. I was not going to drive back up the peninsula for something that seemed like a staple item at the store. I went down the road, and stopped off at an Orchard Supply Hardware store. OSH had a full selection. I was able to successfully find the replacement, and the store manager swapped the tool immediately (Yes, I know they're closing all the OSH stores. That's another mess Sears started. It's not just blaming Lowe's for closing OSH.). I am a former employee of Sears- I worked at the Mountain View CA store in the early '80s in catalog operations. (This store had that same cool 1950s script lettering on the front of the building when I worked there.) My last major purchase from Sears was my Kenmore stove and hood fan in 2007 (from the same store). In that week in 2007, Sears stock was trading at 150.00 a share. The Mtn. View Sears closed in September 2011. A week after the closure, the complex was demolished for an upscale mixed use retail/housing development. Today, Sears stock closed at 1.27. Sears Holdings will close down soon. There's not much left to render. Eddie Lampert is finishing what he started with the merger of KMart/Sears.
Does anyone remember when they sold popcorn and nuts in the store? That is one of my better memories of Sears, that and the awesome American made Craftsman tools. RIP
The Sears in our local mall here in central NJ just closed recently. Same situation as the one in your video, the rest of the mall is always super busy (which is kind of surprising) but the Sears was always empty. All of the K-Marts around here are looong gone, Radio Shacks too.
The two remaining Sears locations in my neck of the woods(Arden Fair,Florin Towne Center fka Florin Mall)each had the vintage cursive logos at one point:The 1957-era original Arden Fair store prominently had that logo until it was replaced by the current building in 1988 as part of the mall's upscale expansion,and I wouldn't doubt it if it's the last location standing locally as Arden Fair still resembles a functioning mall.The 1967-era Florin store(surprisingly also still open considering the adjoining mall is long gone/redeveloped into an open air center and in an rough area on top of that)kept the classic logo until at least the early 1990's.For the longest time I lived closest to the very recently closed Sears in a slip-sliding-away Sunrise Mall which has been getting low-budget(in terms of inline shops)for years(I've either lived and/or worked in the area for almost my entire life);and the not even 2-decade old Roseville Galleria location that closed at the same time is already getting redeveloped considering the Galleria's swankiness.For at least the past year,my local K-mart presence has been limited to the exurbs(Stockton as well as a few Sierra Foothills locations)since their last Sacramento location(NWC Stockton/Fruitridge)closed during last year's Labor Day weekend;but my real adieu to what was once America's #1 discount store came when the Citrus Heights/Roseville location closed in the spring of 2016,and that place was showing signs of decay even before then.It would be a fluke if Sears is still operating stores a year from now without going Chapter 11.I must truly be getting old,as I never thought I'd see the days of multiple retailers I grew up with all going under at the same time.
Interestingly, there's a Sears in my local mall (which is probably THE single healthiest mall I've ever seen; it blows my mind every time I walk through it and see just how crowded it is, and how few stores are closed or empty!) -- that being the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California -- and it's... in relatively good shape! It's in a far better state of repair than the one depicted in this video, and there's always some half-decent foot traffic there, as well as a fair number of people in line whenever I decide to buy something from them (which is admittedly not often, but I walk THROUGH the Sears every weekend during my usual shopping routine, so I will occasionally stop to buy something as well). There are certainly signs that they aren't doing superbly -- they've actually eliminated their electronics section altogether, replacing it with exercise equipment -- but overall, the upkeep is quite nice, and there's always a general sense that they actually ARE putting some time, energy, and care into doing the best they can. I'll be surprised if this one closes anytime soon -- though if Sears themselves go under, I suppose it won't have much of a choice. It's interesting, though, that this extremely busy and modernized mall counts Sears, JC Penney, and two separate Macy's among its anchors, all of which seem to be doing surprisingly well, all things considered. The other newly built anchor is a Nordstrom, which is also doing well. Basically, this mall is just an anomaly, from one end to the other. It's quite fascinating to see.
I know someone who was a manager at sears for a long time. They screwed her over and messed with her retirement fund robbed her basically and just said bye and the store shut down
The kitchen nook set was also available at K Mart, and it's also available from Amazon. When I first got married my wife got one that belonged to her sister and later we gave it to our niece.
I forget what year it opened, but Sears took over two Wards stores that were always busy. The other was Arcadia Crossing. Arrowhead's mattress department toppled Metrocenter in sales as furniture has always sold well in this area.
The 1893 date confused me because I remember Sears turning 100 in 1986 when my mother worked there (she didn't by 1993). After researching, 1892 or 1893 makes sense. For them to have celebrated 100 years in 1986 was odd since it was the anniversary of a defunct predecessor company. Anyway, regardless of when it started I assume 2019 will be the end.
I work at a Sears store and honestly, I'm waiting for the day to come when we get called in for a meeting and given the announcement that the store is closing. We do pretty good with our sales goals. But it's just a matter of time. Not really wanting to start over at a new job, but I know it's inevitable.
The Renton, WA Sears store had the script logo right up until it closed in 1993. It moved to Southcenter where it replaced the vacated Fredrick & Nelson store.
The last time I was in a Sears was a few months ago (the nearest to me is 25 miles from where I live and I don't go down unless it's planned) and I didn't see the "celebrating 125 years" signage anywhere. It took them years, but they were finally shutting the Lands End outlet down in the store. They were decently staffed for a Sears, although a few registers weren't staffed at all. They had pallets of microwaves in the middle of the walkway though. It's hard to actually want to buy something in Sears, so I was only there to walk around with my best friend as customary when I visit her.
Our Sears here in Ventura got rid of their electronics section. They also have the same problem with their customer computers being dead. What really sucks is our Sears is a three story building that will be hard to fill if Sears closes. It was purpose built to be Sears when they moved from the Esplanade in Oxnard, when it closed down.
When I was a teenager in the 70's my family used to buy a lot of stuff out of the Sears catalog. We used to get one of those big Sears catalog. They just never kept up with the changing times. The last few years customer service was really bad. Hard to find someone to help you or check you out. The Sears near me closed a few months ago.
I work in a Sears in the Westmorland Mall, in Greensburg, PA. Let me tell you. I was shocked we have yet to close. I've been working there for a year and it never ceases to entertain me for how it is still running. Our computers still work, most of the time. Registers though are older than most people and have steadily become more unresponsive. My store manager harkens all about getting Credit Applications. Credit, credit, credit. I personally don't try to, only because I don't want to burden people with a credit card that they will eventually not be able to pay. I love working with my co-workers they are so great people. But the atmosphere, the dread that you know that eventually it will close, and that Sears has so many things to just *try* to bring customers back in. Those Spend $200, Get $200 back in points things you saw? They are a marketing ploy to get people to come back for over a year with usage of those Shop Your Way points.
i remember when sears were closing, i went to the restroom. scariest experience in my life. all the toilets were clogged and i had to hold it in, there was a brave old woman that went in one of them
every time I see another list of Sears closings I check for ours, how it's not on there I will never know. ours is dead no matter what time of day, I see maybe 3 employees sometimes 5 but 5 is rare
You should do the Sears in Glendale Fashion Center. It's a pretty busy Sears and looks pretty good. The elevator sound is loud but doesn't sound bad it's just a hydraulic pump. The brand of the elevator is Montgomery which is interesting if it was a Montgomery Wards. That corner table at 5:30 is at my Kmart as well. You should do a video on the Kmart it's a nice 1999 one. It's in Tucson AZ.
The local Sears in my area got cut in half. When I worked there two years ago, it was a two-story anchor building with the full product line up. I even later worked at the Miracle-Ear in the store after I was hired on by Miracle ear. I hated wokring in sears, there was never enough staff for the customers that came in. Still one of the most stressful jobs I had. Now, the sears is only a single story, and sells only their hardline products ( appliances, mattresses, tools, not even electronics anymore) and mens work clothes. That's it. Suprisingly, whne they cut the building in half, the sears actually got an interior refrehs, and looks really nice.
The Sears at Crabtree Valley Mall is going to close this month, it’s in a still very busy mall so it’s crazy they are closing. I worked there back in 2003 seasonal and it was busy all the time!
The space for most stores is dedicated to furniture, mattresses, and appliances because they have the highest margins for profit. As far as the "gimmicky" signs that you saw for clothing it's actually pretty good.Sears has one of the best rewards program out there that is worth it but not many know about it.
I worked there for 2 and a half years. I left in 2016. The escalators were always breaking and I was afraid of the elevator. There was a decent amount of customers at certain points in the year the lines were non stop. Its one of their better stores. The optical always has good business and they managed to open the portrait studio again.
I think that the credit card interest rates are doing a lot of harm to many businesses. People fall for it but it never works in the end. When I was very young, I worked for Bullocks department store in California. I remember the gimmicks used to make sales in cosmetics. I think the spiral down has been in the works for decades. Great vid ! Thanks !
Howard Stern Those really were the days ! Even with the gimmicks loved those stores ! Back then, shopping was an experience ! It was always a very special treat to buy something from the department stores. On top of that, it was a beautiful day. I loved the Bullocks Tea Room and the popovers ! Going to lunch was always a special outing with my mom !
@@psychic644 not just to the customers, the commercial loans interest payments are coming due next year. The reason Toys R Us closed, sales fine but not enough to pay that debt plus run a store. Crash is going to be hard in the next couple years, I'm afraid for us workers. But the banking industry is replacing employees too😢
The two remaining sears locations here in the Jacksonville Florida area are still hanging on.The Sears I go to most is in the Orange Park Mall and when I visited that store earlier this year it was actually fairly busy. My mom went in thee on Labor Day and she said there was a good amount of people in there. I have not been to the one in the Avenues Mall in about two years although last time I was there it seemed dead to me. We did have a sears location in the regency square mall but it closed about two years ago. It was a dying store in a dying mall. The belk at the regency square mall moved out in early 2015 and the two remaining anchors in that mall are J.C. Penneys and a Dillard's clearance center.
Used to work for sears as backroom guy, didn't like it one bit but needed the job for the time being while off summer break from college. They made me work like a horse for $10.50 unloading 1000 pieces of box off trucks with sometimes 1 or 2 guys if i was lucky. This wouldn't be bad if the boxes were on pallets but they were not. This included appliances and lawn equipment not being on pallets. Which meant I had to carry everything by hand or a two wheeler. Everyday I worked about 13 hours since they didn't bother to hire anyone to help. Eventually my sears location closed this pass summer (thank god) and they hired temps to do the dirty work. I just sat back and watched the place fall apart. They way they operated was a mess. Managers were always stressed because they were trying to save a place that was already in flames and they frequently gave away $20 sears coupons to customers they didn't feel like argueing with.
I worked at Sears for about a year last year before it shut down in Duluth. The issue with the business model is that it's dependent on reward/credit card programs. Sears didn't change with the times. Credit card sales are the main focus instead of customer service. The checkout process is designed to push credit cards continuously. Also the systems did not change with the time. Ordering is a pain. Inventory is always off and the os for the registers is 15 years old. It doesn't help the experience when the stores feel run down and the equipment doesn't work. Prices are also very high for items like tools and appliances. I was tool department and the cost for ratchets and power tools are so much more expensive than online. Sears can't keep up with the amazon/ online craze. I loved working with the people at sears because they are good people. The upper management just couldn't keep up with the world and refuse to change. This is all from my experience at least.
I always loved the Sears and JC Penney Christmas catalogs! When they switched over to internet catalogs, the sales for both stores started to fall. People still like paper catalogs and magazines. I know I like to mark pages and really study a catalog. It's great for kids toy shopping. I can't stay on the computer long now because of my eyes. .
It's honestly kinda sad to see one of my favorite department store just die, I love walking around in my local Sears. I've found great deals at Sears, hope my local one isn't set to close anytime soon
The seating I think something kinda similar was in full house. Also are you sure the escalators were broken or just shut down to save energy. The stores I have been in recently do not seem to turn theirs on anymore.
The Sears in my mall closed this winter, and my mall is about as busy as this one. I don’t give em much longer. Kinda sad they closed though because it was the only place I could park within the first three spots at the mall hahaha
dead on arrival 2019. sears didnt die. it was murdered. what do we expect for a store that overcharges on everything and sells off anything that made it different.
Prior to WWII Sears sold a home kit where you could build your own house. Too bad they couldn't bring it back as there might be a demand for it as affordable housing.
I really the build your home thing could be big. Have a TV show where people do competitions or do mods on the design. Sears can the tie in some of their other products on the home. It is a market that no one is in right now...so no competition.
I went to my local Sears and I was in the elevator with the store manager. We were talking about how hot it was in the store and he told me that the part of the store we were in didn't have a working AC unit. He said the ac units are so old they don't make parts to repair them anymore and replacing the entire unit would be too costly. Immediately I thought back to all the doomed Sears stores. I wonder if he worries about his job...
I went to sears in the Chandler mall last Saturday, complete mad house it looked like a tornado went through it! So much merch all over the ground and to add insult to injury the elevator stunk really bad! Not a pleasant experience. Everything was 70% off which is why it was so busy
Oh the memories of Sears in which Mom would take us kids shopping there or at Kmart. Both are mere shells of their former selves. It's just a matter of time before both go under. Only a few stores left. The last Sears in Chicago closed last summer.
the last sears in my area from 100 miles is closing in november 2018 all the other ones closed and 1 was demolished already. the demolished one looked like this but nicer
How much longer do you think Sear has? Also, don't forget Siesta Mall and Retail Archaeology apparel and merchandise are now available 😀
teespring.com/stores/retail-archaeology
Sears doesn't have much longer... One in Mall St. Vincent in Shreveport, LA is gone and one from the Alexandria Mall in Alexandria, LA is gone as well... I bet after January 1st it will be a wrap.
1 year until they are gone for good
It's debatable by saying they close quickly we are underestimating the stupidity of their CEO but I say after the holiday season
A few years at most, considering there isn't much blood left to drain out of Sears and K-Mart.
Sears in Canada has effectively gone the way of the dodo
This last weekend I drove to my local Sears, bought a diehard battery, and changed it int he parking lot using my American-made Craftsman tools. I'm sad that this will probably be the last time this ever happens. Sears was positioned to be the premiere internet retailer when the internet was born but they missed the boat and almost 30 years later they still haven't figured it out. Sad.
Same here, growing up we depended on Sears for virtually everything. I relied on them to provide decently-priced tools and I've always had good luck with Kenmore appliances and Diehard batteries. The local Sears Auto center isn't attached to the Sears store here, and the Sales person said that he's under the impression that if they shut down Sears locally the Sear's Auto Center will change names to the Diehard Auto Center and stay in business. I have no idea if there's any truth to that at all.
That lifetime guarantee is what made Craftsman the preferred brand of hand tools for tradesmen. Break 'em, bend 'em, you get a brand new one for free. I must have gone through hundreds of sets of sheet metal snips in my career, and never had to pay for any more than the first.
And sadly nowadays most/all Craftsman tools are made in China, so if you break it.... :-(
Yes, very sad. Sears has sold off everything of value
Haha, craftsman... every time I turn my snap-on torque wrench an eagle screeches from above
An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience... -Mitch Hedberg.
I think there has been cases of people falling down escalators and being killed because it was out of order (not moving which means you use it as regular stairs). They were expecting it to move and when it didn't it threw off their balance . And you know what that means, LAWSUIT! So they often don't let you use them in that case.
bob smith actually the steps can slip in position. Also steps are often removed during repairs. So they actually can be quite dangerous. The Sears I worked at did have problems with people falling and I witnessed something give way on the up one. Nobody was on it but there was a large bang and it screeched to a halt. However I have also noticed that Sears has been shutting down their escalators to save money.
My local sears before it closed the elevator would arrive at the second floor very violently. That was not the one I worked at the one I worked at closed several years before that one did.
I used to work for Sears many years ago, and it was during the start of their major decline. They tried so many desperate measures to rope in customers, but threw out things that people liked. Credit card deals like 0% interest or cash back slowly gave way to their gimmicky rewards card. They got away from specialized sales staff, like shoes going from having sales reps, to just being a self serve, and eventually doing away with department specific salesmen and basically everyone worked everywhere. Then they brought in the furniture and got rid of their housewares and clothes... you could just see the spiral. Very sad.. Sears is an icon in American history... u can look through old Sears catalogs and it's like a time capsule of American culture. RIP Sears.. it's a shame you couldn't keep up with the changes in modern day retail. I would like to blame it on how poorly they treated employees and management, but tbh.. that's just retail.
Great videos!! I love watching them, it's a sad, but true trip down memory lane.
Imagine if instead of Amazon for online shopping you would go on Sears' website to buy just about anything, I think that had they been able to do that they could've saved themselves
I'm sorry that was how your experience was at Sears. My dad picked up a part time job as Santa Claus and the employees were treated well, including managers were all so close, spent time with each others families. They had profit sharing, recieved decent pay and raises. At that time, Sears really did have everything plus the distribution centers could have made them Amazon. They had their own credit card which interest would go to the company. Switching to citi and forcing the employees to push that card was a mistake. The rewards program did get me some camping stuff and 2 bicycles after points from appliance replacements. The merchandise especially clothing was awful since E.L. took control. The employees wrote an epitaph around 2000 for Sears, clever but sad for dad. I truly am sorry for all those out of work. There's nowhere to work, some of these people had their whole career at Sears. And that ass attacks their pension.
I have pleasant dreams of the place occasionally especially the candy counter in that downtown store. It has been demolished for many years replacing the architecture of long ago with blandness in a dying city.
The fall of Sears is by and large due to the fat-headed CEO
JOSEPH KING you’re right when you say that’s retail, every company will come and go....heck, even Amazon will someday be the next sears
Yeah they will, they’ll be around until they run outta stores to close. The douchebag CEO is just draining it for everything its' worth.
The nickname I've heard for him is Eddie Lamprey, named after a bloodsucking jawless fish.
Vince Lamb 🤣 ohhh, that is a good one!
And of course he's blaming all of it on Sears employees pension. PBGC has been all but dismantled, an agency in name only. Because Congress will always get their pension, screw the workers.
I think the nickname “fast Eddie” that fellow RUclipsr Wallieb26 calls him, sums it up best.
@@pinball541 I like that one best. Reflects how much of a lowlife shyster he is.
I worked electronics at a Sears store for about nine months in 09. I had fun but the store was a mess. Really seems like there is virtually no strategic thinking going on. We were urged to push credit cards and protection plans because they were huge moneymakers, but even nine years ago everyone knew they were a scam. It seems like Sears never found a legitimate way to make a profit again after that bubble burst.
Sears will not be around by next Christmas. They're literally liquidating but calling it a "turnaround plan"
I don't think Sears will even survive Thanksgiving and Black Friday, let alone Western Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa.
If they're somehow still around by New Year's, I'll eat my hat. I'm surprised they've managed to survive this long. HOW? How have they not died?
@RavenTheShaman Livestream9999 If I were a chick, I wouldn't have the word "man" in my name. But yeah, Sears won't survive the end of the year, I think.
AirCooledMan2006 I'll hold you by your words. Though I certainly agree.
AirCooledMan2006 Eat your hat please.
AirCooledMan2006 Guess you gotta eat your hat somehow they're still alive lmao
One of the Sears slated for closure, University Sears in Tampa, still has the "Sears Roebuck" signage on the glass !
I was just there the other day and noticed that, too!
Hahahaha that's ancient
I think they all do in at least one of their doorways in each store.
+Manuel Mejia One of the malls about a half-hour's drive from my house has a Sears with the original Sears Roebuck signage above the doors too, complete with the money back guarantee.
If they can't afford to fix the "R" on the sign no, they wont.
you figure they could take the sign pieces from one of the 100's of stores they are closing and stick it up there
They can't afford to fix the escalator and if the elevator breaks it won't be fixed
I know someone who offered to buy an interior Kmart logo that hung over the doors from a liquidating Kmart, the liquidator and store manager flipped on him when he asked if he could buy it.. They then said that Kmart was still a valuable and functioning company and that it was not a relic to be sold when it will be repurposed at another store... Needless to say when he was done shopping there he saw the manager throwing it in a trash can behind the returns counter.
Parker C. Ingersoll I saw a comment on another Kmart video where the person was told Kmart is still much in business and still needs their signs
They have those vintage 'anniversary' Sears signs hanging in the SoCal stores too. Cute idea, but that aint gonna save the store 😢
I worked for Kmart for 1 year and Sears for another. That was in 2007-2008 and I knew they were in trouble but how long they have been holding out and shuttering along is truly amazing.
The consensus opinion is Mr. Lambert is using his hedge fund to keep draining Sears and K-Mart of "blood" as long as possible until there's nothing left but a dessicated corpse of a corporation. Which probably won't be long coming now...
Kmart never really recovered from bankruptcy and have been dead ever since
Kmart has been in decline since the late 1990s when it became basically a junk store. They let their stores look dated and the quality of their merchandise didn’t match Target or Walmart. This is what I think is killing them.
Agreed. They still use old fashioned cash registers and don't have self-checkout that Walmart and Target have. Kmart & Sears have fallen behind in technology and have not updated many of their stores. Plus Kmart's website is not as good as Walmart or Target.
Put me in charge of Sears Holdings, in place of Eddie Lampert, and they'd be top dogs under my watch. Especially Kmart. In fact, I have a plan I'd like to call the "Kmart Revitalization" plan. I can tell you about it if you want.
The Sears where I live is practically giving away money at this point with the amount of sales and money-back deals they have. Nobody is ever in the store, not even a few people, and they only ever have one single worker manning the entire place. Most of the dressing rooms are broken and desolate, already looking abandoned despite the store not being closed quite yet. The shelves are barren and they’ve removed a lot of sections, very post-apocalyptically. It’s obviously on its way out, which is sad to see happen.
Reverend TOS Ironically, I also live in Upstate NY. I’m talking about the one in Watertown.
Sears will always be a childhood memory for me in the late 70's and into the 80's as it was the store for everything that my family needed that I can I can remember growing up with during that time. Whether is for back to school shopping, new appliances for the kitchen, new living room television, Atari/Atari games, toys, bikes, tools, new tires for the family car, etc., it will always have a place in my heart for all those trips as a youth with my mother or father. The Sears I grew up with actually closed many years ago when they moved to their new location in the next town over at the local big mall in my area. While that Sears is still open and operating currently, it's a sad sight and a far cry from what I remember as a child and even as a young adult as is a number of them that I've visited in my state recently. It was actually very depressing to me to see this once great franchise that I have so many fond memories of fall to this level, but sadly that seems to be a trend with many of these once great stores.
On the upside, Sears is a great place to shop for clothes, if you can find what you want. The sales are up to 80% off! I was able to buy a boatload of pretty nice lounge clothing for under $20.
Benaiah Sampson Benker Not for clothing to be worn outside, but they do have some cheap PJs and gym clothes sometimes!
The markup on softlines (clothing and bedding) is usually between 100% and 400%.
If you can find something good for sale there, then yes. A few years ago I was surprised I found a really funny t-shirt there at a Sears, and I swear that must've been my first purchase at a Sears in probably like 10-15 years. The weird thing to think about, is that ONLY earlier this week(1st week of October 2018), it was announced that the Golf Mill Mall(Niles, IL) Sears will shut down soon. I do wonder with that mall having a walk-through anchor between both halves of that mall if they'll build a tunnel between both halves of that mall going through a former anchor(like Brickyard Mall in Chicago did after JCPenney closed), or if they'll just decide to demolish the unrenovated north hallway and make all the anchors up there(Value City Furniture, Kohl's, and Target) standalone? And of course I've always quietly wondered for years if the Golf Mill Target would eventually close in one of that company's annual rounds of 8-10 stores closing a year, considering it's smaller in size than other surrounding Target stores. Maybe that store isn't going anywhere, since for whatever reason it has kept managing to survive in the shadow of a Super Walmart. And considering that a short lived Meijer just west of there and the Super Walmart, only lasted for something like 2-3(?) years. I still miss that Meijer store, myself...
The Sears at Stonebrier Centre in Frisco, Texas is basically like this one. Storebrier is a very busy mall and the Sears also very well maintain is the least busiest.
Sears needs a complete makeover (new merchandise , store remodeling, new market focus, and new advertising campaigns) to survive. Don’t think they will be able to pull this off. It is a tired brand that was run into the ground.
Way too late for that now.
If they have the most amazing holiday season in the history of retail, they can not make it. Their debts and cost structure far exceed any possible sales they could pull off.
The Sears at International Mall in Miami, is set to close by November. That place has been there for over 40 years. And it is usually very busy.
Ah, but Miami real estate is pricey for Evil Eddie to profit on. What's his house in the bay worth, $40mil
Robert Landa bb
Once again, great video. I'd say Sears has about a year left before they start getting dangerously low on stores to close. We've been saying for years that "this is the last year" but here we are today. It seems strange how Sears decides what stores are the least profitable. I recently found out my local Sears is closing, as well as one other near me. Both of those are located at very busy malls, and while I've only been to the one closest to me, it was way busier than the Sears shown in his video. I can only imagine how scary it must be for Sears store owners and employees not knowing when they wake up the next day if they have a job.
Funny thing is, they closed the ones closest to Pittsburgh, but if you want to go to Sears now you either have to travel 40miles south to Washington, PA or 40 Miles East to Greensburg, PA.
Nothing is close to where the shoppers are anymore.
if I was working for Sears, I wouldn't be waiting for that fateful day. I'd be pumping out resumes as fast as I could print, email and fax them.
Curious if they owned or held a very long ground lease on the real estate at those very busy malls. Maybe the dirt is worth more than the sales Sears can generate on it.
Patrick P Good point
Shame, but looks like Sears stores are locked in a death spiral.
That was Evil Eddie's real life Ayn Rand experiment. Others are copying him since he's been so "successful".
Including the half-vacant Sears store at Deptford mall (N J) in spite of it being an otherwise thriving shopping mall. And the Kmart in Glassboro (only 1 of 2 remaining Kmarts in south Jersey) is a total joke!!!! Slow service, and it only seems that college kids work there, yet I hardly think college kids can afford the prices on things there. (I'm sure it would be cheaper for them to ride the bus to Walmart in Turnersville and STILL come out ahead!!!) I'm FLABBERGASTED that Walmart hasn't opened up a store in Glassboro yet.
Who's watching this in 2023? I think "SEA S" has successfully made it to 130 years. Just not where I live, where they closed. I got my Covid-19 booster in late 2021 in the remnants of the closed Sears, and I could still remember quite a bit of what the store was like when it was still a Sears. Fun times? D:
5:40 looks like restaurant seating.
7:38: "Sure was nice of the Princess to invite us over for a picnic, eh, Luigi?" "MAH BOI...!"
Your videos are really amazing. I've been taking a good look at the dying malls here in Florida, as I am not only inspired by your work but I recently leased space in a dying mall for my business. What an awful experience, and I'm sad to see how much of a huge problem this is across the country, too. It's next to impossible for small business owners to get a foothold anywhere and be a success.
I get a "Family Ties" or "Alf" vibe from that furniture.
Roseanne or the Cosby Show would have had that furniture too
YES FAMILY TIES KITCHEN!
Family Ties came to mind when he mentioned the 80's kitchen nook.
Family Ties used a chair and table format, but the table was in a "corner" to give that illusion.
I believe the fate of Sears is on a collision course, and has been for a number of years, with imminent closure. Sad to see but times have changed.....and not necessarily for the better. The vintage signs are great but makes little difference now. Thanks for your work in keeping a video history for what will soon be gone and forgotten.
I think a few will last beyond Xmas. But I don't think any will last beyond 2019. Sears is basically an almost dead fish in the water.
Why wait when you can put Sears Holdings out of its misery and be done with it? They failed to see the future happening around them and it's too late now. If they'd seized that opportunity, they could have taken up the niche Amazon fills now.
It's a corpse on life support.
That is interesting because the same thing is happening at a big mall not far from where I live. Every time I go into that Sears store, there are not very many people in it at all or no one in this Sears stores. It's really sad to see companies like Sears and Kmart struggling to stay open. I will be amazing if Sears will continue on into the future with the state that this company is in. I will be shocked if Sears makes it through the end of this year.
That kind of seating was in the movie E.T.
Thats where I remember that ! Lol
Ha ET phone home! Good call love that movie Elliott!lol
This Sears reminds me a little of the Sears at Park Place Mall. That Mall was very busy and look what happened, Sears still closed that store.
As far as how much longer Sears has, then maybe(being very generous) they could make it to 2020, but that's it.
You, Ace’s Adventures and Dan Bell are the absolute best at dead mall/stores. Great work
I know they didn't have a table like that in Roseanne but see it just made me think of that show. Seems like something they would buy.
Put a fork in Sears and Kmart, they're done. Well done
IMO they should kill of kmart brand and convert all the kmart stores into sears stores.
I'm glad that Stanley bought the Craftsman line.
I have a ton of their power and hand tools, which are still good quality for the DIY user
Just heard on radio📻Bloomberg was told by Sears spokesman:Sears could go out of business anytime now,are bleeding cash.💸💸💸💸
I won't be surprised.
But Evil Eddie has all the cash, he never intended to save Sears. He wanted to destroy it while enriching himself since the beginning. Why else would he have combined bankrupt K-Mart with Sears? "Loaned" them cash out of his equity fund and taken their real estate. He is studied in business class.
There will be no justice for what he's done to an iconic American company. He will be copied by others. Those employees, shareholders who got hurt are of no consequence to him or his type. And consumers lose another choice of retailers.
Maybe with all these big abandoned buildings the homeless could have shelter. Not.
sear stock is $1.01 now
@@shermanfreeman1 that's awful. Sears may not make it for Black Friday sales. Where would they get the merchandise for the "thriving" stores, hmmm.
Seems like it should be a crime to do what Eddie's been doing.
The Motorola logo made me reminisce about my black Motorola RAZR with its little puff ball phone charm dangling down. Good times. I do think Sears is the next to go. Makes you wonder what they would put in its place though at that mall. Please not another Spirit Halloween store 😫
The two successor companies to the original Motorola (which split apart in 2011) still use that logo today.
Gordon Taylor I didn’t know that. Really cool. Thank you!
No, it's going to a new Spirit Christmas Days store for 2019... prototype!
Nah, the property is too big. I can see the option of a fitness center and retail combination.
When Sears closed last year here in Canada, a mall near me that had one turned into an Urban Planet.
There might not be an obvious sign that the Sears used to be a Montgomery Ward, but that scary elevator you were in is a Montgomery elevator! Montgomery Elevator Company went defunct in 1994, so that elevator was most likely the original elevator from when the store opened! Which is probably why it sounded bad.
Hi there it’s been a while since I’ve watched one of your videos. As far as time wise I’m not sure. As a sears employee I know them at Eddie Lambert our CEO is trying to buy most of the remaining assets. As well he is still trying to funnel money from “seritage growth properties” and “ESL increments” in to sears holdings. The store I work for is closing. The interesting thing is our store is not closing due to performance, our store has done wonders including some of the highest sales numbers for the company for example one week prior to our closure anounment our sales were up 9% year to date. The other odd thing is most of those customers were new to sears (people under the age of 30). If Sears is closing a very profitable store I would asume the brick and mortar stores are done for the most part.
Hey Nate, aren't you from the store in Utah? I'm sorry about this and can't believe the company is leaving the state entirely.
The market there is pretty healthy so I hope you find a good job somewhere. Try Harmon's? Local family owned company. :)
There is always something I was an entry level manager there. So I’m hoping to find somewhere that will start where I kind of left off Home Depot offered me a similar position. But nonetheless I appreciate your support and welcome all the advice I can get. Sears just so you know is expanding its warehouse network. It seems like they are going to operate online only if they close all remaining stores.
the Sears in a mall near me was on the list of closing Sears and just closed at the end of August
Yet the one all by itself that is mostly devoid of people whenever I'm in there and there is almost nothing in the area around it except a Kroger across the street (next to the Sears used to be a strip mall, which has been torn down in the past year), they say is going to be one of the last ones to close wtf
Evil Eddie hasn't found a buyer yet?
@@christinacope562 nope
Cheaper lease
You must be in the Detroit area? Guessing you’re referring to Fairlane closing and Lincoln Park staying open...
@@michaelryan55 yep
Most sears stores are getting toys in for the 2018 holiday season this year, all those toys are new merchandise they just haven't finished creating the displays yet
Sears has closed a handful of stores where I live around the Houston, TX area with another one closing in the Memorial City Mall in Houston in November which is actually a very busy mall.
The Sears where I live seems to be doing well. Although it is very small, and mostly sells appliances and yard equipment.
That sounds like a Hometown Store, technically a different company.
My local Sears is like this. Very little people use it. Even driving by the parking lot. Its always almost empty. Other then the car mechanic part of the store.
Same and mine is supposedly going to be one of the last to close
I remember shopping as a kid with my mom at a standalone Sears with the old logo on the outside of the building. The building got demolished back in the 90s.
I haven’t been in a Sears since 2008. It was a ghost town then. Surprised that any are still open now. 👻
There is a very successful mall by my house and oddly enough, they are completely remodeling the Sears there. Im excited to see how they've modernized it after it re-opens again.
My grandfather was a Sears tv repairman in the late 60 & 70s. He drove around a mint green Sears van.
I have a small hand painted replica of the van in my china cabinet and will forever cherish it. My grandfather was always in the garage tinkering with radios and repairing equipment. He was also a WWII army veteran. He was a staff sergeant and was part of the Battle of the Bulge. He saw horrible things and never spoke of his experiences during the war. Can’t imagine what that must have been like. He was a wonderful man, a hardworking family man.
I would've bough that corner/alcove/wall table set. It had possibilities. And it was on clearance!
How this Sears shop can have a full inventory and no customers is just astonishing.
If most Sears are like this, the company will croak a little after Christmas -- just in time for Lampert to drink the last drop of blood from the company's throat.
Been a while since I have visited a Sears but this video shows me that not much has changed. Since the 2000s I have felt depressed being inside of a Sears store. Barely stocked shelves, merchandise sloppily laid out, empty departments where you have to search for an employee to get any help, non-functioning computers. It's like the management just doesn't care. When I managed a little store we took pride in keeping it clean and merchandise attractively stocked. It was like if you came into our store you were visiting our house and we wanted it to look nice. I am sure the Sears employees just don't get enough hours to properly care for the store which in turn makes it a sad experience for the customers.
Speaking of the closure list for Sears, the local Sears in my city's mall is on the closure list. And the interesting thing is Sears owns the space the store is in, so once they're gone the mall won't be able to do anything with it. it'll just sit empty. Maybe some day soon I'll go to the mall and record some footage at that the Sears.
And who knows maybe I'll put the footage up on my channel or something.
That's why Evil Eddie went adter Sears. They owned the land they sit on in most places, now E.L. does. If you manage to get in and record, I'd watch it. May look like one that I went in as a child with cool art deco lighting and stuff(demolished).
@@christinacope562 I have sometime off this weekend from work & school so I'll try to record some footage. I was actually talking with my boss about the Sears here because she previously worked for Sears. She was telling me how Eddie had this grand plan of buying Amazon and Sears becoming giant show rooms for products from Amazon. And the thing about the Sears here, you'll be lucky if the employees even speak to you.
@@React2Quick it just may be those of us who can, will be the ones to record the fall of these places. Kind of a chronicle of history. I've talked to old ones who said they wish younger people could see what was in the area before being demolished. We have the technology in our pockets now. There's interest or so many wouldn't be watching these videos.
As to the former employee, she may have worked there in it's heyday before Eddie came in 2005 to destroy the company for his gain. The company used to treat their employees great. Today, they look like waiting for their funeral, they know it's just a matter of time. Good luck!
@@christinacope562 honestly the employees look miserable tbh
@@React2Quick I know.
Yeah, my favorite thing about Sears back in the 90s was how you could play video games set up in the store.
Sears- Sad enough where I can’t come up with a slogan
Two of our local Sears just closed. And we missed all of the clearance sales, and I don’t regret it.
Probably moved it to another store anyways. Was eyeing a kayak, not cheap so after the closing announcement I went to get it. Not there. Employees were moving out stuff not to be liquidated, they said the best quality merchandise. I truly felt bad for them, they thought they were safe due to their numbers. Goung to miss some of those familiar faces.
I visited some of the liquidation sales, and left empty handed. Prices were jacked up, compared to the Sears.com prices for same item, or, just in general, like 65.00 for a Rosetti handbag that normally sells for 24.00.
The sears in my town is having liquidation sale yet everything is still very expensive. I also didn't buy anything.
Sears should have been able to take off with internet sales easily back in the day. The only difference between catalog and internet sales is how the order is entered into their system.
When I was a kid I ordered tools from Sears on Prodigy. Since I didn't have a credit card or checking account, I had them delivered to the local catalog store and paid cash. I still use a 1/4" socket set almost daily I purchased this way.
Sad to see them go since I really don't like online shopping, and that is all that seems to be left especially in my area.
If I recall the story correctly Sears management at the time-before Eddie didn't see the need to really push internet sales. They were the giant after all. The thought was customers would just naturally come to them.
Some of Sears Auxillary departments If I remember right:
* Watch Repair
* Picture Framing
* Optical
* Hearing Aids
* Photos (Olan Mills)
* Auto Center
* Tux Shop (partnered with Gary’s Tux Shop)
* Driver Education
* Merchandise Pickup / Layaway
* I think one of them even had a small arcade back in the 1980s.
Stephen Hinkle Honestly I thought that's the coolest part of Sears. The stores-inside-a-store concept always fascinates me for some reason.
Created Allstate insurance
Tax services
Dean Whitter Investments
And they owned not only financing on their own credit card but also Discover card until mid 2000s.
Car rental.
Sears truly had everything. The 100 yo Craftsman houses in my area look way better than these new homes with the wavy vinyl siding. I would never be able to find my house in one of these cookie cutter subdivisions.
Coldwell Banker is the 1 I always forget.
Anybody else found a replacement for Easy Living interior paint and Weatherbeater exterior paint?
Growing up in Southern California, the Sears at South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa had a large arcade located inside the store. It was removed in the mid 90’s. AHHHH! Memories!
H & R Block, Discover Financial and more!
Christina Cope I remember Easy Living and Weatherbeater paints being a sears brand. Not sure if they are still produced but for a replacement I would check out Dunn Edwards, Vista, Frazee, Behr, Glidden, or Sherwin Williams. I bet you could find a similar color paint in one of these.
Sears/Kmart probably has some time left due to the fact that their owner can continue to close the stores or sublet some of the retail space for 3x/4x what he is paying for it. I am guessing sometime in 2019 or 2020 they will finally be gone.
I thought about my visit last year to a Sears store (Tanforan Mall, San Bruno, CA). I was in the area, and needed to swap out a simple flat blade Craftsman screwdriver. A basic 6" screwdriver #41584 with a 1/4" blade. The store had full displays of screwdriver sets, but was void of loose screwdrivers. We asked the salesperson to help us locate the item. After he did not see it on the rack, he suggested we order the replacement screwdriver, have it shipped to the store, and offered to issue a gift card as a voucher to cover the cost.
It seemed like a lot of work to replace this simple screwdriver. The Tanforan store is 36 miles from my home. I was not going to drive back up the peninsula for something that seemed like a staple item at the store. I went down the road, and stopped off at an Orchard Supply Hardware store. OSH had a full selection. I was able to successfully find the replacement, and the store manager swapped the tool immediately (Yes, I know they're closing all the OSH stores. That's another mess Sears started. It's not just blaming Lowe's for closing OSH.).
I am a former employee of Sears- I worked at the Mountain View CA store in the early '80s in catalog operations. (This store had that same cool 1950s script lettering on the front of the building when I worked there.) My last major purchase from Sears was my Kenmore stove and hood fan in 2007 (from the same store). In that week in 2007, Sears stock was trading at 150.00 a share. The Mtn. View Sears closed in September 2011. A week after the closure, the complex was demolished for an upscale mixed use retail/housing development.
Today, Sears stock closed at 1.27.
Sears Holdings will close down soon. There's not much left to render.
Eddie Lampert is finishing what he started with the merger of KMart/Sears.
Does anyone remember when they sold popcorn and nuts in the store? That is one of my better memories of Sears, that and the awesome American made Craftsman tools. RIP
The Sears in our local mall here in central NJ just closed recently. Same situation as the one in your video, the rest of the mall is always super busy (which is kind of surprising) but the Sears was always empty. All of the K-Marts around here are looong gone, Radio Shacks too.
The two remaining Sears locations in my neck of the woods(Arden Fair,Florin Towne Center fka Florin Mall)each had the vintage cursive logos at one point:The 1957-era original Arden Fair store prominently had that logo until it was replaced by the current building in 1988 as part of the mall's upscale expansion,and I wouldn't doubt it if it's the last location standing locally as Arden Fair still resembles a functioning mall.The 1967-era Florin store(surprisingly also still open considering the adjoining mall is long gone/redeveloped into an open air center and in an rough area on top of that)kept the classic logo until at least the early 1990's.For the longest time I lived closest to the very recently closed Sears in a slip-sliding-away Sunrise Mall which has been getting low-budget(in terms of inline shops)for years(I've either lived and/or worked in the area for almost my entire life);and the not even 2-decade old Roseville Galleria location that closed at the same time is already getting redeveloped considering the Galleria's swankiness.For at least the past year,my local K-mart presence has been limited to the exurbs(Stockton as well as a few Sierra Foothills locations)since their last Sacramento location(NWC Stockton/Fruitridge)closed during last year's Labor Day weekend;but my real adieu to what was once America's #1 discount store came when the Citrus Heights/Roseville location closed in the spring of 2016,and that place was showing signs of decay even before then.It would be a fluke if Sears is still operating stores a year from now without going Chapter 11.I must truly be getting old,as I never thought I'd see the days of multiple retailers I grew up with all going under at the same time.
Interestingly, there's a Sears in my local mall (which is probably THE single healthiest mall I've ever seen; it blows my mind every time I walk through it and see just how crowded it is, and how few stores are closed or empty!) -- that being the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California -- and it's... in relatively good shape! It's in a far better state of repair than the one depicted in this video, and there's always some half-decent foot traffic there, as well as a fair number of people in line whenever I decide to buy something from them (which is admittedly not often, but I walk THROUGH the Sears every weekend during my usual shopping routine, so I will occasionally stop to buy something as well). There are certainly signs that they aren't doing superbly -- they've actually eliminated their electronics section altogether, replacing it with exercise equipment -- but overall, the upkeep is quite nice, and there's always a general sense that they actually ARE putting some time, energy, and care into doing the best they can. I'll be surprised if this one closes anytime soon -- though if Sears themselves go under, I suppose it won't have much of a choice.
It's interesting, though, that this extremely busy and modernized mall counts Sears, JC Penney, and two separate Macy's among its anchors, all of which seem to be doing surprisingly well, all things considered. The other newly built anchor is a Nordstrom, which is also doing well.
Basically, this mall is just an anomaly, from one end to the other. It's quite fascinating to see.
I really miss Wards and the old Sears as well. Catalogs at Christmas were great! I'm sort of shocked Sears is still going.
I know someone who was a manager at sears for a long time. They screwed her over and messed with her retirement fund robbed her basically and just said bye and the store shut down
The kitchen nook set was also available at K Mart, and it's also available from Amazon. When I first got married my wife got one that belonged to her sister and later we gave it to our niece.
I loved Montgomery Wards. I remember all the free gifts they use to give. Like radios, emergency lights, small tool kits, etc.
I forget what year it opened, but Sears took over two Wards stores that were always busy. The other was Arcadia Crossing. Arrowhead's mattress department toppled Metrocenter in sales as furniture has always sold well in this area.
The 1893 date confused me because I remember Sears turning 100 in 1986 when my mother worked there (she didn't by 1993).
After researching, 1892 or 1893 makes sense. For them to have celebrated 100 years in 1986 was odd since it was the anniversary of a defunct predecessor company. Anyway, regardless of when it started I assume 2019 will be the end.
I work at a Sears store and honestly, I'm waiting for the day to come when we get called in for a meeting and given the announcement that the store is closing. We do pretty good with our sales goals. But it's just a matter of time. Not really wanting to start over at a new job, but I know it's inevitable.
The Renton, WA Sears store had the script logo right up until it closed in 1993. It moved to Southcenter where it replaced the vacated Fredrick & Nelson store.
The elevator sounds like a microwave
i would not trust riding in that elevator. In fact, I would not be surprised if some poor soul(s) got stuck in it in the near future...
Gordon Taylor
Reminded me of that dude that got stuck in a chimney and they only found his mummified corpse hundreds of years later.
Anna Fellows That's just the Hydraulic Elevator Motor
The last time I was in a Sears was a few months ago (the nearest to me is 25 miles from where I live and I don't go down unless it's planned) and I didn't see the "celebrating 125 years" signage anywhere. It took them years, but they were finally shutting the Lands End outlet down in the store. They were decently staffed for a Sears, although a few registers weren't staffed at all. They had pallets of microwaves in the middle of the walkway though. It's hard to actually want to buy something in Sears, so I was only there to walk around with my best friend as customary when I visit her.
I used to go to the Sears portrait studio back in the day. It closed about 10 years ago. Amazingly the store itself is still open today
Our Sears here in Ventura got rid of their electronics section. They also have the same problem with their customer computers being dead. What really sucks is our Sears is a three story building that will be hard to fill if Sears closes. It was purpose built to be Sears when they moved from the Esplanade in Oxnard, when it closed down.
When I was a teenager in the 70's my family used to buy a lot of stuff out of the Sears catalog. We used to get one of those big Sears catalog. They just never kept up with the changing times. The last few years customer service was really bad. Hard to find someone to help you or check you out. The Sears near me closed a few months ago.
I work in a Sears in the Westmorland Mall, in Greensburg, PA. Let me tell you. I was shocked we have yet to close. I've been working there for a year and it never ceases to entertain me for how it is still running. Our computers still work, most of the time. Registers though are older than most people and have steadily become more unresponsive. My store manager harkens all about getting Credit Applications. Credit, credit, credit. I personally don't try to, only because I don't want to burden people with a credit card that they will eventually not be able to pay. I love working with my co-workers they are so great people. But the atmosphere, the dread that you know that eventually it will close, and that Sears has so many things to just *try* to bring customers back in. Those Spend $200, Get $200 back in points things you saw? They are a marketing ploy to get people to come back for over a year with usage of those Shop Your Way points.
i remember when sears were closing, i went to the restroom. scariest experience in my life. all the toilets were clogged and i had to hold it in, there was a brave old woman that went in one of them
every time I see another list of Sears closings I check for ours, how it's not on there I will never know. ours is dead no matter what time of day, I see maybe 3 employees sometimes 5 but 5 is rare
Same with the one at Sunrise Mall
He must not think he can sell those yet. Some that are very busy are closed because of the demand for the real estate.
You should do the Sears in Glendale Fashion Center. It's a pretty busy Sears and looks pretty good. The elevator sound is loud but doesn't sound bad it's just a hydraulic pump. The brand of the elevator is Montgomery which is interesting if it was a Montgomery Wards. That corner table at 5:30 is at my Kmart as well. You should do a video on the Kmart it's a nice 1999 one. It's in Tucson AZ.
The local Sears in my area got cut in half. When I worked there two years ago, it was a two-story anchor building with the full product line up. I even later worked at the Miracle-Ear in the store after I was hired on by Miracle ear.
I hated wokring in sears, there was never enough staff for the customers that came in. Still one of the most stressful jobs I had.
Now, the sears is only a single story, and sells only their hardline products ( appliances, mattresses, tools, not even electronics anymore) and mens work clothes. That's it.
Suprisingly, whne they cut the building in half, the sears actually got an interior refrehs, and looks really nice.
The Sears at Crabtree Valley Mall is going to close this month, it’s in a still very busy mall so it’s crazy they are closing. I worked there back in 2003 seasonal and it was busy all the time!
The space for most stores is dedicated to furniture, mattresses, and appliances because they have the highest margins for profit. As far as the "gimmicky" signs that you saw for clothing it's actually pretty good.Sears has one of the best rewards program out there that is worth it but not many know about it.
I worked there for 2 and a half years. I left in 2016. The escalators were always breaking and I was afraid of the elevator. There was a decent amount of customers at certain points in the year the lines were non stop. Its one of their better stores. The optical always has good business and they managed to open the portrait studio again.
I think that the credit card interest rates are doing a lot of harm to many businesses. People fall for it but it never works in the end. When I was very young, I worked for Bullocks department store in California. I remember the gimmicks used to make sales in cosmetics. I think the spiral down has been in the works for decades. Great vid ! Thanks !
Once jobs moved overseas, the people stopped spending money
Yes, you are right on ! I know more people who are now unemployed for that reason !
Cynthia Greer Wow I remember Bullocks the Broadway the May Company the C&R the Robinsons May to name a few.
Howard Stern Those really were the days ! Even with the gimmicks loved those stores ! Back then, shopping was an experience ! It was always a very special treat to buy something from the department stores. On top of that, it was a beautiful day. I loved the Bullocks Tea Room and the popovers ! Going to lunch was always a special outing with my mom !
@@psychic644 not just to the customers, the commercial loans interest payments are coming due next year. The reason Toys R Us closed, sales fine but not enough to pay that debt plus run a store.
Crash is going to be hard in the next couple years, I'm afraid for us workers. But the banking industry is replacing employees too😢
That 80s bench seating table was actually at my local Kmart that FINALLY shut down a few years ago
The two remaining sears locations here in the Jacksonville Florida area are still hanging on.The Sears I go to most is in the Orange Park Mall and when I visited that store earlier this year it was actually fairly busy. My mom went in thee on Labor Day and she said there was a good amount of people in there. I have not been to the one in the Avenues Mall in about two years although last time I was there it seemed dead to me. We did have a sears location in the regency square mall but it closed about two years ago. It was a dying store in a dying mall. The belk at the regency square mall moved out in early 2015 and the two remaining anchors in that mall are J.C. Penneys and a Dillard's clearance center.
Used to work for sears as backroom guy, didn't like it one bit but needed the job for the time being while off summer break from college. They made me work like a horse for $10.50 unloading 1000 pieces of box off trucks with sometimes 1 or 2 guys if i was lucky. This wouldn't be bad if the boxes were on pallets but they were not. This included appliances and lawn equipment not being on pallets. Which meant I had to carry everything by hand or a two wheeler. Everyday I worked about 13 hours since they didn't bother to hire anyone to help. Eventually my sears location closed this pass summer (thank god) and they hired temps to do the dirty work. I just sat back and watched the place fall apart. They way they operated was a mess. Managers were always stressed because they were trying to save a place that was already in flames and they frequently gave away $20 sears coupons to customers they didn't feel like argueing with.
Our Sears and sears autocenter closed recently. Our mall has lost macy's and now sears, yet JC Penny and Dillards are ALWAYS packed.
I worked at Sears for about a year last year before it shut down in Duluth. The issue with the business model is that it's dependent on reward/credit card programs. Sears didn't change with the times. Credit card sales are the main focus instead of customer service. The checkout process is designed to push credit cards continuously. Also the systems did not change with the time. Ordering is a pain. Inventory is always off and the os for the registers is 15 years old. It doesn't help the experience when the stores feel run down and the equipment doesn't work. Prices are also very high for items like tools and appliances. I was tool department and the cost for ratchets and power tools are so much more expensive than online. Sears can't keep up with the amazon/ online craze. I loved working with the people at sears because they are good people. The upper management just couldn't keep up with the world and refuse to change. This is all from my experience at least.
For some reason that old jingle popped in my head: Come see the softer side of Sears.
The Gurnee Mills Sears grand was like this too. The mall is pretty busy but the Sears was always dead.
I always loved the Sears and JC Penney Christmas catalogs! When they switched over to internet catalogs, the sales for both stores started to fall. People still like paper catalogs and magazines. I know I like to mark pages and really study a catalog. It's great for kids toy shopping. I can't stay on the computer long now because of my eyes. .
Very informative along with the nice stabilization!
It's honestly kinda sad to see one of my favorite department store just die, I love walking around in my local Sears. I've found great deals at Sears, hope my local one isn't set to close anytime soon
The seating I think something kinda similar was in full house. Also are you sure the escalators were broken or just shut down to save energy. The stores I have been in recently do not seem to turn theirs on anymore.
The Sears in my mall closed this winter, and my mall is about as busy as this one. I don’t give em much longer. Kinda sad they closed though because it was the only place I could park within the first three spots at the mall hahaha
dead on arrival 2019. sears didnt die. it was murdered.
what do we expect for a store that overcharges on everything and sells off anything that made it different.
Our Sears closed and the mall it was attached to is on its last leg, the other huge mall down the road thrives like crazy
Hard to believe Sears started as a Train Station Mail-Order depot (Sears-Roebuck)
Prior to WWII Sears sold a home kit where you could build your own house. Too bad they couldn't bring it back as there might be a demand for it as affordable housing.
@@jc1979af they sure had quality compared to what's built now. Most still standing in great condition. Maybe the tiny house market now?
I really the build your home thing could be big. Have a TV show where people do competitions or do mods on the design. Sears can the tie in some of their other products on the home. It is a market that no one is in right now...so no competition.
James Carpenter I remember Bob Villa in Sears commercials
@@TrainmasterCurt wow! Forgot all about those, wonder what old Bob Villa does now.
I went to my local Sears and I was in the elevator with the store manager. We were talking about how hot it was in the store and he told me that the part of the store we were in didn't have a working AC unit. He said the ac units are so old they don't make parts to repair them anymore and replacing the entire unit would be too costly. Immediately I thought back to all the doomed Sears stores. I wonder if he worries about his job...
The sears near me at the gateway mall in Springfield Oregon closed a couple years ago. I’m pretty sure it’s still sitting vacant.
I went to sears in the Chandler mall last Saturday, complete mad house it looked like a tornado went through it! So much merch all over the ground and to add insult to injury the elevator stunk really bad! Not a pleasant experience. Everything was 70% off which is why it was so busy
Growing pains had that wood corner bench and table set
Oh the memories of Sears in which Mom would take us kids shopping there or at Kmart. Both are mere shells of their former selves. It's just a matter of time before both go under. Only a few stores left. The last Sears in Chicago closed last summer.
the last sears in my area from 100 miles is closing in november 2018 all the other ones closed and 1 was demolished already. the demolished one looked like this but nicer