Abandoned - Sears

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  • Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
  • After over 130 years of business, today I am looking at one of the most iconic and prolific retailers in history. A corporation which grew from a small mail order business in Chicago, to pioneering modern retail and what is now known as the "big box store" as well as shopping malls. It became one of the worlds largest companies and brands... all until its rapid and public decline. Leaving hundreds of abandoned stores and leaving a huge mark in retail. This is Sears.
    Watch the entire Abandoned series - • Abandoned
    Patreon - www.patreon.co...
    The BSF Podcast - bit.ly/2GzeDGO
    Twitter - / brightsunfilms
    Instagram - / brightsunfilms
    --------------
    BrightSunFilms 2019
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Комментарии • 7 тыс.

  • @notorious_majora
    @notorious_majora 4 года назад +5161

    I worked for Sears till about a month ago. There was days when literally no one came in, easiest job I've ever had. Needless to say we closed

    • @phxmaster9684
      @phxmaster9684 4 года назад +101

      Corey Christensen you get an F in the chat

    • @eddiew2325
      @eddiew2325 4 года назад +65

      Corey Christensen Corey I would’ve bought an item just for you. Will you marry me?

    • @paisenpaisen
      @paisenpaisen 4 года назад +151

      Eddie W damn thirsty

    • @christinestange4813
      @christinestange4813 4 года назад +98

      I visited the Sears in Niagara Falls, NY several years ago. The employees were ' hanging on' ... but they knew the end was near .... so sad 😞 It lead to the closure of the store and the entire mall 😢

    • @Deathbyreality1
      @Deathbyreality1 4 года назад +43

      @@eddiew2325 If this isnt internet cringe idk what is.

  • @mariekatherine5238
    @mariekatherine5238 4 года назад +2937

    My Dad had a saying back in the late 40s, “If it’s not in the Sears catalogue, I don’t need it.” They were the Amazon for most of the 20th century.

    • @graygravity3856
      @graygravity3856 4 года назад +32

      Your father? Back in the late 40s? So he's over 80 yrs old?

    • @champkind6877
      @champkind6877 4 года назад +324

      @@graygravity3856 How is it a surprise for you that people are in their 80's? It's not the medieval ages anymore.

    • @faizaliqbal2284
      @faizaliqbal2284 4 года назад +69

      @@mariekatherine5238 Send my wishes to his birthday alright? What a Legend!

    • @yalepelchat6613
      @yalepelchat6613 4 года назад +5

      Champ Kind maybe shut up and be kind.

    • @plum2843
      @plum2843 4 года назад +8

      Marie Katherine wow! Happy late birthday to your father! 🥳🎉🍰🎂

  • @jacksonmoore26
    @jacksonmoore26 4 года назад +3852

    It’s kind of crazy that Sears that started as a mail order business is being put out a business by Amazon which is basically mail order

    • @aday1637
      @aday1637 4 года назад +120

      Exactly. Stupid Sears.

    • @markegipto1462
      @markegipto1462 4 года назад +160

      The irony

    • @Lauren_210
      @Lauren_210 4 года назад +204

      Things come in a full circle. Weird.

    • @MooseCall
      @MooseCall 4 года назад +34

      @@aday1637 stupid amazon.

    • @MrJoeyDude
      @MrJoeyDude 4 года назад +174

      And Amazon will then build brick and mortar stores repeating the cycle

  • @veganleans7500
    @veganleans7500 2 года назад +542

    Both of my parents met at Sears during the 1990s. My mother had worked for retail, while my father worker in automotive. Sears is the reason I exist, this store chain is like a parent to me. It is sad to see it die.

  • @btchnotme1587
    @btchnotme1587 4 года назад +2273

    I once heard a story about a Sears executive in the mid 1990’s that actually wanted to move their catalog business online and get in front of the internet boom that eventually happened. Instead of being proactive about it, they fired him. It’s like they were destined to fail.

    • @JoeStuffz
      @JoeStuffz 4 года назад +63

      I would love to know what happened to him. It would be amazing if he ended up at a high position at the likes of Amazon
      I have a relative that worked for Sears Holdings, so there was incentive for me to buy stuff at Sears or Kmart because of the employee discount. The website was one of the worst online websites out there. Amazon's was bad at the time, but it was better than a Sears Holdings online store. If Sears Holdings ended up with better navigation, there was an opportunity right there!
      The crazy thing was that Sears after the Kmart buyout had the infrastructure to do what many retailers are doing now, especially Amazon and Walmart. Many places are advertising 1-2 day delivery, and if they got the logistics right, they could have pulled it off. There also has been a trend of buy online and pick up at the store. So, if Kmart didn't have something like a higher-end item and Sears was an inconvenient drive, why can't you deliver the Sears item to Kmart?

    • @JoeStuffz
      @JoeStuffz 4 года назад +33

      Especially considering Fast Eddie

    • @willfishing5605
      @willfishing5605 4 года назад +155

      It sounds like when Blockbuster video had the opportunity to buy netflix 50 million dollars, and didn't... oops.

    • @fartexpertable
      @fartexpertable 4 года назад +37

      No one fires an executive just over a strategy pitch. There’s got to be more to that story.

    • @youriphonesucks7590
      @youriphonesucks7590 4 года назад +122

      @@fartexpertable ... I work for this company since 1986 and let me tell you yes it does internal bickering and self-preservation instead of intelligent navigation is what Doomed this company

  • @xOneCinema
    @xOneCinema 4 года назад +890

    Sears was the pre-internet Amazon of America. A fallen legend.

    • @daytonasixty-eight1354
      @daytonasixty-eight1354 4 года назад +23

      Not really a fair comparison. Sears made lots of profit in it's day. Amazon has never made a profit. In my opinion, Amazon is a shell business with nefarious goals. Sears was just a store.

    • @daytonasixty-eight1354
      @daytonasixty-eight1354 4 года назад +9

      @Real boxing Fan1 They do now, barely... but they operated for like 15-16 years with no profit lmao

    • @Dudububu57
      @Dudububu57 4 года назад +3

      @SublimeHawk6 assets, if the company is valued at a certain amount, it can borrow money and roll on it with Research and development for upcoming projects/business, which was successful enough that they are now monopolizing America's trade, then soon logistics.

    • @Dakidpepe
      @Dakidpepe 4 года назад +16

      @@daytonasixty-eight1354 Amazon does make profit they just use it to invest in themselves. They buy their own planes, technology, and make their own deliveries. Cutting the middle man so in the future they control the market which gives them the upper hand over the competition.

    • @lpi6608
      @lpi6608 4 года назад +3

      Went from mail order to box stores, you see Amazon doing the same thing

  • @T1C
    @T1C 4 года назад +926

    After I heard Sears was closing I knew for sure that was where spirit Halloween was opening

    • @CellularFixation
      @CellularFixation 4 года назад +82

      The hermit crab of retail stores...

    • @trillvirgo
      @trillvirgo 4 года назад +51

      lol for sure. they put spirit halloween in the old toys r us building in my city

    • @carmellolb200
      @carmellolb200 4 года назад +6

      Lexi Nicole mine too

    • @alex0589
      @alex0589 4 года назад +32

      A halloween store so large, they could have their own in-house haunted house ride

    • @Genshinlmao123
      @Genshinlmao123 4 года назад

      Lexi Nicole Samee..

  • @richardjohnson8197
    @richardjohnson8197 3 года назад +209

    As a walmart employee in 1989 I remember a leader board posted in the breakroom that listed sears and kmart as #1 and 2 with walmart #3. Walmart was intent on being #1 and they did, far sooner then they even suspected I believe. I don't think anyone back then could envision how hard and fast both sears and kmart would fall.

    • @kite6864
      @kite6864 2 года назад

      didn't even know of walmart back then.. #3? are you sure it was caldor or bradlees?

    • @scotthewes2431
      @scotthewes2431 2 года назад +4

      They did not fall, rather were taken apart and sold for scrap by hedge fund manager Eddie Lambert, a,La Wallstreet.

    • @foodreviewswithfinners
      @foodreviewswithfinners Год назад

      your name is funny

  • @ATCBenas
    @ATCBenas 4 года назад +1356

    My Grandfather actually still lives in a Sears house

    • @yoursleepparalysisdemon8171
      @yoursleepparalysisdemon8171 4 года назад +40

      What is a sears house

    • @chuckrutkowski1072
      @chuckrutkowski1072 4 года назад +315

      @@yoursleepparalysisdemon8171
      Sears once sold houses. They had blueprints and would sell you all the lumber and stuff to build it. I grew up in one myself.

    • @richardbrobeck2384
      @richardbrobeck2384 4 года назад +30

      we have some in my town

    • @markdavis2838
      @markdavis2838 4 года назад +6

      Rumour is there's some houses tree streets j c tn

    • @jimmierustler4887
      @jimmierustler4887 4 года назад +39

      Look up the Sears Magnolia. The top notch kit house they sold. Just a beauty.

  • @toddnolastname4485
    @toddnolastname4485 4 года назад +1128

    Sears should have pushed into internet harder. We should be subscribing to Sears Prime.

    • @jonj4357
      @jonj4357 4 года назад +50

      There were amazon before amazon

    • @YorHighness
      @YorHighness 4 года назад +40

      Correct even if it meant doing business with Amazon and Ebay. Coporate pride killed them. There was a time Sears meant Quality period. Good Tools with awesome garantee even without receipt. Craftsman. Lawn Movers great.

    • @jdl7211
      @jdl7211 4 года назад +30

      Strangely enough, Sears was one of the partner companies along with IBM and CBS that formed Prodigy internet service. They were ahead of everyone then dropped the ball.

    • @joesterling4299
      @joesterling4299 4 года назад +5

      @@jonj4357 Yeah. They were Amazon before the internet--catalog sales.

    • @kayliejoye5158
      @kayliejoye5158 4 года назад +7

      Ya my mom works for sears and she says one of the main reasons they are dying is because they never kept up with trends

  • @runee1977
    @runee1977 4 года назад +713

    Everyone in Chicago still calls it the Sears Tower, that will probably never change.

    • @Void_1984
      @Void_1984 4 года назад +64

      Yup it never will, always the Sears Tower it shall remain lol.

    • @richerDiLefto
      @richerDiLefto 4 года назад +68

      I’m certainly not calling it the stupid “Willis” Tower. 😂

    • @runee1977
      @runee1977 4 года назад +15

      @@richerDiLefto I don't either. And that goes for Comiskey too!

    • @EmberMoonprincess92
      @EmberMoonprincess92 4 года назад +24

      I’m from St. Louis originally but live in Phoenix. It will always be the sears tower for as long as we keep calling it that. Maybe one day If they’re lucky they can buy it back

    • @faiththeunknownbeing8126
      @faiththeunknownbeing8126 4 года назад +4

      Same thing here... No one called the steel tower the UPMC tower here. Somethings won't change

  • @airborneace
    @airborneace Год назад +106

    Getting the Sears (and JC Penney) Christmas catalogs and going through each and every page was a highlight of the holiday season as a kid in the 90s

    •  Год назад +3

      The JC Penney's was only a companion, Sears' was Master & Commander. 😂

  • @lorumipsum1129
    @lorumipsum1129 4 года назад +620

    Allstate: are you in good hands?
    Sears: ...no :(

    • @MGOBLUE902
      @MGOBLUE902 4 года назад +11

      This format has been killed but I applaud you for using it correctly 😂😂

    • @CDeuce152
      @CDeuce152 4 года назад +1

      My dad became an Allstate insurance agent right before they spun off. He shared an office initially then had his own office. Sadly that office venture lasted 23 months.

    • @taimaishu-nao1922
      @taimaishu-nao1922 4 года назад +1

      That was… S A V A G E

    • @taimaishu-nao1922
      @taimaishu-nao1922 4 года назад +2

      Also, what was interesting is that the real estate company that sold my store was ironically once owned by Sears. Yes, Coldwell Banker was the one who put the space up for sale.

    • @lorumipsum1129
      @lorumipsum1129 4 года назад +5

      Tai Maishu-Nao it's funny really, how alot of companies that we know of today are spun off of another, usually dead, company. The fact that CarMax came from circuit city, and now all that's left of circuit city is CarMax, always struck with me.

  • @dylanemanuel8408
    @dylanemanuel8408 4 года назад +426

    I used to look at those catalogs like a thousand times before christmas lol.

    • @davidcribbs367
      @davidcribbs367 4 года назад +14

      yup it was am awesome day when that catalog showed up in the mail

    • @misha2197
      @misha2197 4 года назад +6

      Yes!!!

    • @MrCraigblaze
      @MrCraigblaze 4 года назад +2

      Me too..

    • @LynxStarAuto
      @LynxStarAuto 4 года назад +8

      Nikki Travis God bless her. That era produced the greatest grandparents ever. I too share very fond memories of my grandparents.

    • @sudochop
      @sudochop 4 года назад +1

      @@Dobviews
      - I bet if you were a kid back then and found those catalogs underneth the bed, you'd be devastated!!! lol!

  • @freeman2399
    @freeman2399 4 года назад +403

    When I was kid I remember how bland sears was. It was so depressing with no windows or natural light and stuffy smell.

    • @rbfoster
      @rbfoster 4 года назад +3

      freeman239 yes! Lol The smell!

    • @LivenSixtyFive
      @LivenSixtyFive 4 года назад +6

      That’s all wholesale stores

    • @m_ridian
      @m_ridian 4 года назад +18

      I went to a barely surviving Sears and it does feel depressing. A lot of other stores feel more comfortable. Sears just feels like Costco, but a lot more saddening.

    • @Itssike1
      @Itssike1 4 года назад +1

      freeman239 Harrowing huh!

    • @montanacrone8984
      @montanacrone8984 4 года назад +6

      The Sears we went to had a popcorn stand inside the front doors! I remember that.

  • @Mark16v15
    @Mark16v15 2 года назад +208

    I recall almost the exact moment in the 1980s when I realized Sears was doomed.
    A Walmart came to town, so I checked it out. There I could buy some underwear for almost half what Sears charged, but I had to do it on my own. After making the purchase, I quickly realized how I really didn't need a salesclerk to help me buy such items. It appears Sam Walton saw the writing on the wall in the 1970s when he probably noted that people were willing to save some money by filling their own gas tanks, rather than pay extra for an attendant to do it for them. But that wasn't the only blindness Sears execs suffered.
    They took their focus off retail sales and instead expanded into real estate, banking and insurance, which only accelerated their demise. The Sears Tower marked the pinnacle of their hubris.
    Isn't it ironic that it was Amazon which copied Sears' original 19th-century idea of allowing people to buy products from their own living room which dealt the final death blow into the failed former retail giant.

  • @artcamera5514
    @artcamera5514 4 года назад +1338

    Does anyone else feel depressed after watching these episodes about the stores that we grew up with?

    • @jamesfranco7270
      @jamesfranco7270 4 года назад +19

      Yeah I do. Sucks

    • @jamesfranco7270
      @jamesfranco7270 4 года назад +46

      I miss kmart and radio shack

    • @artcamera5514
      @artcamera5514 4 года назад +27

      @@jamesfranco7270 Radio Shack was so awesome when I was a kid, even better than Toys R Us.

    • @jamesfranco7270
      @jamesfranco7270 4 года назад +16

      @@artcamera5514 yeah. And now even toys r us is gone. Its unfortunate😭

    • @krusenator123
      @krusenator123 4 года назад +32

      Cuz the world's shit now and everything is about money and there's more evil on earth than good and corporations run everything and we just live to die

  • @allanrscott
    @allanrscott 4 года назад +253

    I remember being a teenager back in the mid-90s and even then Sears was the "Old Person" store. The only thing that remained popular from Sears was Craftsman Tools and Die Hard Batteries.

    • @TotosSword
      @TotosSword 4 года назад +1

      Allan Scott STOP

    • @mikem9536
      @mikem9536 4 года назад

      And Kenmore.

    • @LynxStarAuto
      @LynxStarAuto 4 года назад +1

      No the old person store was JC Penny. Sears was still very relevant in the 90's. Their decline started in the early 00's.

    • @erocker78
      @erocker78 3 года назад +1

      The old person store was Montgomery Ward

  • @joshbacon8241
    @joshbacon8241 4 года назад +1036

    Who remembers searching through Sears catalogues before Christmas as a kid?

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 4 года назад +3

      Josh Bacon ME

    • @Rico_G
      @Rico_G 4 года назад +24

      I vividly remember drooling over the Silvertone electric guitars and amplifiers. Getting the new Sears catalog in the mail was always a great day!

    • @notachinesespypleasebeliev8954
      @notachinesespypleasebeliev8954 4 года назад +4

      Here definitely

    • @princesskristan
      @princesskristan 4 года назад +5

      Those were so cool! I remember really wanting this Singer sewing machine for christmas and I never got it

    • @perturabo7825
      @perturabo7825 4 года назад +3

      Before my time unfortunately

  • @melaniexoxo
    @melaniexoxo 3 года назад +382

    Its kinda sad that my dad (93) didnt really ever realize that the store was failing. A number of years ago he would talk about calling Sears for things that he needed and how it was hard to get help anymore. I had to explain to him that Sears would likely be closing soon. I know it hit him hard in a way.

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад +4

      Your comment is so heart touching yes I agree with you, can we be friends if you don’t mind?

    • @keetahbrough
      @keetahbrough Год назад +3

      why would you tell hm that jesus christ what a thing to do to your old man. Like killing off his oldest and bestest friend. Don't do that people.. you don't HAVE to do certain things.. as we age.

    • @theanorexicgorillawithtype6871
      @theanorexicgorillawithtype6871 Год назад +32

      ​@Keetah Brough it's a store, not his friend. Grow up.

    • @mortb9
      @mortb9 Год назад +1

      @@keetahbrough I'm with you Keetah. Why tell him?

    • @cyruskhalvati
      @cyruskhalvati 3 месяца назад

      @@keetahbrough you can either tell the old man, or let him find out the hard way. Because not telling him only saves him the heartache if his time is near… so he made the right decision.
      Old man is immortal. Can’t be having no one to replace his craftsman angle grinder when it breaks down next.

  • @mediocrebanters
    @mediocrebanters 4 года назад +1520

    Sears was the "Amazon" in its day, but it failed to transform their catalog for the Internet Age.

    • @JStorm13
      @JStorm13 4 года назад +103

      They had a mountain of consumer data and totally discarded it, instead of forming an internet presence with it.

    • @mussolini2525
      @mussolini2525 4 года назад +31

      @@JStorm13 they could've had it all rip

    • @mediocrebanters
      @mediocrebanters 4 года назад +49

      @@JStorm13 Righto. They even had recognisable brand names under them with supportive patrons. I'm suspecting that the higher-ups in corporate aren't too savvy with emerging techno and markets, I dunno. Maybe their I.T. Security head is a Music Major too LOL

    • @sabersz
      @sabersz 4 года назад +73

      @@mediocrebanters Bruh sears was ran by boomers and it deadass killed them

    • @VulpesHilarianus
      @VulpesHilarianus 4 года назад +24

      Sears thought they could bully Amazon the way they and J.C. Penney bullied eBay back in the day. 2008 screwed all of their plans up, because the price difference on some items jumped 2:1, Sears versus Amazon. They'd likely still be thriving had the 2008 financial crisis not happened, seeing as how K-Mart was being turned into a dump for all of their debt before they sold it off to someone who didn't know what they were getting.
      Their worst mistake in my opinion was selling Craftsman and the manufacturing plants for Kenmore appliances. Those were the only two things making them money. Now with Whirlpool having ended their partnership, Sears is forced to sell badge engineered products made by LG at a higher price than LG.

  • @500KiloVolt
    @500KiloVolt 4 года назад +544

    My parents met working at a Sears together, if sears never existed I would have never existed

    • @richardm3023
      @richardm3023 4 года назад +88

      @IMxYOURxDADDY And they were classy enough to tell you the story too.

    • @trevonpernell0814
      @trevonpernell0814 4 года назад +9

      @IMxYOURxDADDY NO WAY....

    • @MantisTobogganMD92
      @MantisTobogganMD92 4 года назад +9

      Mine met at K Mart.

    • @trevonpernell0814
      @trevonpernell0814 4 года назад +7

      @@MantisTobogganMD92 Ain't that something.

    • @SunriseLAW
      @SunriseLAW 4 года назад +6

      Great for you but think of all the sperm wasted by millions of guys getting off while viewing the women's underwear pics.

  • @JeremyLeech
    @JeremyLeech 4 года назад +608

    It may be named Willis tower, but its still called Sears Tower here.

    • @snowcoalRC
      @snowcoalRC 4 года назад +66

      Been calling it the Sears Tower since I was born, will still call it that till i die

    • @cheeseebun
      @cheeseebun 4 года назад +1

      fax!

    • @The528692
      @The528692 4 года назад +6

      WHAT U TALKING ABOUT!

    • @infiltr80r
      @infiltr80r 4 года назад +1

      @Tyler Haraf What HQ? They're almost worthless. They're the Pontiac of retail.

    • @mikeuhlir4823
      @mikeuhlir4823 4 года назад +1

      If president Trump buys it
      . It will be the Trump Tower. And YOU WILL call it Trump Tower!
      ..

  • @kfiscal01
    @kfiscal01 2 года назад +55

    Being the grandson of a former CEO of Sears in the late 50s, it breaks my heart that this loved and iconic store has become a skeleton of its former self. We lived and breathed Sears. He was a titan in retail, a dollar man during ww2, Chairman of the Committee of Economic Development for Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. On numerous boards in corporate business. He took pride In what Sears offered the public and especially the employees. He was a wonderful man and believed in corporate responsibility. Now, our country and businesses are strictly about profits, dividends, off shoring jobs, no customer service. Eddie Lambert and his type are the scum of the business world,they don't give a rats ass about people, employees, integrity, community, or country.

  • @theEagleBeagle
    @theEagleBeagle 4 года назад +370

    thanks for keeping this going through the years. keep it up!

  • @Kreder1979
    @Kreder1979 4 года назад +979

    Our old Sears is currently being renovated into a mini casino!

    • @nicholaskurta
      @nicholaskurta 4 года назад +10

      Where at? There is one near me also

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 4 года назад +10

      mine is vacant

    • @TracksideViews
      @TracksideViews 4 года назад +4

      That’s a plus for sure

    • @lilrex2015
      @lilrex2015 4 года назад +11

      i heard ours might get turned into a theater. Calgary.

    • @jettozahoku
      @jettozahoku 4 года назад +6

      My Sears became a Round 1 :D

  • @okmrocksU
    @okmrocksU 4 года назад +511

    When Sears outsourced the Craftsman tool production to China, they abandoned their most loyal customer base, which caused that most loyal customer base to abandon them.

    • @AnjelynRoberts
      @AnjelynRoberts 4 года назад +25

      couldn't be more true!!

    • @bringiton660
      @bringiton660 4 года назад +41

      Before the outsource, craftsman was a respectable brand, but now why even bother buying craftsman? It makes more sense to buy something from harbor freight, or online. At least harbor freight is cheap, and their made in the same factories. There is no reason to buy any tools from the old American brands like Stanley, their all chinese tools anyways.

    • @okmrocksU
      @okmrocksU 4 года назад +20

      @@bringiton660 This is exactly the point in one of two email complaints I sent to Sears, 5 or 6 years ago. I told them if I wanted Harbor Freight quality tools, I would go to Harbor Freight and get them cheaper. I also mentioned that I felt like they abandoned us. I never got a reply.

    • @JackLambert180
      @JackLambert180 4 года назад +13

      bringiton660 I actually have good news they were bought by Lowe’s and are making a new U.S. based factory for tool manufacturing.

    • @okmrocksU
      @okmrocksU 4 года назад +11

      @@JackLambert180 I googled a couple of pages that back up your post, but they were announced back in October of 2017. I recently looked at the hand tools on the shelf at Lowes and they still say china on them or nothing at all. So far, only their original screwdrivers were still made in USA. I am keeping a watch for USA craftsman tools and will start buying them again, if and when they do have them.

  • @Kiriafycso
    @Kiriafycso Год назад +77

    one of the sears buildings built in Minnesota during the 1920's was transformed into an apartment building on top, clinic in the middle, market for ethnic groceries and goods on the first floor, and civil center in the basement.
    the sears in the Mall of America was where I got the first video game I enjoyed on my own. the one I went to more often is a place i would frequent with my grandma. I have so many memories with sears, it's sad to see it hardly exist anymore.

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад +1

      Your comment is awesome and I agree with you I will like us be friends if that’s okay with you

    • @cagv7297
      @cagv7297 9 месяцев назад

      I'll never forget that Mall of America Sears. Had many wonderful memories there. I heard MoA has changed a lot. They even got rid of the Marshall's and the Dollar Tree on the same third floor???

  • @LaceyGlasgow
    @LaceyGlasgow 4 года назад +728

    Why does Sears in the 60’s look more up to date and modern than the ones that went out of business 🥴

    • @moreadventure3627
      @moreadventure3627 4 года назад +10

      Yea

    • @CaptTerrific
      @CaptTerrific 4 года назад +107

      Because once Eddie came onboard, he literally cut the store investment budget to $0. He was convinced that upkeep wasn't necessary, that it was just window dressing, and that people would come for the products and price. Laughable because, of course, not only is it necessary to have a good customer experience... but the product assortment was crap, and the prices weren't competitive :/

    • @moreadventure3627
      @moreadventure3627 4 года назад +36

      @@CaptTerrific they made Kmart deal with the same issue. It's a shame

    • @CharlesAbramson-hh6wk
      @CharlesAbramson-hh6wk 4 года назад

      your existence disgusts me

    • @intenseowl1255
      @intenseowl1255 3 года назад +53

      @@CaptTerrific kinda sus that now he owns the company privately, was there ever a investigation into their CEO for maybe purposely sabotaging the company.

  • @you900001
    @you900001 4 года назад +623

    Funny, Sears was Amazon before Amazon and the internet.
    Ironic.

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 4 года назад +10

      the irony is ironic

    • @jgallardo7344
      @jgallardo7344 4 года назад +3

      Yep...got that right!

    • @aday1637
      @aday1637 4 года назад +32

      And I never understood the decision to end the catelog sales division. Big mistake.

    • @isthatatesla
      @isthatatesla 4 года назад +1

      @@aday1637 too little, too late.

    • @neoasura
      @neoasura 4 года назад +18

      @@aday1637 Piss poor management, Sears could've adapted, it had the logistics in place.

  • @hackthis02
    @hackthis02 4 года назад +587

    Talk to anyone from Chicago, it's still the Sears Tower. We refuse to call it anything else.

    • @-NateTheGreat
      @-NateTheGreat 4 года назад +72

      I visited Chicago last summer. I thought it was still called the Sears Tower. When someone corrected me and said it was the Willis Tower I was like. "What the hell is that? It's the Sears Tower, dammit! "

    • @No-tv6te
      @No-tv6te 4 года назад +12

      @@-NateTheGreat WILLIS TOWER ITS NOW WILLIS TOWER. REPEAT AFTER ME. WILLIS WILLIS WILLIS

    • @alex0589
      @alex0589 4 года назад +27

      First time i heard willis tower i thought of die hard

    • @hackthis02
      @hackthis02 4 года назад +68

      @@No-tv6te Are you talking about the Sears Tower?

    • @stevenzeletski1730
      @stevenzeletski1730 4 года назад +23

      @@No-tv6te whatchu talkin bout Willis???

  • @Shermanbay
    @Shermanbay 2 года назад +91

    I always thought that Sears was ideally positioned to transition to the internet sales model, more than any company. With such extensive experience and infrastructure in mail-order, why didn't they adjust slightly and beat Amazon?

    • @AFoxGuy
      @AFoxGuy 2 года назад +32

      1 word: Incompetence.

    • @joshhuskins5363
      @joshhuskins5363 Год назад +20

      2nd word arrogance

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад +2

      Your comment is so heart touching yes I agree with you, can we be friends if you don’t mind?

    • @nickl5658
      @nickl5658 Год назад +8

      They did not see a future with online shopping. And by the time they realized it was the future, Amazon had already gotten too big.

    • @CheeseMiser
      @CheeseMiser 11 месяцев назад +2

      @@nickl5658 no one understands this somehow

  • @DUBracer01
    @DUBracer01 4 года назад +569

    BSF: "Here's to another 50"
    Businesses everywhere: _sweats nervously_

    • @PhilipTrouble
      @PhilipTrouble 4 года назад +23

      BSF: "Welcome to Abandoned, where today we will be talking about..."
      Jeff Bezos: *sweats*
      Tim Cook: *hyperventilates*
      Bill Gates: *tries to bribe BSF*

    • @oztheproducer1990
      @oztheproducer1990 4 года назад

      Y’all should come to Florida I got a few abandoned places here
      My email is djoz28@yahoo.com

    • @MustraOrdo
      @MustraOrdo 4 года назад

      @@PhilipTrouble Coronavirus: Remember to give me a shoutout, BSF

  • @trevonpernell0814
    @trevonpernell0814 4 года назад +220

    It has come...the time to talk about the dumpster fire known as Sears.

    • @BrightSunFilms
      @BrightSunFilms  4 года назад +40

      That’s just how I should start every abandoned episode really

    • @trevonpernell0814
      @trevonpernell0814 4 года назад +18

      @@BrightSunFilms Between you and me Jake, compared to Circuit City, Ames, and even Toys R Us, Sears, and our beloved Kmart for that matter, are SPECIAL LEVELS of a dumpster fire. They were SCREWED into bankruptcy, kinda like Toys R Us.

    • @plowtruckdriver
      @plowtruckdriver 4 года назад +5

      @@trevonpernell0814 he should do Montgomery Wards

    • @trevonpernell0814
      @trevonpernell0814 4 года назад +5

      @@plowtruckdriver Uhhh...he actually already did a video on Montgomery Ward.

    • @themusicguy2879
      @themusicguy2879 4 года назад

      @@BrightSunFilms Great Idea

  • @SupremeLeaderKimJong-un
    @SupremeLeaderKimJong-un 4 года назад +275

    The last Abandoned episode of the decade, I’m glad you continue making these

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 4 года назад +1

      Kim Jong-un I just noticed that

    • @jamiebarba5701
      @jamiebarba5701 4 года назад +7

      Hey Kim Jong-un you should buy Sears.

    • @solared
      @solared 4 года назад +10

      Thanks, supreme leader.

    • @nemeczek67
      @nemeczek67 4 года назад +2

      There was no year zero, therefore a new decade will start on Jan 1, 2021.

    • @solared
      @solared 4 года назад +8

      @@nemeczek67 we've heard it all before, and we don't care

  • @zachscarbrough2727
    @zachscarbrough2727 Год назад +39

    I actually got to watch a mall slowly die out while I was growing up. It was a mall in Jonesboro AR and for a long time, it was where everyone got whatever they needed. It had a SEARS and a JCPennys and all the other stores in between. Then the city opened up an even bigger mall, and slowly one by one, the businesses in the first mall just pulled out. The last to go were ironically SEARS and JCPennys. Last time I saw it was just this big abandoned mall with absolutely nothing in it. Honestly a little bit sad thinking back on it.

    • @connerSphotography
      @connerSphotography Год назад +5

      That’s what’s going on with my mall. Burlington coat factory has left and sears has closed meaning have lost two huge tenants for there building. Lots of restaurants closed down and left the mall to due to high rent cost. Lots of people aren’t making it in a mall anymore so they leave to try else where.

  • @OuterHeaven210
    @OuterHeaven210 4 года назад +661

    I remember sears stores as a kid as being “the empty boring store” born in 1990

    • @koishii_
      @koishii_ 4 года назад +29

      Same! That and K Mart. My grandmom always used to shop there.

    • @jonj4357
      @jonj4357 4 года назад +20

      They should have made the transition to e-commerce in the early 2000s tech boom

    • @brianb7423
      @brianb7423 4 года назад +8

      Same here. Was born in 93, but I do remember sears for having the fun gaming section right next to the workout equipment they sold. Lol they used to have foosball, basketball hoops, all that stuff. Would be so much fun lol. We’d be like the only people in the store though

    • @haleeyyyyyy
      @haleeyyyyyy 4 года назад +17

      For me it was the store with the escalator

    • @sammywest3979
      @sammywest3979 4 года назад +8

      same lol. i thought sears was so boring whenever i would go with my mom. Born in 1999

  • @MarcoEvens
    @MarcoEvens 4 года назад +151

    Let’s face it. No one calls the Willis Tower by its name. We still call it the Sears Tower.

    • @Ctwosrer
      @Ctwosrer 4 года назад

      Facts

    • @Mickocarbomb
      @Mickocarbomb 4 года назад

      I only ever heard of it as Sears tower so it's ingrained into my memory only as the Sears tower.

  • @leena5859
    @leena5859 3 года назад +422

    I remember Sears as one of the entrance stores to a shopping mall. They were literally used as a fancy entrance and exit.

    • @war.helmets9636
      @war.helmets9636 2 года назад +6

      @Tiger Woods' Escalade Fucking FAX

    • @geneeli9499
      @geneeli9499 2 года назад +2

      EXACTLY!

    • @nfabian5100
      @nfabian5100 2 года назад +6

      Every sears mall entrance made anybody feel special once they walk through those doors

    • @PossumMedic
      @PossumMedic 2 года назад +3

      that reeked of perfume 😂

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад +1

      Your comment is amazing and I love it, can we be friends if you don’t mind

  • @100percentSNAFU
    @100percentSNAFU 3 года назад +78

    If you were a child of the 70's or 80's and didn't get to experience the Sears photo studio, you had a deprived childhood.

    • @Gabito04
      @Gabito04 2 года назад

      Probably because I wasn't born at that time lmao

    • @jamaicanjuice8684
      @jamaicanjuice8684 2 года назад +6

      @@Gabito04 that's exactly why he said "if you were a child of the 70s or 80s"... is that really that hard to understand.

    • @B727X
      @B727X Год назад

      And now you’re 70

  • @than217
    @than217 4 года назад +199

    *2,000 years in the future*
    Archaeologists: "We believe these temples were constructed to a God known as Sears. People would bring old clothes to lay inside the temple as a prayer for good health."

    • @everythingsalright1121
      @everythingsalright1121 4 года назад +2

      @@dgpsf asking for a frappucino blessing from the priests or priestesses at these temples invoked wrath. As did something called the secret menu, which brought down the full anger of the spiritual leaders

  • @brutalictesku
    @brutalictesku 4 года назад +134

    Damn those 60's department stores where peak aesthetic!

    • @virginiansupremacy
      @virginiansupremacy 4 года назад +4

      *Y E S*

    • @NickNitro03
      @NickNitro03 4 года назад +3

      Gorgeous

    • @cleatrampler
      @cleatrampler 4 года назад +5

      Growing up in the 70's and 80's I never could figure out why they destroyed that look through remodeling. The result is awful.

    • @17denby
      @17denby 5 месяцев назад +2

      Yea! The new stores they made was legit just a sad tan square with no windows and a small sign at the front.

  • @Blackwolffe097
    @Blackwolffe097 4 года назад +324

    The last time I went into a Sears the place had no employees & the shelves were almost empty.
    We ended up exploring the store including the employees only areas. Spent about 2 hours & not one employee was seen. The place was open for business & it was 3 in the afternoon

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 4 года назад +10

      That’s cool! My local Sears stores have employees so not so fast 😔

    • @RiceGrainz
      @RiceGrainz 4 года назад +38

      They probably knew what was coming and didn't bother showing up for work.

    • @the.abhiram.r
      @the.abhiram.r 4 года назад +8

      i had to walk through the sears in my mall to get to the parking lot. the next time i went to the mall the sears was not there anymore.

    • @lilgg999shi9
      @lilgg999shi9 4 года назад +3

      I went to sears recently and I was surprised that it was very busy but this was during thanksgiving week and I tell u I thought I was going into a dead store and it wasn’t even an outlet store this was in a big mall in Dallas and I tell u they were big lines everywhere I was surprised big time thinking that sears has completely died off , thinking that it was this busy blew my mind

    • @andrewbelmudez6985
      @andrewbelmudez6985 4 года назад +1

      There will still be some Sears in America for a couple more years, either they become independent, an outlet, or closed stores.

  • @gasstationincanada4990
    @gasstationincanada4990 3 года назад +36

    Just watching this made me realize that one day target Walmart etc will go out of business

    • @ddsjgvk
      @ddsjgvk 3 года назад

      I will hate that. Like I love walking around stores and looking at things.
      The recommends I get on Amazon is not really good. Because sometimes I want something I never thought of or looked at before. You can't find new things when eveything you see on the internet is is what you get when you search for what ever. Don't get understand what I mean. look for NSFW lingerie pictures and than you sell ads what want to see that to you.
      Before you ask why I'm looking that up. I'm bored of pornhub. Onlyfans killed free porn sites

    • @estahbear
      @estahbear 2 года назад +3

      They probably won’t, but Target almost did a few years ago

    • @Abstractsvision
      @Abstractsvision 3 месяца назад

      They could go out but I kinda feel like they won’t. They might be better at adapting then the old competitors

  • @traci3905
    @traci3905 4 года назад +311

    I actually have one of my grandpas old jean jackets that says “sears, roebuck and co.” on the tag inside.

    • @kilometers7117
      @kilometers7117 4 года назад +16

      You could sell that in a couple years for a lot of money

    • @fiverumble257
      @fiverumble257 4 года назад +12

      The Inverted Nut
      That’s not the point here

    • @penguinmaster7
      @penguinmaster7 4 года назад +6

      hold onto that. You'll be sitting on money after a while.

    • @ok-wh6zh
      @ok-wh6zh 4 года назад

      .

    • @tomryan914
      @tomryan914 3 года назад

      "not and Coooo?"

  • @paulcusentino4917
    @paulcusentino4917 4 года назад +332

    It’s always going to be called Sears Tower by Chicagoans.

    • @melanie6014
      @melanie6014 4 года назад +23

      Yes! It's how I'll always refer to it. Willis Tower just doesn't roll off the tongue. 😅

    • @SinisterServal
      @SinisterServal 4 года назад +22

      I call it Sears Tower, and I'm from Texas.

    • @everythingsalright1121
      @everythingsalright1121 4 года назад +9

      Call it Sears Tower. Canadian here

    • @moonlghtknght
      @moonlghtknght 4 года назад +7

      Forever and always. Grew up in the shadow of that building, it will always be called Sears.

    • @hectorestrada6127
      @hectorestrada6127 4 года назад +13

      I call it sears tower and I’m from Jupiter

  • @CelticShadow75
    @CelticShadow75 4 года назад +380

    After Circuit City closed its doors, I took a management position at the Sears in our local mall. Let me just say, talking to corporate was like talking to a pre-school classroom. They had absolutely no idea what they were doing.....certainly not for a company that old. I left shortly after I started there, without any notice other then a phone call letting them know I would never return as a manager, employee of any kind, or a customer. What was a great company when I was a kid became a complete joke.

    • @Gravydog316
      @Gravydog316 4 года назад +42

      Here in Canada, we had Future Shop (which was owned by Best Buy. One Xmas, I won a $500 15" Compaq laptop, so, I took it to the store & wanted to trade for a MacBook Pro for school (which was like $2,000), the manager was like "NO PROBLEM!!!" I traded a free $500 laptop for a $2,000 15" MacBook Pro & an $500 iPod. They closed like 3 months later lol

    • @AaronCo29
      @AaronCo29 4 года назад +18

      You are definitely describing Kmart and all of its upper management, the district manager that took over, right after the buy out of Sears Holdings, she was wearing her favorite basketball jersey and matching shorts and tennis shoes, the guy that Kmart had just let go always wore a suit and a tie, always spoke with a calm and clear voice, right out of the gate, her first words weren't, hello, or nice to meet you, or anything like that, instead, it was, and I quote, "Oh, your Aaron? I'm going to prove you aint as good as your file says you are!" in the most sarcastic voice I ever heard. now coming from a flunky in basketball jersey it didn't actually resonate as good as if she had been wearing the proper attire, and I am sure all of these people hang out with Eddie Lampert on a regular basis, ever rich guy has his fan club that he feeds.

    • @jz5791
      @jz5791 4 года назад +9

      I worked there as a top salesman and hitting double all required metrics in lead. However, instead of innovating and being supportive of the top talent it was all micro managing. Was a real shame as I loved selling appliances for Sears!

    • @jz5791
      @jz5791 4 года назад +7

      I also knew the minute they sold their credit card and then melded with Kmart that it was the beginning of the end.

    • @AaronCo29
      @AaronCo29 4 года назад +5

      j Z yeah, Kmart knocked the top employee, almost as if to make everyone try mediocre, and they wonder why they don’t exist anymore

  • @hakapik683
    @hakapik683 3 года назад +41

    I remember when the Sears closed in Halifax. EVERYTHING was for sale. You could buy the tables, the clothing racks, the display cases, coat hangers, etc etc, and if you wanted to buy ALL of the, 80 pairs of boots, for example, they would make you a great deal on the lot. A sad sight to see actually. Many great memories of flipping through the Christmas Wish Book and going to the stores.

    • @nateye2450
      @nateye2450 2 года назад

      I live near Halifax, around the kingswood subdivision (25 ish minute drive from downtown) and there is a sears pay phone outside a strip mall just outside my Neighbourhood which is STILL THERE. Shows just how quickly it was abandoned

    • @B727X
      @B727X Год назад

      Whatever Canada doesn’t count not a real country it’s autonomous USA territory by our choice

  • @aeroman5239
    @aeroman5239 4 года назад +233

    When Sears absorbed Kmart, that signaled the end of both brands.

    • @danh2134
      @danh2134 4 года назад +10

      Doesn't really matter both businesses didn't have much to offer for a while

    • @EvertGuzman
      @EvertGuzman 4 года назад +3

      Star Trek Theory the hell*

    • @carleebrown123
      @carleebrown123 4 года назад +14

      You wouldn't believe how massive Kmart is here in Australia it's the best store with everything

    • @AndrewSuaste
      @AndrewSuaste 4 года назад +2

      Their going to make a local comeback with their home thing I think.

    • @TUPPERWAVE
      @TUPPERWAVE 4 года назад

      @@carleebrown123 they are EVERYWHERE! it's crazy!

  • @EddieJazzFan
    @EddieJazzFan 4 года назад +127

    Sears employee in the 70s: "I'd be glad to help you find what you're looking for?"
    Sears employee in the 80s: "You might find what you're looking for on the second floor"
    Sears employee in the 90s: "I don't know, and I don't work in that department"

    • @craftyria
      @craftyria 4 года назад +38

      Sears employee in the 2000s, "You might as well order it from Amazon."

    • @mrrobot5963
      @mrrobot5963 4 года назад +10

      You just made my 2020

    • @knicks2030
      @knicks2030 4 года назад +8

      You could almost make this same statement for retail stores in general.

    • @everythingsalright1121
      @everythingsalright1121 4 года назад +4

      "We have a floor for that?

    • @Ironcabbit
      @Ironcabbit 4 года назад +9

      I’d love to see a comparison of the associate attitudes with their salaries throughout the decades. In any market, including labor, you get what you pay for.

  • @Fibrosis50Creations
    @Fibrosis50Creations 4 года назад +120

    Me: Oh the Sears tower WAS made by Sears, I knew it. Wait they made Discover credit card too?! WTF? Wow...

    • @simmerszalai9196
      @simmerszalai9196 4 года назад +3

      you didn't know the big tower in chigco was own my sears. I knew this am from Canada.

    • @Fibrosis50Creations
      @Fibrosis50Creations 4 года назад +2

      I blame Canada

    • @Sari-ey8cu
      @Sari-ey8cu 4 года назад +8

      @@simmerszalai9196 You own Sears?! Punctuation? ;)

    • @marioivezaj154
      @marioivezaj154 4 года назад +4

      and allstate

    • @nolancain8792
      @nolancain8792 4 года назад +2

      Mario Ivezaj I didn’t even know they did that. So technically Sears is alive, just through its spinoffs.

  • @DalmationProductions
    @DalmationProductions 3 года назад +84

    Eddie has really destroyed Kmart and Sears he's put so many beloved people out of jobs

    • @jenniferclark9842
      @jenniferclark9842 2 года назад +5

      Instead of trying to, I don’t know, get people into stores and shop, he sold the whole thing off, part and parcel.

    • @scottdenesen8044
      @scottdenesen8044 2 года назад +7

      Yeah he did it intentionally cost me my job of 14 years really was a bummer put a lot of time in that company

    • @kfiscal01
      @kfiscal01 2 года назад

      Yea,Lambert is the definition of an evil human being, just like most of Wallstreet.

  • @Toad8508
    @Toad8508 4 года назад +143

    As someone from Chicago, where Sears started, this hurts to watch

    • @AbeJacoby
      @AbeJacoby 4 года назад +3

      Yes, it does. I used to work for Allstate and they used to automatically issue professional employees a Sears credit card (called Checklist credit card). It was a good company to work for.

    • @kevinvu5432
      @kevinvu5432 4 года назад +1

      To be fair....Sears deserved it. They never changed...

    • @AndrewSuaste
      @AndrewSuaste 4 года назад +2

      I remember when my sears was closing their was a older women that worked at the glasses store. She was trying to hold the tears she has been their for over 15 years. This just hurts me

    • @mattmarzula
      @mattmarzula 4 года назад

      Being from Chicago should hurt by itself.

    • @Toad8508
      @Toad8508 4 года назад +1

      Matt Marzula Are you from Chicago?

  • @lockedherselfout
    @lockedherselfout 4 года назад +177

    Grandpa: "In my day you could buy a house in a box"

    • @johnpaul-uc3py
      @johnpaul-uc3py 3 года назад +7

      and a car buy mail order. :)

    • @joshwilliams921
      @joshwilliams921 3 года назад +6

      My great grandfather had a house from the Sears catalog

    • @lizzyobrien2376
      @lizzyobrien2376 3 года назад +6

      When my great great grandfather moved from Norway to Montana, he bought a house out of the Sears Catalog in 1909. It still exists in what is now Laurel, MT.

    • @Marchant2
      @Marchant2 2 года назад +2

      Grandson: "Now some of us actually live homeless in a box."

    • @manfail7469
      @manfail7469 2 года назад

      you may joke, but as long as you built them right, they're probably still standing

  • @Scooter30FTW
    @Scooter30FTW 4 года назад +322

    I didn't know Allstate and Discover card were from Sears,TIL.

    • @ltmundy1164
      @ltmundy1164 4 года назад +5

      Scooter30FTW: Discover Financial services.
      Allstate insurance.
      Dean Witter investment services.
      Coldwell Banker real estate.
      Prodigy internet service provider.

    • @alexgallagher4594
      @alexgallagher4594 4 года назад

      Today I found out?

    • @patcurrie9888
      @patcurrie9888 4 года назад +8

      Major miss information disclosed: Sears actually moved Discover to their Dean Witter division and then sold it off to Morgan Stanley in late 90s. I know because I worked for Discover from the Dean Witter era to Morgan Stanley letting it go in late 2006. There was no Citi Bank involvement.

    • @ericgarmendia750
      @ericgarmendia750 4 года назад

      Noble Six today I learned

    • @CDeuce152
      @CDeuce152 3 года назад

      My dad was an agent just before it was spun off.

  • @melbrown6019
    @melbrown6019 2 года назад +35

    I remember the Sears Christmas catalog in the 80’s. That was so exciting! Kenmore is still my favorite appliance company. I think they were a Sears company.

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад

      Your comment is awesome and I agree with you I will like us be friends if that’s okay with you?

    • @brazilianboss10
      @brazilianboss10 Год назад

      @@dylanmaher2526sure!

  • @carterjones4709
    @carterjones4709 4 года назад +129

    Getting a Sears catalog around Christmas time was my favorite thing ever

    • @TheCybertiger9
      @TheCybertiger9 3 года назад +1

      same here couldn't wait to get it

    • @kate3930
      @kate3930 3 года назад +5

      Did you go through and circle everything you wanted? lol

    • @tonyjrdeets
      @tonyjrdeets 2 года назад

      For me it was the Toys "R" Us big book than Sears

  • @RandomRangerRambles
    @RandomRangerRambles 4 года назад +180

    My town has a neighborhood of “kit” houses, many of which are Sears houses. They really stood the test of time. I wish the kit houses were still available.

    • @jeremymenchaca
      @jeremymenchaca 4 года назад

      I've noticed.

    • @TwistedCyclonix
      @TwistedCyclonix 4 года назад +7

      Zimmit's FunHouse Adventure well it wasn’t just one box. They would ship the materials in separate boxes for different things. For example one box would have a some of the wood siding and another box would have bricks for the chimney

    • @RandomRangerRambles
      @RandomRangerRambles 4 года назад +5

      Zimmit's FunHouse Adventure They came in boxes as That One Guy said. Each piece was numbered and the kit came with a plan to follow. You could hire a contractor to put it together or gather your friends together and assemble it (I read stories of folks doing their own build, though as I haven’t the skills I can’t imagine doing it myself. )

    • @MandieTerrier
      @MandieTerrier 4 года назад +1

      We have a few houses in my neighborhood that came from a kit.

    • @michaellynch1159
      @michaellynch1159 4 года назад

      And now we are working on 3D printing houses

  • @rangertrails2229
    @rangertrails2229 4 года назад +298

    Just imagine 50 years from now... when amazon has met its inevitable demise. Abandoned: Amazon mega warehouse.

    • @weirdshibainu
      @weirdshibainu 4 года назад +23

      @@YhurHurt yeah...a great model. Pay your employees dirt wages and work them like animals.

    • @weirdshibainu
      @weirdshibainu 4 года назад +8

      @Zachary Rugar yeah? That's crap in most cities

    • @weirdshibainu
      @weirdshibainu 4 года назад +10

      @Zachary Rugar it's called crap. You don't know the makeup of Amazon employees. It's not a starting job for most.

    • @teamtinyturtle9103
      @teamtinyturtle9103 4 года назад +18

      Amazon also penalizes employees, deducting their pay just for taking a pee break. Their delivery drivers carry empty bottles with them on their routes for that purpose.

    • @djpylloz
      @djpylloz 4 года назад

      Hes already done this on a few abandoned amazon warehouses

  • @kenzielint7230
    @kenzielint7230 Год назад +52

    I may only be 19 years old, but some of my best memories were in Sears and Kmart stores. Growing up I was raised by my grandparents who swore by Sears to buy absolutely everything. From our mattresses, washers and dryers, appliances, tools, lawn mowers, and clothes of course, you name it from Sears my grandparents bought it! I used to love going there to go back to school shopping it was always my favorite! Lots of great memories, a shame things ended the way they did!

    • @Blue_Fire_1013
      @Blue_Fire_1013 Год назад +1

      Same here always so excited to walk in to the entrance of the mall and jump on the large squares. Now the whole mall is nearly abandoned.
      Oh look I’m 19 and a Miller too😂

    • @karlimo4034
      @karlimo4034 10 месяцев назад

      Go back to school was your favorite season? You kidding me? That one is the worst, just after the best, CHRISMASS!

    • @ItsOKtobeNormal
      @ItsOKtobeNormal 3 месяца назад

      The last sears I saw was empty and everything was heavily discounted 10-15 years ago, I think I went in there because I was traveling for work and wanted to go to the mall to poke around and I couldn't believe there was still a sears as they had all closed in my area by that time. Never really cared for them honestly.

  • @drunkramen
    @drunkramen 4 года назад +217

    The Sears employee was interesting to listen to, but I couldn't stop staring at his 3Dfx VooDoo video card box behind him, lol.

    • @Mekazas
      @Mekazas 4 года назад +2

      I had that same product, I kept looking at it too.

    • @kaliek5281
      @kaliek5281 4 года назад +7

      For me it was the BLEEM! box. Man I remember using Bleem back in the day and being AMAZED that my PC could play my Playstation discs!

    • @darkdreamsdontdie7785
      @darkdreamsdontdie7785 4 года назад +2

      Same. A man of taste.

    • @zackschilling4376
      @zackschilling4376 4 года назад +2

      and the Bleem box

    • @DataWaveTaGo
      @DataWaveTaGo 4 года назад +1

      His closet has about 5 tower boxes, the silver one is a 2006 HP unit, many shipped with a 1.6 GHz Intel Duo, 2 GB ram and XP x86. They were slow.

  • @oriannastad
    @oriannastad 4 года назад +142

    My favourite thing about Sears was the feel of the stores. It felt right out of the 80s or 90s. Shopping there made me feel like I was living in the past. I really miss being able to go to my local mall and feeling like that. :(

    • @anemoiia
      @anemoiia 4 года назад +5

      Orianna Stad
      God you’re so right!! I miss it too

    • @nancythompson3282
      @nancythompson3282 4 года назад +17

      Orianna Stad - Shopping at Sears, Pennys and Wards reminds us when our mothers took us shopping and when we wnet out with our young husband or wife shopping on weekends and evenings. Stores had cafeterias and coffee shops. They were nice experiences.

    • @hollow7994
      @hollow7994 4 года назад +1

      I still have one near by, it’s not the same knowing it might be closing.

    • @misha2197
      @misha2197 4 года назад

      Same.

    • @AaronCo29
      @AaronCo29 4 года назад +6

      That is why Sears decorated their stores that way, it wasn't because they were behind the times, they redecorated to bring you back to then, a time when America meant something and stood for something and all of their items were made in the USA before Kmart got ahold of them

  • @Switchcrafts
    @Switchcrafts 4 года назад +79

    IKEA: You can build your own living room with just our products!
    Old Sears: Hold my beer.

    • @ruthpullis9279
      @ruthpullis9279 4 года назад

      Ikea just closed its plant in Virginia. They laid off 300 people and they moved out of the USA

    • @javierpowell4705
      @javierpowell4705 4 года назад

      @@ruthpullis9279 not surprising from a Swedish company?

  • @pineapplepenguin9901
    @pineapplepenguin9901 3 года назад +29

    Very sad to watch this, especially now that Sears is getting closer and closer to closing entirely. I remember going to Sears many times as a kid, and it will always have a special place in my heart.

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад +2

      Your comment is awesome and I agree with you I will like us be friends if that’s okay with you?

  • @SarahB1863
    @SarahB1863 4 года назад +233

    The last time I went into a Sears was in 2013. It was the most dismal shopping experience I've ever had. The store was devoid of shoppers, the merchandise was skimpy, and the clerks could not have cared less. I was shopping for a dress, and what meager selection they had was nothing but really poorly-made polyester dresses that you wouldn't even find in a dollar store. They felt like they were made out of cheap plastic. Very sad; I worked for them in the late 1980s and remember what a giant the store used to be.

    • @scoobycarr5558
      @scoobycarr5558 4 года назад +11

      I didn't shop very much at Sears when I was younger, but my Mom loved buying its Kenmore appliances and Dad bought mostly its Craftsman tools and DieHard equipment for Mom's Subaru.

    • @TrustKnowWun
      @TrustKnowWun 4 года назад +4

      To be fair, by then, Sears was pretty much sunk. Back in the day, when I was a kid, Sears was a great store and all dads shopped there for tools, tires, or anything that would go in a "shed."

    • @Hopeguz3
      @Hopeguz3 3 года назад +1

      I worked at Kmart in 2013 and I never bought clothes there. They looked cheap.

    • @dakhaikh
      @dakhaikh 3 года назад

      😿

    • @ArizonaWillful
      @ArizonaWillful 3 года назад +1

      I used to walk through a mall SEARS just to get to other stores within the mall. I never once saw an actual sales person, and there were no customers. One time I saw a cute man's tee-shirt I wanted to buy, but I could not find a single sales person, got fed up and left. The store would have been a shoplifters dream come true.

  • @ColePenner
    @ColePenner 4 года назад +195

    Rip Sears :( went to a Sears on their very last day of being in business’s, bought a $16 scarf for $3

    • @Camelotsmoon
      @Camelotsmoon 4 года назад +12

      I remember going to like two stores when they had all the fire sales going; I was going to get a pair or two of jeans, but they were only like $10 off the normal price lol; I'm like damn guys, really taking your time on this store closure huh? I could've gone in like a week later to see if the prices had gone down, but I couldn't be asked.

    • @joeuginta816
      @joeuginta816 4 года назад

      Niiiiiice bro

    • @LivenSixtyFive
      @LivenSixtyFive 4 года назад

      There is a sears near me

    • @AndrewAMartin
      @AndrewAMartin 4 года назад +1

      @@Camelotsmoon Like, really? Like, wow dude, do you need to say 'like' in like every sentence, like?

    • @Camelotsmoon
      @Camelotsmoon 4 года назад

      @@AndrewAMartin Could you ever add less substance to a comment I made?

  • @tacticalmattfoley
    @tacticalmattfoley 3 года назад +317

    The reason for no windows in shopping centers: so you can't tell how much time is passing while you're inside.

    • @A_Ducky
      @A_Ducky 3 года назад +36

      Same with bars & casinos. Latter don't even put clocks on the wall to make it easier on us to relaaaax & lose track of time.. how kind of them to care so much. 🙃

    • @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113
      @ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113 3 года назад +4

      WRONG!!!!!!!!! "Vandalism", is why no Windows.

    • @tacticalmattfoley
      @tacticalmattfoley 3 года назад +14

      @@ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113 I’ve seen shopping centers that had huge windows. They weren’t IN the stores themselves. I worked in an outdoor sporting goods store and the owner told me they had no windows or skylights in this store so people couldn’t judge how much time had passed.

    • @chuckselvage3157
      @chuckselvage3157 3 года назад +19

      It's called Gruen Effect they design them to make it harder to exit as well.

    • @MMA-mh9uv
      @MMA-mh9uv 3 года назад +10

      It's because windows are an easy entry point for theft, plus windows take up valuable wall space which could have products there instead.

  • @radiomindchatter7994
    @radiomindchatter7994 3 года назад +17

    It was a big deal to visit Sears in the 60's..particularly on Saturday night..with the Beatles playing on the AM radio. Great memories of being a kid then.

  • @shiratannenbaum7662
    @shiratannenbaum7662 4 года назад +330

    A guy I know got banned from sears for playing hide and seek in the store with his friends. They shut down though so who’s laughing now

    • @Dreams-uu5uj
      @Dreams-uu5uj 4 года назад +11

      Lol

    • @mrgreyskyz
      @mrgreyskyz 4 года назад +6

      Belive it or not that's exactly what happened to me and my friends too 🤣

    • @deniseherud
      @deniseherud 4 года назад +5

      He shoulda come to juniors!!! I’d dress up boys in prom dresses and parade them thru the store😂😂😂 I really was a horrible employee....but I was one of the ‘good’ ones😂

    • @michaelscarn8933
      @michaelscarn8933 4 года назад

      not sears :>

    • @lars1588
      @lars1588 4 года назад +3

      It would be awesome to play hide-and-seek in a dead mall or department store.

  • @lankinwelder4328
    @lankinwelder4328 4 года назад +178

    How come the company that sent out a Huge catalog never adapted to the internet?

    • @otaviofrn_adv
      @otaviofrn_adv 4 года назад +39

      You never think your business model will be a thing of the past someday. Kodak, a company mentioned by this very channel on the bankrupted series, created the digital camera, but never gave up on film. Never thought new technology would reach the hands of the average Joe.
      When you see It, it's too late

    • @LadyCoyKoi
      @LadyCoyKoi 3 года назад +15

      @@otaviofrn_adv Film is still popular but for actual Photographers who like to showcase their work in museums. Nothing beats being in the dark room and having to do it all from scratch. It is like cricketing, knitting and sewing. It feels good to have and wear clothing you made yourself by hand. 😎I feel the same with photography developing the film, reviewing the negatives old fashion way and then developing the pictures using actual gloss paper or matte paper.

    • @karmathegiant
      @karmathegiant 3 года назад +11

      They did have a website but it was not very good and they didn’t seem to care for some odd reason. It’s a mystery.

    • @katsudon2048
      @katsudon2048 3 года назад

      Basically littlewoods, index

    • @andrefecteau
      @andrefecteau 3 года назад +2

      alot of people missed the online move...the move to mobile and soon to 5G...it weird when it goes great you think it will never end...but it will.

  • @Jonny_O
    @Jonny_O 4 года назад +116

    Retailing is easy: just ask yourself "what would Eddie Lampert do?" and then do the exact opposite.

    • @markeyboi6545
      @markeyboi6545 4 года назад +4

      Maybe, but one could argue that letting the company go bankrupt, then buying it cheaply with your holding company is actually pretty smart. (But in the process ruining the brand's rep and revenue)

    • @OlegKostoglatov
      @OlegKostoglatov 4 года назад +1

      He may end up paying the piper for doing that, in one way or another.

    • @SeaJay_Oceans
      @SeaJay_Oceans 4 года назад +3

      @@markeyboi6545 Bingo - you could create a new term: 'Predatory Management' - Drive the company out of business, so you can buy it, then reshape it and bring it back as a new LLC cutting out all the bad debt and contracts. The magic of Bankruptcy Laws. Legal & profitable way to take over and turn things around. . . now ... ... ... still waiting ... ... ... for the Turn around ... ... ... Boomers love the ''Old Sears''.
      Leaders build successful companies,
      Successful companies attract followers,
      followers take over the companies and become aimless.
      companies are driven into the ground by MBA managers with fancy paper degrees but couldn't sell a life vest to a man drowning ...
      Quality is Job #1. The cheapness disease, seeing the customers only as suckers to fleece - it's just impossible to hide that contempt for the customer, and they leave. No one wants disrespected with junk products. That's why Apple is the new Sears... Glue together cheap products that break when you drop them, glass on both sides, just - wow. No, designed obsolescence is Toxic Waste thinking.
      People would rather have products and companies they can TRUST. Lose that TRUST and then they lose the customers. Forever.

    • @chrisdahl864
      @chrisdahl864 4 года назад

      @@markeyboi6545 But,look at all of the land & good locations Eddie controls. That is why he bought Kmart and Sears. He'll make billions!! Sh**ing on the rest of us.

  • @mrjmlol
    @mrjmlol 3 года назад +15

    Just imagine
    Parents: You can get Only one thing at Sears
    Kid: Ok, I want that House

  • @archieread9875
    @archieread9875 4 года назад +86

    We only carry sized 1-6 I guess you could try sears
    - Mean Girls

  • @2222jm
    @2222jm 4 года назад +74

    Does anybody remember Best Stores? I remember as a kid going to the store and ordering items and waiting for them to magically arrive via one or more conveyor belts in the middle of the store.

    • @burendasan
      @burendasan 4 года назад +3

      I had almost forgotten about Best! I remember going with my parents as a young child in the mid-late ‘80s

    • @RonKosey
      @RonKosey 4 года назад +2

      I loved the Best catalog as a kid and the store was magical. I think our ping pong table was the last purchase there.

    • @marc751
      @marc751 4 года назад +2

      I loved Best. Got a bike from there.

    • @ZachArmstrong02
      @ZachArmstrong02 4 года назад +1

      Yes I remember going there when I was a kid there and Service Merchandise

    • @kiand9433
      @kiand9433 4 года назад +2

      And also the exteriors of the building. Oh those were interesting :)

  • @SirKGuido
    @SirKGuido 4 года назад +90

    Started by mail order. Killed by mail order!

  • @turbofanlover
    @turbofanlover 2 года назад +45

    As a kid growing up in the late 70s, the arrival of the annual Sears Christmas Wish Book was a HUGE anticipated event. So many wonderful memories. I really miss that time.

    • @DocNo27
      @DocNo27 2 года назад +2

      Imagine if just a few of us had saved them. I kick myself!

    • @RemoWilliams1227
      @RemoWilliams1227 Год назад

      Oh hell yeah, circling the toys you wanted, glorious times my friend.

    • @dr.edwardvedder1992
      @dr.edwardvedder1992 Год назад +1

      I liked the regular catalog. All those ladies in bras!

    • @RemoWilliams1227
      @RemoWilliams1227 Год назад

      @@dr.edwardvedder1992 lol Doc we all did, I preferred Montgomery Ward but I'm a little more cultured 😂

  • @abuelajoleen7039
    @abuelajoleen7039 3 года назад +162

    Our Sear's Store closed this year, 2020, along with K-mart, and Penny's. So sad to see all these stores going out of business.

    • @christopherray6370
      @christopherray6370 3 года назад +17

      They had great runs. Just didn't adapt to modern times.

    • @_cal_techie
      @_cal_techie 3 года назад +11

      Epic fails by stupid and greedy owners and management.

    • @JC-11111
      @JC-11111 3 года назад +3

      We still have Penney's & Dillards, too. I better go get pictures before they're gone for good.

    • @rhettolivierpiccio4457
      @rhettolivierpiccio4457 3 года назад

      @@JC-11111 I never heard Dillards in a long time

    • @A_Ducky
      @A_Ducky 3 года назад +1

      Watch that area. What's gonna happen to all the closed malls? I'm expecting as usual: rich ppl will bring down the cost of that real estate, buy it at it cheapest, then open/build something that's gonna bring them a ton of money. This is done in select parts of every big city across USA; I've been watching it since arriving 27yrs ago.

  • @khrystellehutton6651
    @khrystellehutton6651 4 года назад +109

    My connection to Sears is that my mother went into labor in the Everett mall location back in 1994.

    • @GoofNerdProductions
      @GoofNerdProductions 4 года назад +4

      Wow

    • @piano2live09
      @piano2live09 4 года назад +2

      Khrystelle Blackburn and that place just closed

    • @amandasky2296
      @amandasky2296 4 года назад

      94? why do u look 45 lol

    • @khrystellehutton6651
      @khrystellehutton6651 4 года назад

      @@amandasky2296 bahaha. I have never heard that in my life. This was a professional photographer from work a couple years ago. In real life, I look 16 (if that) blessed with a baby face.

    • @dylanmaher2526
      @dylanmaher2526 Год назад

      Your comment is amazing and I love it, can we be friends if you don’t mind?

  • @FalconPunch1978
    @FalconPunch1978 4 года назад +138

    Not sure I’m ready for this video. Still haven’t gotten over the depression of toys r us closing.

    • @BlissfulBluebell
      @BlissfulBluebell 4 года назад +12

      Apparently they're planning to reopen 🤔

    • @macbookpro57
      @macbookpro57 4 года назад +2

      They’ve already started re-opening smaller stores in large malls. I was just in Houston for the holidays and they have one in the galleria. I was confused af when I saw it at first 😂

    • @Ara-Fox
      @Ara-Fox 4 года назад

      Come to Mexico over here the place is going full power

    • @Pinkielover
      @Pinkielover 4 года назад +1

      why ,? they always sucked.. over priced and never had what you needed

    • @mattwalters6834
      @mattwalters6834 4 года назад

      Philip Alani the last one we has was at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, West Virginia and I think it’s now been relegated to a pick up location for parts of equipment or other goodies that you’ve ordered but it could be closed for all I know.

  • @Razuberri
    @Razuberri 2 года назад +11

    The most haunted feeling and liminal space I’ve ever been in was a Sears in 2014. The store was practically empty and everything that was left was severely discounted. The back room I went in to was EMPTY, like they did not have a single thing in stock. An absolutely cursed place.

  • @CnekYT
    @CnekYT 4 года назад +56

    We need a Northland Mall in Detroit Abandoned episode...

    • @LOL-pt3cw
      @LOL-pt3cw 4 года назад +7

      Yes, isn’t that the oldest mall in the US?

    • @Judgment
      @Judgment 4 года назад +6

      Can you believe that everything around the Sears location in Livonia are now closed from 20 years ago (Livonia Mall, Toys R Us, Mervyn's, etc), but Sears itself is still around?

    • @rareavisfugit
      @rareavisfugit 4 года назад +5

      So many malls are just empty, dead places

    • @dvferyance
      @dvferyance 4 года назад +5

      The whole city of Detroit is abandoned

    • @DSBOY33
      @DSBOY33 4 года назад +1

      Hey don't forget about Eastland they need one too

  • @flanexism0165
    @flanexism0165 4 года назад +74

    The sears in my city’s mall has been “closing out “ for about six years now. They don’t even play music anymore. The only reason it’s still there is cause our mall itself is dying, and sears is the only reason people still come- along with kohl’s . It’s crazy.

    • @Achilles·LastStand
      @Achilles·LastStand 4 года назад +3

      Wait, do they still sell things? Where is this

    • @royroblox
      @royroblox 3 года назад +1

      I would kill to spend some time there ... the Sears and the dying mall are probably not long to live :’(

  • @jwhitaker42599
    @jwhitaker42599 4 года назад +94

    When the Sears closest to my house closed, my dad was given the A in the sign.

  • @DennisJohnsonDrummer
    @DennisJohnsonDrummer Год назад +14

    Our entire house was from Sears growing up. My dad and I would go to the separate
    outdoor building at Sears to look at mini bikes and lawn stuff while my mom shopped
    in the main store. Such a great time. I can still smell that smell of rubber tires and
    outdoor equipment. We lost a great store when Sears went under. Even my Boy Scout
    uniform and equipment was bought at Sears. And that candy counter with those
    chocolate covered peanuts. I can still see my dad waiting in the shoe department
    for my mom to finish shopping. Such nostalgia. R.I.P. Sears & Roebuck.

  • @SRV14624
    @SRV14624 4 года назад +50

    I would love to see you cover the rise and fall of Kodak someday. I think that would be pretty interesting.

  • @willr.5583
    @willr.5583 4 года назад +82

    Lesson learned : never engage a wall street person.

  • @Sciron
    @Sciron 4 года назад +199

    It sounds like the ceo robbed sears and Kmart

    • @kevinpatrick8788
      @kevinpatrick8788 4 года назад +3

      Sciron thats what all these ceos do .

    • @gentlemanjoe6912
      @gentlemanjoe6912 4 года назад +6

      He didn't rob it..he just didn't do anything to really help it's decline and just rode it to the end to collect his money, sell the stores' infastructure and remainder before saying "Bye!"

    • @scottnathens6377
      @scottnathens6377 4 года назад +2

      I won't speak to Sears, but more generally, capital rules have changed so that it is easier to utilize massive pools of money to openly speculate. I hate to say this, but unless capital is tamed, again, through responsible legislative authority, any vulnerable or even successful company remains " in play." Liquidation, again, generally, can free up both financial and human capital for better utilization. (Complex trading strategies, as well, sometimes not even legal, can ensure profits of raiders and take-over tycoons; they do it for themselves and their bank accounts; not as a public service. There is a great deal of cynicism when they target historic businesses; but this is in their nature; and we and our Congress sit by and twiddle our thumbs.)

  • @CranberryFo
    @CranberryFo Год назад +13

    I remember as a young girl, one of my favorite parts of the month of December was looking through the Sears catalog to come up with Christmas ideas. My siblings and I would look all through the catalog, eyeing all the toys we dreamed of getting under the tree that year. I used to think Santa's elves made the items in the catalog.
    The Sear's Catalog was pretty much what Amazon is. It contained almost anything you can think of, and you ordered it and it got shipped to you. It is shocking to me that the Sears catalog was discontinued and never brought back. If the Sears catalog had been put online, that would have been a really big deal. They could very well have become what Amazon is today had the catalog migrated to online instead of being cancelled.

  • @Stormy01
    @Stormy01 4 года назад +307

    I cant wait to hear the Abandoned - Walmart

    • @butterboiii9810
      @butterboiii9810 4 года назад +70

      Stormy That probably won’t happen for decades.

    • @SeaJay_Oceans
      @SeaJay_Oceans 4 года назад +43

      Abandoned ''Apple Stores'' - Telling the grand kids how people would camp out in front of a retail store to buy a cell phone, and they just look at you ... ???
      ''Yes, back here they had sarcastic hipsters that would insult the customers and call them ''Hey Genius, just buy a new one !''
      Apple = Sears and going down fast... Sad, they could make good computers / phones / tablets - instead they invested in more glue and cheaper manufacturing. Bad move. Even the iTunes is broken now - only runs on Windows 10, abandoned all other customers... all of them, and no - PC users won't go buy a new PC just because iTunes abandoned them.

    • @chevy266nova
      @chevy266nova 4 года назад +10

      You and me both.

    • @nevadadavoode83
      @nevadadavoode83 4 года назад +3

      SeaJay Oceans How is it going down fast? I don’t think they have the best quality but it’s certainly not bad. Obviously because of the name they’ll have their products much more expensive. They are also improving their quality. I don’t know which products but some of them will be made here in the US and will be better quality. What goes up must come down so eventually I’m sure they’ll fail. Just like how huge Nokia was and now they’re basically unheard of

    • @SeaJay_Oceans
      @SeaJay_Oceans 4 года назад +10

      @@nevadadavoode83 Apple is the SEARS of 2020s.
      Their software updates BRICKED iPads, and iTunes demands new windows 10 computer to access the iTunes store.
      Sorry, but apple is just glued together metal, glass, plastic, and batteries... Yo APPLE ? e-waste ?
      But ultimately a USA corporation exploiting Asian labor for profits has one and one goal only: take more money...
      Steve Jobs understood: Push the quality up and the profits will follow. But now ?
      Lost, just lost the difference is loss of leadership replaced by management.
      If they move all production back into USA,
      and have automated factories, maybe they will continue. But no push on Macs, it's like they forgot them ... all iphone and ipad now...

  • @orsonjarrett
    @orsonjarrett 4 года назад +64

    I don’t like when old companies shut down. =(

    • @pathogenicobstacle32
      @pathogenicobstacle32 4 года назад

      Mr. Cairo Yes it does

    • @I_am_a_cat_
      @I_am_a_cat_ 4 года назад +2

      Who cares? It happens. More will come.
      And the person above me that said "yes it does" is an idiot, or a kid. You have no idea. Nothing, NOTHING lasts forever. Not even black holes.

    • @destormmystery6490
      @destormmystery6490 4 года назад +1

      Mr. Cairo pepperidge farms remembers

    • @allystroup4247
      @allystroup4247 4 года назад

      Same here

    • @everythingsalright1121
      @everythingsalright1121 4 года назад +2

      Some companies i wouldnt mind dying due to their ethics

  • @MoE_judymartinez
    @MoE_judymartinez 4 года назад +69

    i miss stores like Mervyn's and Sears. i remember being excited to go to Circurt City to get new CDs for my walkman in the early 2000s. in my area the old mervyn's and circurt city buildings are both now a Sprouts market and the Sears factories and buildings are just there as a memory

    • @jacobwarren7876
      @jacobwarren7876 4 года назад +2

      I remember mervins and circuit city’s i was born in 95 so I’ve seen a lot of business go

    • @Paran0idGamer
      @Paran0idGamer 4 года назад

      I honestly think I live next to you or in the same area

  • @slackerman9758
    @slackerman9758 3 года назад +34

    Let’s all shed a tear for Sears going out of business, when they themselves put thousands of mom and pop stores out of business.

    • @Rickswars
      @Rickswars 2 года назад +5

      Mom N pop stores didn't sell craftsman's tools, clothing, and Craftman lawn mowers, the big Corp gas station stores and drug stores put Pop N Ma. under!! Sears sold only made in America or quality products, the cheaper Chinese made products sold at Kmart n Walmart etc put Sears stores under.

  • @KayleeCee
    @KayleeCee 4 года назад +34

    My grandparents were all about Sears when I was a kid. This would have been in the 80s and 90s. They had a Sears charge card and almost everything they bought for their home, yard, garden, and garage was from Sears. Appliances, tools, clothes, kitchenware, electronics, towels... you name it. It's a shame that they've been going downhill for quite some time now because they used to have some pretty nice stuff. Not anything fancy, but just about anything a middle class family could want or need. I remember leafing through grandma's giant Sears catalogue at Christmastime writing down what I wanted.

    • @YaowBucketHEAD
      @YaowBucketHEAD 4 года назад +1

      It seems that all middle class families just spent money and bought stuff because they could.
      Everytime I went to my Grandparents house as a kid in the 90s, we *always* went shopping. Sears, Montgomery Ward, Marshall's, "Penney's", and old school Wal*Mart (before they adopted the grocery side).
      My grandparents had a "charge card" for each store and would just buy tons of junk really. Snacks, lawn ornaments, tools, stock up on batteries for the end of the world, clothes, really ugly clothes, more shoes than you would know what to do with, etc.
      I think it was just a thing at the time. Strong economy and the consumerist mindset went wild.
      I'm 36 now and I don't spend money like they did. Never had a credit card, only buy what I need after searching online for the best deal, I try to visit brick and mortar stores out of pity, but I don't spend much. Just get what I need if it's a reasonable price.
      The lack of a middle class and the lack of people more than willing to spend every dollar that comes into their possession and buy insane amounts of things on credit had to make a huge impact on Sears and the malls.

  • @johnbarron4843
    @johnbarron4843 4 года назад +58

    *Who remembers not knowing where to check out your products? There would be 15 checkout places without anyone there. Then you’d have to go chase someone down.*

    • @slcRN1971
      @slcRN1971 3 года назад +1

      Even when you finally did find an employee, many times they would direct you to a check-out .....where no one was available to help you.

  • @ast-og-losta
    @ast-og-losta 4 года назад +117

    I worked for Sears back in the early 80's. There were many things that led to their downfall. The biggest one was losing market share to Walmart, then to internet shopping. The management at Sears were blissfully unaware through their own igonrance and unwillingness to adapt to a changing market.

    • @kennethklein1262
      @kennethklein1262 3 года назад +2

      I worked for another big retailer with the same problem: management blissfully unaware of the real world. They got bought out by a venture capital group who then fired management at all levels. Our managers never saw it coming.

    • @nicopolis7377
      @nicopolis7377 3 года назад +2

      The start of the downward slide began when they stopped giving their employee's a comission on sales , which I believe was 2 % .

    • @ast-og-losta
      @ast-og-losta 3 года назад +1

      @@nicopolis7377 Its was more than that back in the day. Back in the late seventies and early eighties, if you sold a MA with the product you could get as much as 13%

  • @100percentSNAFU
    @100percentSNAFU 3 года назад +11

    By the late 90's or so, Sears pretty much had cheaply made low end merchandise, and even the Kenmore and Craftsman brands, which were once among the best, had fallen very far. However, Sears in Canada was always much higher end. They sold designer clothing brands that you would see in higher end American stores like Nordstrom's or Macy's (before Macy's went to crap). I always found that strange. It was like a completely different store north of the border.

    • @ItzBIULD
      @ItzBIULD Год назад +1

      I think it has to do with the difference in what people want out of a store cross the border.
      It's kinda the same reason target in Canada failed. It failed to recognize what Canadians wanted in oppose to what Americans wanted out of a store.

  • @bugjams
    @bugjams 4 года назад +94

    old abandoned stores like Sears or K-Marts have such an oddly calm, dream-like quality to them. I just wanna go to one and walk around inside for an hour or two and just lose myself.

    • @TimurTripp2
      @TimurTripp2 4 года назад +23

      There's an abandoned K-Mart near where I used to live. It's boarded up so I'm not sure about finding a way inside. Regardless, the "Big K" sign box is still there in front but tattered and faded. This combined with the empty parking lot gives it an incredibly odd and dystopian look, especially as I have memories of this location as an active store...

    • @xyneiumr5028
      @xyneiumr5028 4 года назад +7

      Timur Tripp I love the way you described it.

  • @justinarenas7946
    @justinarenas7946 4 года назад +84

    My mom is still a manager at a Sears in NJ it’s crazy to think she’s been there for 20+ years

    • @youmadbro742
      @youmadbro742 4 года назад +6

      They closed our store for good last year

    • @rasul407
      @rasul407 4 года назад

      How much does she make a year?

    • @jimmoore2838
      @jimmoore2838 4 года назад +5

      Wouldn't hurt her to make sure her resume is up to date

    • @nancythompson3282
      @nancythompson3282 4 года назад +3

      Justin Arenas- I am fearful about your mother loosing out completely on any promised retirement coming from Sears. A friend of mine who was a Delta airline captain for like 25 years had his retirement check come down from around $2000 a month to less than $500 a month after company went bankrupt.

    • @rasul407
      @rasul407 4 года назад +3

      Nancy Thompson wtf are you serious? $500 a week is barely enough let alone a month

  • @wingnut5485
    @wingnut5485 4 года назад +214

    In a way, Sears is still alive through the brands they created.

    • @richardm3023
      @richardm3023 4 года назад +21

      Which are all made poorly in China and sold to the people that used to make them.

    • @evolvedferal
      @evolvedferal 4 года назад +12

      @@richardm3023 how is allstate made in China?

    • @RexWort
      @RexWort 4 года назад +1

      Richard M
      Still cheaper than other Chines made overpriced stuff

    • @exertioz
      @exertioz 4 года назад +1

      That One yeah

    • @truantray
      @truantray 4 года назад +2

      @@evolvedferal you mean Arrstate?

  • @Chitown2586
    @Chitown2586 3 года назад +3

    You need to do what happened to Montgomery Wards.