Sears has filed for bankruptcy

[47of74]

Another one is biting the dust

Quote

Sears, once the largest retailer in the U.S., has now filed for bankruptcy protection and said Monday morning it plans to close 142 more stores this year — adding to the stores the retailer already shuttered in 2018.

It isn't immediately known which stores the company plans to shutter. It once operated more than 3,500 locations across the U.S. under its namesake Sears brand and Kmart. Roughly 700 are still in business and it hopes to keep a portion open through this holiday season.

Sears has been shedding its real estate for years as one way to raise cash when the company has been in a pinch. In 2015, it spun off about 250 stores to form a real estate investment trust called Seritage. Within just the past two years, it has shut more than 700 stores.

Kind of sad to see that happen, but not surprising.  They've been on the downward spiral for years now.  Both our local Sears and Mark of K are long gone here.

 

[Briefly]

They are filing with the intent of staying in business but I will be surprised if they are able to.  It's sad, they are such an old company but I'm not surprised.  The Kmarts in the Tulsa area are all gone now and we only have one Sears in Tulsa now.  I'm not sure if there are even any Sears stores in Oklahoma beyond the one in Tulsa.

[AliceInFundyland]

Yes I am surprised they have lasted this long. The appliances kept them around perhaps. That’s an in person experience.

[47of74]

1 hour ago, AliceInFundyland said:

Yes I am surprised they have lasted this long. The appliances kept them around perhaps. That’s an in person experience.

Yeah a few years back our microwave at work was on its last legs so I talked my manager into letting me get a replacement.  I went to Sears to find a replacement.  I decided to pick a Kenmore that was right at the high end of the price range my manager gave me instead of some cheap knockoff that would probably only last a year.  It would've been above the price range except it was on sale at the time.  I put the expense report in figuring he'd throw a fit but he was like, meh, okay.  It was a pretty good microwave too for the 1.5 years I was there afterwards.

I'm one of those who would rather go for some name brand appliance rather than some knockoff brand that no one has ever heard of before because those knockoff brands never seem to last as long.  Might be cheaper but then you're right back where you started a year or two later.

(The microwave it replaced was a cheap knock off one where the inner coating started peeling off not even nine months after purchase).

[clueliss]

I'm watching this one because my step-father worked for KMart at a distribution center.  He passed in 2009 but my mother gets a tiny pension payment each month. 

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

Sears Canada went bankrupt last year and had lots of bad press for paying off creditors over employees. So I legit forgot that it was still a thing in the US.

I didn't go to the liquidation sales but I heard they were pretty good.

[PennySycamore]

What's going to happen to Lands' End?  I just bought a new plaid tunic from them and want a few more.  They're wonderful for chilly weather, which, thankfully, seems to have arrived at last.

[Snarkasarus Rex]

3 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

What's going to happen to Lands' End?  I just bought a new plaid tunic from them and want a few more.  They're wonderful for chilly weather, which, thankfully, seems to have arrived at last.

Sears doesn’t own LE anymore, although you could return LE items to Sears.  That’s the only reason I ever went into a Sears.

 

[PennySycamore]

@Snarkasarus Rex, I did not know that Sears and Lands' End had severed their relationship.  That's good to hear.

[libgirl2]

Well the Sears that is near me is going to close. I rarely shopped there. I hated the check outs. It took forever, there were usually only a few open and the lines were long. Last year was kind of the final straw. I had a $10 off coupon. I wanted to get a fleece top for my mom who is in a nursing home. I didn't want to spend a lot of money as things get lost in the laundry all the time and thought I could maybe get something for around $10. Every single fleece top I picked out wasn't eligible for the coupon ---- special value, sale price...... I finally left the coupon at the register and said forget it. 

[47of74]

5 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

What's going to happen to Lands' End?  I just bought a new plaid tunic from them and want a few more.  They're wonderful for chilly weather, which, thankfully, seems to have arrived at last.

Lands' End was spun off from Sears back in 2013. 

[smittykins]

4 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Yeah a few years back our microwave at work was on its last legs so I talked my manager into letting me get a replacement.  I went to Sears to find a replacement.  I decided to pick a Kenmore that was right at the high end of the price range my manager gave me instead of some cheap knockoff that would probably only last a year.  It would've been above the price range except it was on sale at the time.  I put the expense report in figuring he'd throw a fit but he was like, meh, okay.  It was a pretty good microwave too for the 1.5 years I was there afterwards.

I'm one of those who would rather go for some name brand appliance rather than some knockoff brand that no one has ever heard of before because those knockoff brands never seem to last as long.  Might be cheaper but then you're right back where you started a year or two later.

(The microwave it replaced was a cheap knock off one where the inner coating started peeling off not even nine months after purchase).

I'm also on Team "You Get What You Pay For."

We haven't had Sears/KMart in my neck of the woods for at least a decade.  We don't even have Target(closest is in Syracuse).

[PennySycamore]

Where we used to have a Kmart, there is now a Kohl's, a Tractor Supply, an Ulta, a Ross, and a Five Below.  I need to stop by Tractor Supply and see if they have any bigger dog bowls.  Petsmart doesn't carry any that are big enough.  I also could use a few things at Ulta. 

[47of74]

22 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Where we used to have a Kmart, there is now a Kohl's, a Tractor Supply, an Ulta, a Ross, and a Five Below.  I need to stop by Tractor Supply and see if they have any bigger dog bowls.  Petsmart doesn't carry any that are big enough.  I also could use a few things at Ulta. 

The closest Tractor Supply is about 70 miles from me.  I stopped there yesterday just to check them out since it had been so long.  When Bishop's closed at the local mall instead of getting a certain fruit company based out of California to set up shop they instead gutted the restaurant space and got Ulta in there instead.

[Howl]

3 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Lands' End was spun off from Sears back in 2013.

Good to know.  Eddie Bauer used to be my go-to for tall sizes, but they are gradually leaving that in the rear view mirror and Lands Ends is taking over the tall size offerings.  These days LE seems to be slightly less expensive and higher quality than Eddie Bauer. 

There is a Super Sears near me.  I'm surprised they have lasted as long as they did; that store was almost always deserted. 

Wonder if JC Penny will make it. 

[GreyhoundFan]

3 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Lands' End was spun off from Sears back in 2013. 

They also sold Craftsman tools off to Black and Decker. I have some of the old Robogrip pliers. They were the best ever. The new ones are so cheaply made.

[Briefly]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

Good to know.  Eddie Bauer used to be my go-to for tall sizes, but they are gradually leaving that in the rear view mirror and Lands Ends is taking over the tall size offerings.  These days LE seems to be slightly less expensive and higher quality than Eddie Bauer. 

There is a Super Sears near me.  I'm surprised they have lasted as long as they did; that store was almost always deserted. 

Wonder if JC Penny will make it. 

They had issues a couple of years ago, some of the Oklahoma stores closed but not the Tulsa ones.  JC Penny's has changed a lot and gotten more expensive.  I hope they make it, though.

[Cartmann99]

I have a Kenmore brand refrigerator and stove from Sears.

[HarleyQuinn]

I feel like Sears has been going out of business for the last decade. Ours finally bit the dust a few years ago.

I don't think JCP will have the same issue. They have high quality clothes and the salons + Sephora to help. Plus didn't the acquisition of Kmart essentially make them compete against each other?

[Vivi_music]

9 hours ago, PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea said:

Sears Canada went bankrupt last year and had lots of bad press for paying off creditors over employees. So I legit forgot that it was still a thing in the US.

I didn't go to the liquidation sales but I heard they were pretty good.

I went to see some of the liquidation at our Sears last year but it was not that great. At least at our nearest Sears. I know tons of people in my area where saying it wasn't a good enough deal. I think they had trouble selling stuff away because they did end up lowing the sales more than they first did. Mr. Music got a winter coat at 40% off and it was amongst the best sales. Maybe it was local stores that decided how to undergo their liquidation?

It is sad but a predictable end, unfortunately. It is the market that is changing. I remember waiting for the Christmas catalog every fall as a kid, When we would get it, it was a party night in our PJs. We would sit at the kitchen table after dinner, my mom, my sister and I and look at all THE PAGES in that one night. Fun memories. I'm not trying to be nostalgic about the past, paper catalogs and such. I'm a very frequent (and happy) online shopper. It's just weird to realize how much has changed and how the internet changed all of that.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

2 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I have a Kenmore brand refrigerator and stove from Sears.

I think all the large appliances at my parent's house are Kenmore. I hope someone is still around to sell parts and repair them in a few years.

I grew up with Kenmore everything, but our one experience with a new Kenmore appliance (microwave) didn't go that well. It died 6 months after the 1 year warranty expired. Repairs would have cost more than a new cheap microwave from Walmart. The cheap microwave from Walmart is still working, 4 years later. We have a good Kenmore washing machine, but we got it second hand. 

[PennySycamore]

Kenmore's appliances are all made by other well-known appliance brands, but I don't remember what appliance has what manufacturer.   They all used to be made by Whirlpool, but that's not true anymore

@GreyhoundFan,  Craftsman tools used to be guaranteed for life, no questions asked.  That's sad that they've gone downhill in terms of quality since their acquisition by Black and Decker.  (Of course, when Littermaid cat boxes was acquired by B&D, the same thing happened.  The B&D LIttermaids were crap!  B&D also tried to drive their competitors in automatic litterboxes out of business.Didn't entirely work.)

[GreyhoundFan]

45 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Kenmore's appliances are all made by other well-known appliance brands, but I don't remember what appliance has what manufacturer.   They all used to be made by Whirlpool, but that's not true anymore

@GreyhoundFan,  Craftsman tools used to be guaranteed for life, no questions asked.  That's sad that they've gone downhill in terms of quality since their acquisition by Black and Decker.  (Of course, when Littermaid cat boxes was acquired by B&D, the same thing happened.  The B&D LIttermaids were crap!  B&D also tried to drive their competitors in automatic litterboxes out of business.Didn't entirely work.)

My stove is a Frigidaire, the salesman at Sears said they made Kenmore stoves at that time (17 years ago). The only difference I could see was the design of the grates on the stovetop (it's a gas model). The Frigidaire was $10 less, so I bought it.

Per Wikipedia, the warranty changed:

Quote

Sears has reduced the warranty in effect on many Craftsman non-powered lawn and garden products including rakes, shovels, clippers, brooms, trowels, pruners, hoses, sprinklers, hose nozzles, and other small gardening hand tools. Previously it was a lifetime warranty which on August 2, 2012, was reduced to 25 years with receipt required.[29] The lifetime warranty does not include precision hand tools, such as calipers and torque wrenches.[30]

Many consumers have also been reporting problems when attempting to obtain warranty repair or replacement on tools that are covered by the full lifetime warranty. Sears' official position is that the warranty should be honored, and much of the problem may lie with individual sales associates.[28] In some cases Sears no longer sells particular Craftsman tools, (tape measures, and wood clamps are two examples), making it impossible to replace a tool sold with a lifetime warranty with a similar Craftsman tool that will continue the warranty.

Sears stores limit the number of hand tools that can be exchanged per day, in an effort to reduce the abuse of the lifetime warranty. Stanley Black & Decker has stated that all previous warranties on Craftsman products will be honored[29] after the purchase of Craftsman in 2017.

Power tools have a one-year warranty.[29]

 

[AliceInFundyland]

Ohhh the Sears catalog. The toys.  ?

[kpmom]

12 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

They also sold Craftsman tools off to Black and Decker. I have some of the old Robogrip pliers. They were the best ever. The new ones are so cheaply made.

Once they sold off Craftsman and Kenmore it seemed the writing was on the wall.  My husband loved Craftsman tools and they were about the only reason he went to Sears.