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Why Am I Sad Sears Is Closing?

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  • Wee67
    Museum Correspondent
    • Apr 2, 2002
    • 10586

    Why Am I Sad Sears Is Closing?

    I think the last time I was in a Sears was about 1996. And even then, it was just to cut through it on way inside the Neshaminy Mall.

    Even in my teens, I always thought of Sears as "lame." I still carry the scar of wearing Toughskins amid my Levi-clad peers in the always-tough pubescent middle school years. I have done nothing to support the chain, yet I still feel sad they are now suffering a slow death. I guess I've underestimated the attachment Sears has to my carefree (well less care filled) childhood. I remember paging through the Wish Book to circle some NFL gear, a Snoopy radio and, of course, several Megos. Long live the Wish Book!!

    WANTED - Solid-Boxed WGSH's, C.8 or better.
  • EmergencyIan
    Museum Paramedic
    • Aug 31, 2005
    • 5470

    #2
    It is sad after the long and fabled history that Sears has had. There’s a lot of history there. Most Americans have shopped there at one time or another over the past 100 years.

    - Ian
    Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?

    Comment

    • Earth 2 Chris
      Verbose Member
      • Mar 7, 2004
      • 32498

      #3
      It is sad that something so ubiquitous is going away. It's like Coke going out of business.

      Our nearby Sears closed several years ago, and it was once the anchor store of the biggest mall in the area.

      Chris
      sigpic

      Comment

      • Mr.Marion
        Permanent Member
        • Sep 15, 2014
        • 2733

        #4
        Sadly the local Kmart is finally kicking the bucket. I remember that was a big toy destination as a kid.

        Comment

        • Bruce Banner
          HULK SMASH!
          • Apr 3, 2010
          • 4327

          #5
          Many were the delightful trips to Sears when I was a kid... often involving Megos and then Kenner SW figures.
          PUNY HUMANS!

          Comment

          • thunderbolt
            Hi Ernie!!!
            • Feb 15, 2004
            • 34211

            #6
            yeah, sad for me, too. My Grandma worked for Sears in Chicago, so all my XMas stuff was picked from the catalog since she got a discount (of course!) Most of my Cubs shirts came from there too.
            You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie Banks

            Comment

            • palitoy
              live. laugh. lisa needs braces
              • Jun 16, 2001
              • 59204

              #7
              Sears went belly up in Canada last year, screwing their employees but giving their executives bonuses. If they had have survived, I'd have stopped shopping there.

              Nothing but fond childhood memories there and I was a regular shopper there. It was quiet.
              Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

              Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
              http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

              Comment

              • Hector
                el Hombre de Acero
                • May 19, 2003
                • 31852

                #8
                I miss the Sears of my childhood. I even miss the Sears from 20 years ago. But I do not miss today’s Sears. Nothing but horrid customer service. Uncaring employees (can’t really blame them, as they are grossly underpaid). One or two cashiers in the entire bloody store. Terrible return policy. Depleted goods selection. Even their once mighty and famous Craftsman hardware section looks paltry. It’s a past its prime store that needs to finally put to pasture.

                *side note* Sears was the largest retailer in the United States until October 1989, when Walmart surpassed it. As of 2017, Sears is the 23rd largest retailer in the United States. After several years of declining sales, its parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018.

                Ok, we all know Amazon, eBay, Internet, etc...played a huge part. But other brick and mortar retailers thrived (look at Walmart, Target, BestBuy, Home Depot, etc, thrived. What happened to Sears?
                Last edited by Hector; Oct 16, '18, 5:01 PM.
                sigpic

                Comment

                • glimpy
                  Loco Chango
                  • Feb 5, 2012
                  • 682

                  #9
                  I have alot of good memories with Sears. Such as getting three blue snaggletooths in the creature Cantina Sears set. Getting up to 9 keys in the Pac-Man video game in this sears arcade
                  Eating the best popcorn there and the Swedish Fish in the little candy section. In 1976 getting a pair of black cowboy boots first pair I ever had. Sure going to miss it although it's not the same anymore anyway.
                  sigpic

                  Comment

                  • PNGwynne
                    Master of Fowl Play
                    • Jun 5, 2008
                    • 19445

                    #10
                    Sears stores hold few special memories for me; as far as department stores go, I'm a J.C Penney's customer. But oh, those catalogues. I grew up and still live in a rural area--mail-order was frequent and the Wish Book and others were a cherished part of my childhood. I pored and pined over those pages, making hierarchical lists of things I coveted.

                    When RSS posts a catalogue ad here, sometimes it triggers an intense, nostalgic sense of deja-vu. I can recall (or nearly so!) the catalogue and what item I received from it. Amazon can never replace that.
                    Last edited by PNGwynne; Oct 16, '18, 6:12 PM.
                    WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                    Comment

                    • Hedji
                      Citizen of Gotham
                      • Nov 17, 2012
                      • 7246

                      #11
                      I used to enjoy going into Sears and trying out the Intellivision games they had on display.

                      The adult in me is bummed that's one less place you can get a garage door opener or snow blower.

                      Comment

                      • TomStrong
                        Persistent Member
                        • Jul 22, 2011
                        • 1635

                        #12
                        I remember going there as a kid and watching cartoons in a “booth” for lack of a better term while my mom shopped. It was like an enclosed video game with a quarter operated film projector inside. It was so cool! Never saw another one anywhere but the Sears in Florence, Alabama.

                        Comment

                        • EmergencyIan
                          Museum Paramedic
                          • Aug 31, 2005
                          • 5470

                          #13
                          ^ That triggers a vague memory for me. I seem to remember old cartoons and one was the penguin...chilly silly or something like that. I couldn’t tell you were the booth was, I was too young, but it very well could have been at Sears.

                          - Ian

                          EDIT: I think we are both thinking of a Kiddierama booth:

                          Last edited by EmergencyIan; Oct 16, '18, 8:43 PM.
                          Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?

                          Comment

                          • Obibob
                            Museum Super Collector
                            • Jul 27, 2007
                            • 222

                            #14
                            I think that was Chilly Willy. Lots of great childhood memories from Sears: I got my first Major Matt Mason figure, the AMT Star Trek Klingon Cruiser model kit (long box), and the G.I. Joe Adventure Team “The Fate of the Trouble Shooter” set just to name a few favorites. Later on, I always went there for Craftsman tools and bought my first major appliances there just based on the Kenmore brand alone. Sorry to see them go as they were an American retail institution for well over a hundred years, but they did it to themselves as the chain hasn’t been fit to shop in for decades. If you think about it, they were the Amazon of the 60’s and 70’s.

                            Comment

                            • Makernaut
                              Persistent Member
                              • Jul 22, 2015
                              • 1546

                              #15
                              There was a Sears in Oklahoma City that will forever be one of the strongest memories of my childhood. The first thing that hit you when you walked through the doors was this awesome smell of popcorn. No theatre can match the smell of that popcorn. To this day, I walk into a theatre and think, "Close, but not quite'. Also, I was into NFL Football and no one carried the haul of paraphernalia that Sears had to make my 7 year old head spin. They had a huge section of NFL goodies. Over the years there were lots of things about Sears I can remember, but those two things are my strongest memory and they are anchored in that specific store.

                              https://www.405magazine.com/May-2018...A-Bygone-Icon/

                              Here's a short article with a pic of how I remember the outside looking. Even mentions how the candy counter made the whole place smell good.

                              (Edited to add: I think I said goodbye to Sears when they knocked that one down 20 plus years ago, so Sears has been "gone" for me for a very long time.)
                              Last edited by Makernaut; Oct 16, '18, 9:30 PM.

                              Comment

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