Does Anyone Still Shop at Sears?!

Steel wrote:

Are you kidding? Do people still realize that all Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life? Not powertools, but wrenches, screw drivers, socket sets. Anything without a motor. That's huge! I took a cracked 5/8 open end wrench in that was 19+ years old and no questions, gave me a new one. And, they carry Carhart clothes for men. I love the place. Just another sign of how Home Depot is putting the better places out of business. When the "Husky" line of tools are inferior to Craftsman. But, the current home owner knows no better, and does not care about quality. If one is $12 and the Craftsman is $19 but guaranteed for life, the morons still take the $12 crap.

Apparently they have now sold off the Craftsman tool brand.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Steel wrote:

Are you kidding? Do people still realize that all Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life? Not powertools, but wrenches, screw drivers, socket sets. Anything without a motor. That's huge! I took a cracked 5/8 open end wrench in that was 19+ years old and no questions, gave me a new one. And, they carry Carhart clothes for men. I love the place. Just another sign of how Home Depot is putting the better places out of business. When the "Husky" line of tools are inferior to Craftsman. But, the current home owner knows no better, and does not care about quality. If one is $12 and the Craftsman is $19 but guaranteed for life, the morons still take the $12 crap.

Apparently they have now sold off the Craftsman tool brand.

I think many of us are fine with paying little less with lower quality on things that we don't use much or not care as much. People are willing to pay more for quality for things that they use often or need. In regards to tools, most people are not handy and are fine if they break and just go buy a new one.

Hey RVARunner, your post irks me. I'm a valued Sears customer and I shop at their many stores for the majority of my consumer needs.

I bought a microwave oven there within the last year. My Sears is in a dumpy shopping center, so I don't frequent it.

sirebob wrote:

Hey RVARunner, your post irks me. I'm a valued Sears customer and I shop at their many stores for the majority of my consumer needs.

Good for you. Not sure what in the post irks you as I stated facts and asked a few questions.

Bought a foosball table and two pairs of dress pants at their going out of business sale at the local mall.

run with the wom wrote:

Isn't it amazing that a retailer like Sears that was built on catalog sales in the 1800's couldn't adapt to the Internet? Must have been some genius MBA's that missed that boat?

It is ironic, because in some ways Sears was the Amazon of its day in the late 19th and early 20th century. It reached customers in rural areas and small towns throughout the country that had no stores locally.

They did not have a brick and mortar store until many years after the company was founded. It was even possible to buy and furnish a home with the catalog.

It just goes to show that once a company becomes established with a certain business model it is very difficult to adapt to new technologies and trends.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Steel wrote:

Are you kidding? Do people still realize that all Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life? Not powertools, but wrenches, screw drivers, socket sets. Anything without a motor. That's huge! I took a cracked 5/8 open end wrench in that was 19+ years old and no questions, gave me a new one. And, they carry Carhart clothes for men. I love the place. Just another sign of how Home Depot is putting the better places out of business. When the "Husky" line of tools are inferior to Craftsman. But, the current home owner knows no better, and does not care about quality. If one is $12 and the Craftsman is $19 but guaranteed for life, the morons still take the $12 crap.

Apparently they have now sold off the Craftsman tool brand.

Still, got to be better material than Husky

run with the wom wrote:

Isn't it amazing that a retailer like Sears that was built on catalog sales in the 1800's couldn't adapt to the Internet? Must have been some genius MBA's that missed that boat?

At that size, Finance/accounting run the business, so every decision is quantified. What happens is the numbers don't meet some kind of return rate metric and nothing gets done but the business they are already doing.

Plenty of giant retailers could have put Amazon out of business. But, Finance/Accounting kills them. By the time a discussion about "the Internet" reaches c-level, it's too late. The c-level meetings are pretty comical given the people in them are completely out of touch.

But, this is real money and companies valued, at the time, at billions, so it's hard to criticize.

"It just goes to show that once a company becomes established with a certain business model it is very difficult to adapt to new technologies and trends."

True. But retail needs to ramp up their safety procedures by securing customers data. Remember Target?

There are a number of retail giants that have huge gaping holes, I'll give you clues.

A. Some using AS/400 with USB randomly not locked on terminals.

B. Credit/ATM card card readers are not routinely inspected?

C. WalMart is on the ball with 'chip readers', so let's ask ourselves is Sears?

Little things like that need to be improved upon. For example,

in the event of a national emergency, the locals will have the upper hand.

Sears, K-Mart, WalMart, etc. The only issue is that emergency distribution

planning needs to be examined. Some of those Sears location have

underground storage areas that can be maximized in the event of an emergency that is the entire building. I think some Sears may have

fallout shelters, so underground up against a wall is where I'd want to be.

Zome' ding to dink about my fiends.

I haven't been to Sears. But over the holidays I was walking through Macys and JC Penney. Granted, those stores are looking a little stodgy. But I don't know why those kind of department stores get such a bad rap these days. There is a lot of good, practical stuff there at what looks like a reasonable, competitive price to me.

But I'm one who really doesn't get Amazon. I use Amazon every once in awhile. But I have a car, so I like going to get my clothes and picking out things like a blender if I need it.

RvaRunner wrote:

Serious question as I was reading about Sears selling their Craftsman line to Stanley Black and Decker for $900 million.

The article mentioned that Sears lost $750 million last quarter alone. (Ending, I think October for them).

So even if you lose say $500 million this quarter, you are still negative by $350 million after the sale of the Craftsman line. Now in the next quarter if you lose, say $350 million, you are down $700 million total.

Why not just close up shop? Does anyone under 50 shop there anymore?

Came across this today . H/T @ StaleyRdCap.

Nice ROIC on a $500 investment !

Oh yes you can wrote:

Kranky wrote:

Can't beat their car batteries. The crap at Auto Zone is crap.

Costco batteries, much better by far.

And tires. Go their any morning and one of the techs will check the tires and adjust the tire pressure--for free. They recommend they do that for you once a month.

Steel wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Apparently they have now sold off the Craftsman tool brand.

Still, got to be better material than Husky

Well this is great news for you. You will still be,able to buy their tools once the last Sears closes its doors.

I buy all of my hand tools from Sears. Have my entire life. They are top notch and when I do happen to break one it's free replacement, no questions asked. Since I'm in a trade with 12 trucks under me and a shop to support I have spent a lot on tools there. Other than hand tools? No, I don't shop at Sears.

I love the Sears near me. It feels like shopping in an abandoned stores, but it's fully stocked. You can find all kinds of useful stuff there for ridiculously cheap. Only issue I have is since they are in such dire straights.. if you need help from a human, or to checkout, that's not always easy. I'm going to be sad when they eventually shut the doors for good.

Bought a lawn mower at Sears last year. Other than that, I haven't made a purchase at Sears in many years.

I have wondered for years why Sears didn't revamp itself as a quality product oriented store that sells good appliances and tools. These are things that mo people would like to be of high quality and made in America. Make an old-timey looking Sears and Roebuck logo, sell a few Carhart clothes and go from there.

I have to admit I'm kind of shocked at the posts about not worrying about buying junk if you aren't very handy. The whole disposable mentality, especially with regards to tools, is contrary to what I was taught (I'm 40).

brig wrote:

It was even possible to buy and furnish a home with the catalog.

This is literally true. You could buy a *house* from Sears.