The Sears in my town has been around for decades and it is a blight. They charge way too much for their appliances and the employees there are totally ignorant about their products. There are four other places in town to get appliances (Home Depot, Best Buy, Pacific Sales and Warehouse Discount Center) all of which have significantly lower prices and very helpful employees. I can’t imagine why anyone would shop there.
For some reason, Kmart closed every single one of their stores (to my knowledge) in the entire DFW Metroplex a few years ago. And yet, they continue to advertise on the local TV stations.
WHY!?
If I wanted to go to Kmart, I’d have to drive to Lubbock or Abilene or somewhere. Fat bloody chance. Why are they wasting their advertising dollars on Dallas and Fort Worth when there are no freaking stores here?
This is great news.
I won’t miss Sears at all.
There is a Kmart less than a mile from my home. I used to shop there all the time before the Kmart/Sears merger. Now I hardly go there at all. Sometimes, if I just need one item, and I need it right now, I will venture into the Kmart. Even then, it’s a tossup whether or not it will be there. Half the time I wind up driving to WalMart or Home Depot anyway.
As others have said, the selection is mediocre, the store is not kept up at all, and the customers are staying away in droves.
Several years ago, there was a new store being constructed a few blocks away from this Kmart, and the local buzz was that they were building a WalMart there. I was overjoyed, but then dismayed when it opened and I discovered that it was a Walmart “Neighborhood Market,” selling groceries only.
I wouldn’t be disappointed at all to see Kmart disappear from the face of the earth.
I don’t recall the last time I saw a new K-Mart. In my burg, there were five, but one closed a few years ago. I think they are all at least 30 years old.
I’m surprised the Kmart near my house is still open. It’s a nasty, poorly lit old building they added on to, but the newer part is just as dark and dirty looking. But the worst part is the employees. They all act like they’re on drugs. And not the kind that make you friendlier.
I loathe going in to that store and almost every time I go there is a mispriced item on my ticket or someone one in front of us in line is having a similar issue.
This is sucky news. I actually like Sears. Every Kenmore appliance washer/dryer, refrigerator, microwave I have owned has been tough as a tank. We recently retired one Kenmore microwave that had been bought in 1986. It finally died, so for years of honorable service it was given to the kids for playing house. Sears was also a great source of what I’ll call for lack of a better word, old people clothes: 100% polyester, elastic waist easycare, easy match conservative style items that all the grandparents, great uncles and aunts in my family perferred to more trendy things.
How long before they sell the Craftsman and Kenmore branding outright (not just on specific items or lines) to suppliers of junk, and run their last vestigial reputation into the ground?
Yes, but Sears in 1986 is a far cry from Sears/Kmart in 2011. Ownership and management have changed multiple times, and the quality is no longer there.
ETA: This is a reply to ZPG Zealot.
Going to go against the flow and say here that the local Sears is one of the better stores in our area (Bellevue, Pacific Northwest)). Clean, well organized, great selection of tools, apliances, and so forth. And the sales personnel are both enthusiastic and well informed about the merchandise.
I have come to buy ALL my big ticket items there. Never been disappointed.
The very little shopping I have done at Sears in Houston - once at the really old store, and another time somewhere else - has been a positive experience. The cashiers were friendly, I got assistance with buying a lawnmower, etc.
So I’m not really anti-Sears. But some of their buildings really do look incredibly rundown, and their prices aren’t always great.
KMart in the 1980’s was the place my brother and I went to browse and sometimes buy things.
In the late 90’s, it fell apart and became messy, dirty, and overpriced. We gave up on them. Sad, kind of.
They are the company that invented shopping by telegraph. Then the internet came along and they lost it. Heck, the company has gone downhill since they built the Sears Tower and moved out of the warehouse.
But we have to pay the management big bucks or we would not get the quality.
I’ll be sad if the metro area KMarts go under. We actually went out of the way to go to one yesterday actually.
KMart has The. Best. Non-Caloric. Flavored. Waters. EVAH!
Their Smart Sense store brand has the best tasting flavors that don’t taste like calorie free drinks. I load up the cart and fill it to the top and buy them 50 at a time.
I will mourn Sears’ passing for one reason only - the “lifetime” guarantee on my Craftsman hand tools won’t be worth spit. Other than for tools, I haven’t set foot in a Sears in many moons.
I always thought it was strange that Sears, which had a large and efficient ordering and delivery system long before the Internet, would be a first casualty. Logic suggests they would be the first beneficiary. All they had to do was adapt their system to the Internet instead of mail & phone ordering. It seemed so simple.
Sears I would miss…a little. K-mart, not at all. There’s a K-mart still open here but I haven’t been in it for maybe 20-30 years.
They have that. I was able to (online) order replacement parts for an 80s Craftsman chainsaw recently.
Aw man, seeing Sears go down the tubes is depressing, especially at this time of year. Their “Wish Book” Christmas catalogs were the go-to catalog for the greatest toys in the early 60s. I’m glad someone was motivated to save some of them online: wishbookweb
I don’t doubt they have it, but they haven’t maximized it. I would expect them to out-Amazon Amazon from the starting gate ca. 1994. Instead, they barely exist and are shrinking.