topic Re: No more Sears in Community Chat

No more Sears

ninjawife — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:21:55 GMT

It was announced on Thursday that the last remaining Sears store in my state - Delaware would be closing in April. Now there won't be any Sears or Kmart stores in Delaware. I didn't shop in Sears very much but all my kitchen appliances are Kenmore and I really like them.

Re: No more Sears

phoenixbrd — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:25:10 GMT

No, I didn't shop there much either. But I'll bet many of our parents did and maybe out of a catalogue. Sad experiencing the death of a once iconic institution.

Re: No more Sears

KACEE1115 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:27:34 GMT

Very sad, Sears was a well-known brand/store that families could depend on

Re: No more Sears

itsmagic — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:04:42 GMT

Our local Sears store closed last year. It was a huge standalone store (I’m wondering what will go in that empty building now). I’m not sure how long it had been there but at least over 50 years. I remember when it even had a lunch counter and candy counter in the store. It was sad watching it slowly die. The last couple years there were so few sales associates that I couldn’t find anyone to check out and everything seemed in disarray. It was like they weren’t even trying to be an inviting store anymore.

Re: No more Sears

Blingqueen023 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:07:43 GMT

Will miss them. They make the best washer/dryers. My Sears Kenmore is 26 years old and still working. Only part we had to replace was a knob.

Re: No more Sears in Delaware

esmerelda — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:30:25 GMT

@ninjawife Your title is misleading. It would be nice if you corrected it.

There are still Sears stores...just none in Delaware.

Re: No more Sears

happycat — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:27:59 GMT

We still have one in our town. It is small, always has been. Mainly carries appliances and yard equipment.

I really miss the big one in the mall thats about an hour away. I liked to shop there.

Re: No more Sears in Delaware

Krimpette — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:29:08 GMT

@esmerelda I agree! I thought that it was all Sears stores!

Re: No more Sears

wildcat fan — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:38:15 GMT

I miss the Sears store that was nearby. I liked being able to buy and try on Land's End clothes there.

Re: More Sears closing in SOME areas

sunshine45 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:59:16 GMT

they have announced three more closings in maryland.

we still have some left that we can reach fairly easily.

it is sad though.....i remember the sears catalogs and doing quite a bit of back to school shopping at sears when i was growing up.

Re: No more Sears

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 15:05:55 GMT

I remember shopping there as a kid with mom and dad and especially that huge catalog that we picked clothes and toys from.....those were the days.

Re: No more Sears

Vivian — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 15:12:27 GMT

Our local Sears closed several years ago. Now another one, here in upstate NY, is closing. I suppose we are all to blame. Ordering online has become so easy that malls are dying. All of those anchor stores are sunk.

Re: No more Sears

gardenman — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 15:26:31 GMT

I didn't know the Sears store at Price's Corner in Delaware had closed in 2018. I thought that was probably still open. When they were remodeling that store (maybe ten-twenty years ago) it was the scariest place to shop in I'd ever been in during the remodel as the floor was bouncing under you as you were shopping. It wasn't subtle either. It was almost like you were on a boat as the floor moved under you even while you were just standing still. I think that was the last time I shopped there. I had serious concerns about the structural stability of the place. There was a lot of flexing going on where you don't generally want flexing. I was just reading where a Target had now moved into the old first floor of that store. Interesting that they sealed off the two floors of the store into separate spaces.

Re: No more Sears

ValuSkr — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 16:08:12 GMT

@ninjawife wrote:
It was announced on Thursday that the last remaining Sears store in my state - Delaware would be closing in April. Now there won't be any Sears or Kmart stores in Delaware.

I'm surprised Sears at Concord Mall is closing; I thought Concord Mall was still fairly successful.

At least there's another Sears nearby - the one in Media, PA at Granite Run (formerly Mall, now the Promenade). That's a pretty nice store, though I'm surprised it's still open - whenever I drive past, there's only a handful of cars in the parking lot. It's about 10 miles (20 minutes) from Concord Mall.

Re: No more Sears

millieshops — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 16:15:44 GMT

@Blingqueen023I'm with you. Right now I have Kenmore dishwasher, stove, and refrig. For years they have consistently offered the best in the smaller, basic models I need and/or want. I know my refrig trying to die and the only reason I haven't replaced it is that there are so few models available anywhere that fit in the space I have.

My closest Sears hasn't closed, but that's a yet! They've been fighting the town for several years to get permission to sublet a huge part of their 3-level store. Sears does not own the property, so when the lease expires, I won' t be surprised to see them get out of Dodge.

Too bad but I am hoping they manage to sell Kenmore to a company that will continue to offer what I need.

Re: No more Sears

Spurt — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 16:29:57 GMT

@Vivian wrote:
Our local Sears closed several years ago. Now another one, here in upstate NY, is closing. I suppose we are all to blame. Ordering online has become so easy that malls are dying. All of those anchor stores are sunk.

@Vivian

Sears stores at the malls closed up here a couple years ago...

Sears failed to keep up with the retail times thats true, BUT the CEO that took over was involved in the real estate business. He was more interested in making deals and profits by getting rid of the Sears stores ....He didnt really care about keeping the Sears stores in business....And another HUGE mistake purchasing another failing retailer Kmart.....

Real estate: Sears sold 235 store properties and its interest in another 31 properties to a newly formed real estate investment trust (REIT) called Seritage Growth Properties for $2.7 billion in 2015. The deal gave Seritage control of some of Sears’ best properties in a sale-leaseback transaction. Lampert’s ESL owns 43.5% of the limited partnership units of Seritage and 7.9% of the REIT’s voting power. The move was similar to transactions favored by investors in legacy retailers whose real estate is considered more valuable than their actual business. While Sears has continued to bleed money and shutter stores in hopes of avoiding an almost certain end, Seritage has flourished.

Re: No more Sears

chlema — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:38:25 GMT

@gardenman Target hasn't moved in yet - they are in the process of remodelling. I wonder if the floor is moving now lol. I miss the old Sears - before they changed their format and lost so many customers. Prices Corner is only about a mile from where I live so it was very convenient and I always bought all my appliances from them. Still have the Kenmore washer and dryer I bought over 15 years ago.

Re: No more Sears

gardenman — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:52:41 GMT

@chlema

Price's Corner is about twelve miles from me, but I mostly shop in Jersey these days. I used to shop at a record store there (Rainbow Records? Sam Goody?), the QVC outlet that was there, Radio Shack, Sears, and way back, the old five and ten there, where we'd grab lunch sometimes. Back when Penneys still had catalogs I'd buy a catalog in the Penneys there if I didn't already have one. It's probably ten years or so since I last shopped there. I don't remember going to that Sears after the remodel. It was really weird feeling while they were remodeling it. I'm not very comfortable with a floor moving under me.

Re: No more Sears

novamc1 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:54:09 GMT

@Spurt

Eddie Lampert wanted to own Sears because of its real estate, as you mentioned.

But I wonder now, as the retail environment has changed so much due to online merchandising and so many shopping centers and strip malls are lacking tenants, whether he still likes his commercial real estate quite as much.

Re: No more Sears

goldensrbest — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 21:58:16 GMT

Our sears closed last year, it was a big store anchor store of mall,that and pennys, back in the 60's, my dad bought all sears tools.