Is Sears Going The Way of Montgomery Ward?

[whistlepig]

I still consider Sears a good place to shop. Most of my tools have come from Sears and I consider Sears Craftsman second to none on price. Our water softener died this week and I did a search of "Best Water Softeners" tonight. A Sears Kenmore kept popping up at the the top of the list regardless of price. The passing of Montgomery Wards didn't bother me that much. If Sears goes I think that would be something that I would consider a loss.

 

[Bird]

The passing of Montgomery Wards didn't bother me that much. If Sears goes I think that would be something that I would consider a loss.

That's my feelings also, especially since their locations are convenient for me, and most of our major appliances and my tools came from Sears.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

Sears here in the Toronto area have a couple of 'clearance centers'...
that's about the only part of their stores that I go into.
It's a good place to get appliances, etc.
Usually the stuff at these clearance centers is returned merchandise, you can check out if it's damaged, or why the original buyer sent it back, etc.
Most stuff can be had for about half of original retail, or less.
And with normal Sears guarantee.

Pete

 

[Ken]

I started to have troubles with Sears in about 1961 or 62 when my credit card was blocked .
Had no outstanding balance so called the Sears collect and waited until some one answered the phone. was told I had gone bankrupt in Calif. This was never resolved because every time I moved or purchased with card it all came back. Even if never lived in Calif. or went bankrupt.
So alway paid cash for purchases. bought a elec. dryer for the wife paid cash. and they checked my credit and called my wife to make sure i had purchased the dryer this was in the 70's
Then on vacation in Arkansas purchased small items for daughter and paid by check used sears card for identfication and upon return to N.mex. mail box was full of sears grams they used to mail out demanding payment for stuff purchased in Calif. still same as in the early 60's.
Cut the card in itty bitty pieces and returned to Sears credit with explanation that whosoever is worried about my account will never again see my name on a sears purchase.
Now I did use M/W with out problems until Sears purchased never went back.
ken

 

[whistlepig]

When we bought our place 5 years ago we bought all new kitchen appliances from Lowes. Stove, microwave, and fridge. And we also bought the Lowes extended warranty with these appliances. So after a year our oven burner gives out on our Lowes purchased Frigidaire oven and we call for warranty service. Guess who comes out? A service man from Sears. Seems Lowes doesn't do appliance repair. They farm this part of the deal out to Sears. Sears is still trying and I hope that they do well.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm one who actually likes Sears. They usually (not always, but most of the time) have what I'm looking for at what I'd consider reasonable prices. And I like the fact that they have a service department, at least for appliances.

But I don't see a lot of customers in our local stores. And maybe here's why. I prefer seeing a product before buying, and I recently saw this MoJack MJEZ 300-Pound Lift For Tractors And Zero Turn Lawn Mowers in the nearest Sears store. That looked like a great idea, but a bit expensive for my use. But then later, I got to looking on the Internet and found that Amazon.com has the identical model number for $133.63 less money, and since there's no sales tax, that's another $30.

Now I'd prefer buying from Sears, but for the price difference . . . well, I just ordered it from Amazon.

Wasn't too many years ago you could buy a set of steel ramps for car oil changes for $20-$30 and just have used them instead of paying for this lawn mower lift. Mine were in the way, and I gave them to goodwill. Now I wish I had them back.

 

[texasjohn]

IMHO, yes, they are on the way out...I used to purchase there but it's been over 20 years since I've made regular purchases there. Now, internet is very easy for comparison for price, function, features, parts identification and purchase. As noted by others, too frequently the price difference is too large to ignore .

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Yep, that would hurt, but the last time I paid Sears any interest charges was in 1963-64, so I have no idea what they charge.:laughing:

Their interest rate is now 27.5% on their revolving charge card. It is not negotiable. I have a credit score over 800 and they said sorry, we charge everyone the same. Take it or leave it - I left it. I do not know what the charge on one time i tems like major appliance, I normally do not charge those items. Their charge card gets you bigger discounts on sales but I will leave that to others now, too much other competition for credit.

 

[LazySusanFarms]

Sears Holdings (Sears and K Mart) is toast. Purchased by Eddie Lampert primarily for the real estate. This is what happens when a non-retail guy buys a retail company.

 

[powerpace]

Sears Holdings (Sears and K Mart) is toast. Purchased by Eddie Lampert primarily for the real estate. This is what happens when a non-retail guy buys a retail company.

That's right.
The local Sears closed here last week. I knew the end was coming when I saw Craftsman tools and Mowers in the Lowe's and Home Depot stores.
I could see the quality going down about the time they hooked up with K-Mart. I haven't been in a K-Mart for about ten years.
The local Montgomery Wards closed about 1990.
The space vacated by Sears has already been leased by two or three new stores.