Sears/Kmart quickly disappearing

[poncho62]

Who?

Kmart was done here in Canada 20 years ago......Sears closed up last year....Toys R Us is still going though

 

[Diggin It]

Placed an order earlier. Between sale prices and 'Freecash' bonuses, I saved $28 off the original totals and paid $27 including shipping.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

When i built 20 yrs ago, walked into sears and ordered fridge, stove,dishwasher. Already had their washer/dryer. Fridge has been replaced with samsung. Washer replaced with speed queen last yr, but still works. Dryer replaced few yrs ago, it is in barn and still will work.

Got a replacement dishwasher rack yesterday. Fits, but gray instead of white. Little different. Old one has some rust, which was discoloring dishes.

 

[KubotainNH]

Point is, we all wanted to shop at Sears but Sears left us rather than we left Sears.

True that. They were our go to place for appliances, tools I wanted to last and Lands End clothes until they screwed it all up. They used to sell kids feety pajamas with Winnie the Pooh on them, we bought quite a few of those when my kids were small. I still bought my last dishwasher from them but the things don't seem to last anymore. I used to use their parts site to find what I need for appliance parts then order them elsewhere because of the inflated costs for the same part. Now I get more hits on other parts sites when searching via Google.

Odd that someone had issues with their old card there. The last couple times I bought appliances they just turned my old account back on with a phone call. I didn't even have the card with me both times.

 

[/pine]

Anyone else watching what corp. (Sears Holding (SHLD)) is doing?

The price dropped by 50% the other day when preparations for BK were being drawn up...the low price of the day was $0.35/ share...it was still over a buck at the end of Sept....

The big sell off the last couple of days may be interfering but how low will it go before they suspend trading?...is there a DCB (dead cat bounce) in the near future? will the general market rebound tomorrow to close the week?

 

[ultrarunner]

True that. They were our go to place for appliances, tools I wanted to last and Lands End clothes until they screwed it all up. They used to sell kids feety pajamas with Winnie the Pooh on them, we bought quite a few of those when my kids were small. I still bought my last dishwasher from them but the things don't seem to last anymore. I used to use their parts site to find what I need for appliance parts then order them elsewhere because of the inflated costs for the same part. Now I get more hits on other parts sites when searching via Google.

Odd that someone had issues with their old card there. The last couple times I bought appliances they just turned my old account back on with a phone call. I didn't even have the card with me both times.

That was me with the new card.

I was buying a home at the time and said they offered 10 minute approval but when I asked if the credit inquiry would affect my credit score the answer was yes...

Horse feathers... card in hand and $1300 in merchandise ready to load and Sears wanted a credit inquiry???

 

[Fuddy1952]

Dad retired from Sears as service manager right after WWII until '83. He passed away a few years ago. I always was hoping he would write a book. Stories he told were so amazing, and I remember most of them.
One fellow he worked with Francesco, an older Italian fellow sold vacuum cleaners and sewing machines, always wore a suit. Sears hired a part time kid who was demonstrating a sewing machine for a couple, Francesco standing behind the kid. At the right time Francesco opened his jacket where he had pinned two notes..."Don't buy from him" & "Buy from me".
Another time Francesco was driving out in the country selling vacuum cleaners. At this old cabin a lady let's him in, he has a vacuum and a handful of dirt which he sprinkles around the room. After he explains how great the vacuum is he asks where her plug is. "We don't have electricity here" she tells him as she hands him a broom.

 

[jmc]

Dad retired from Sears as service manager right after WWII until '83. He passed away a few years ago. I always was hoping he would write a book. Stories he told were so amazing, and I remember most of them.
One fellow he worked with Francesco, an older Italian fellow sold vacuum cleaners and sewing machines, always wore a suit. Sears hired a part time kid who was demonstrating a sewing machine for a couple, Francesco standing behind the kid. At the right time Francesco opened his jacket where he had pinned two notes..."Don't buy from him" & "Buy from me".
Another time Francesco was driving out in the country selling vacuum cleaners. At this old cabin a lady let's him in, he has a vacuum and a handful of dirt which he sprinkles around the room. After he explains how great the vacuum is he asks where her plug is. "We don't have electricity here" she tells him as she hands him a broom.

Great anecdotes, which reminds me of an older cousin, R.I.P. who made a good living for decades selling Sears appliances on commission. To hear him tell it, Sears fired all the old timers because they were making too much money and replaced them with, uh, well, never mind.

Fast forward several decades and Circuit City did the same thing- replacing overpaid, commissioned salespeople with "more affordable ones". Y'all do remember Circuit City, don't ya.?

 

[ultrarunner]

Commissioned employees very much sink or swim... the problem is when you are too good.

Our Interstate Battery Jobber was the best... built his territory and spent money on his truck and warehouse… could always reach him.

He gets an award for being a top producer and a notice they are dividing his territory... but they are paying him a one time 50k for the half they are taking away.

He closed up the business 18 months later after many years... was quite bitter about it and had customers that would beg him to sell but he couldn't as they were no longer HIS customers.

Instead of having a local ware house... it is now 3 counties over.

Another is my friend that works for Multiquip… hard working guy with a lot of hours on the road... he really developed Generator sales... Multiquip told him they were making Generators a separate line... even though he was their top seller...

Again... it created ill will among his loyal customers...

It does seem some number cruncher gets a finger in the pot and calls the shots...

 

[MossRoad]

Similar things can happen with service areas. At my old job we had service techs for some equipment that worked out of Chicago, about 80 miles from us for years and years. They charged $100/hr for travel time.

Then that company switched around service regions. Instead of Chicago, we got thrown into the eastern region. The service techs for that region are based near Winston Salem, NC. You have technicians 80 minutes from us and you want us to pay $100 per hour travel time for a tech 10 hours away? Yeah, I don't think so.

To resolve it, we called our salesman. In a nutshell.... a good salesman can get things done for you. :laughing: