18 Depressing Photos That Show Why Nobody Wants To Shop At Sears

[IronWing]

Oh shit, kmart cafeteria. Fuckin takin back, man.

And the stupid blue light attached to some push cart contraption. I remember my mom avoided the blue light like the plague. Whatever section of the store it was in, we didn't go there that day.

I suppose this means that there are one or two generations now that don't know what a blue light special is.

 

[waggy]

last time i went to sears (we are looking for a new freezer) the hand tools were all made in China. There was a handful of made in US tools. Craftsman is not what it was 20 years ago.

Also the selection has gone down a lot.

I suppose this means that there are one or two generations now that don't know what a blue light special is.

lol i loved blue light specials! Kmart USED to be a great store.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Kmart had glory days?

Exactly -- I don't know where that guy was, but Kmart was a dirty shithole even in the 80s.

I think the last things I bought at Sears were a washer and dryer in 2008. That was probably my only purchase from them in the 2000s too.

 

[mmntech]

Oh shit, kmart cafeteria. Fuckin takin back, man.

And the stupid blue light attached to some push cart contraption. I remember my mom avoided the blue light like the plague. Whatever section of the store it was in, we didn't go there that day.

Was a discount department store here in Canada called Zellers that used to have the diners inside. Up until very recently too, when parent company Hudson's Bay sold them out to Target. Now they've just got Starbucks. Food wasn't bad and wasn't expensive. I'm sure all the local seniors miss it.

I think Target Canada might end up going tits up in a few years. Never see a lot of people in the stores, and they're frequently out of common items. I think a lot of people got turned off when they found the prices were a lot higher than Target USA too.

Problem is none of these stores can compete with Walmart. They're selling the exact same items from the exact same factories in China, for more money.

 

[Triumph]

If anyone's interested in the history of retail, the book In Sam We Trust is a pretty cool read of not only how Walmart got started, but all of the other ones that have come and gone. Sears was the number 1 retailer for a loooooong time before Kmart came around, then I believe Kmart was number one until Walmart started. Sam Walton's strategy was pretty simple: build Walmarts in places that Kmart and Sears didn't see a market, biding his time until he built up enough capital to start going head to head with the big 2. Now we see the results. But all along, Kmart and Walmart were pretty bottom barrel, buying bulk deals of crap that other higher priced retailers didn't want. The other kids made fun of you for looking like you bought your clothes at Kmart.

Funny a couple of posters above mentioned memories of the cafeteria at K-mart. Alot of the "novel" ideas that Walmart and Target are pushing such as the cafeteria/cafe, the pharmacy, the optician, the family photos, are nothing new at all. One of the smaller regional stores in the southwest PA area was Murphy's Mart which became Ames department stores in the late 80's. My brother worked there in the mid 90's and told me about digging around in the back store rooms one day, finding promotional architecture drawings and photographs of the extensive "shopping experience" you could find at Murphy's in the 50's and 60's. In addition to the retail you had the lunch counter, pharmacy, banking services, even the attached service station for tire and lube services for your car. This was a fancy place for the time. Of course Sears has had all of this too for a long time. Nowadays, Target's biggest contribution to the marketplace has simply been taking all of that and adding style and decor, and it has worked really well for them.

 

[Svnla]

Darn, we do have some old farts in this thread. Kmart had cafeteria? I heard about Blue Light Special but never experienced them in real life. Learn something new today.

 

[marvdmartian]

The "Super" K-Mart, on Ridge Rd, in Greece, NY, is WORSE than that. Honestly, I don't think that store has been updated in over 20 years, and most of the time it looks like hell (sorta like the shelves in those Walmarts in Arkansas, after the recent EBT fiasco).

I have literally seen 4 month old magazines in the magazine rack in that store.

The ONLY redeeming factor is the people who work there, who genuinely seem to care about helping customers. I feel sorry for them, as they work in an outdated store, that the corporate types seem to have forgotten.

 

[shortylickens]

I suppose this means that there are one or two generations now that don't know what a blue light special is.

I know what it means but I never gave a shit.

 

[IronWing]

I know what it means but I never gave a shit.

I remember eating lunch with my grandmother at the Kmart cafeteria when a blue light special was announced. A bunch of diners got up to go check it out. My grandma said the specials were always on crap and continued eating. She usually took us to lunch at Kresge (the K in Kmart) which was a few blocks from her apartment. The lunch was always good.

 

[ultimatebob]

I suppose this means that there are one or two generations now that don't know what a blue light special is.

They should bring back that sucker back for Black Friday. People would go nuts if they randomly offered something like $99 32" TV's throughout the day.

 

[HeXen]

Kmart had glory days?

It was a great dept store, not top shelf items or nothing. Kinda like Hills back in the day.

"Hills is where the toys are"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Qjzwd7NAw

Oh and Kmarts cafeteria, good food, I remember the fat French fries..and the popcorn stand they had in store, selling a long plastic bag of it for cheap.
People made fun of the Blue Light specials but as far as sales go, that's what you had.

Anyone remember Zayers dept store? Kings? Ames?

 

[IronWing]

[SIZE=+1].................................
[SIZE=+3]Super K-mart [/SIZE]
.................................
[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1] Super K-mart
he walks away
towards underwear
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] blue light special
a crowd staring
at the gold chains
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] women's flannel shirts
10 sizes
too large
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] toddlers' jackets
cuter
than the toddlers
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] braids bobbing
on the little head
of a black child
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] I look away
and my shopping cart
gone
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] into weary ears
a gentle lilt
of Spanish
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] standing in the isle
to be found
by him
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] thanksgiving weekend
lost and found
in the crowd
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] parking lot
the old couple still
looking for their car [/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1] .................................
Keiko Imaoka, 1996
.................................

[/SIZE]

 

[lxskllr]

Anyone remember Zayers dept store? Kings? Ames?

Around here the Ames were always pretty crappy. They were like a second rate Kmart.

 

[feralkid]

Who buys stuff from Sears now a days?

ib4theybecomethenextBB

People who are not you.

 

[1sikbITCH]

I like Sears. People are just sheep and now that the trend is to avoid Sears people just do it because everyone else is. Just like how those idiots will go to a restaurant with bland food just because there is a line out the door.

It's funny you feel that way since Sears is no different than Wards, Kmart, or Walmart except that like Kmart they are suffering a long and grueling death. All cater to the sheep.

 

[mistercrabby]

Depressing? Hardly. There isn't a store on the planet that you couldn't find similar scenes if you made it your business to hunt them down.

-KeithP

Macy's

 

[HeXen]

Is there a store out there that anyone would say doesn't cater to the sheep?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Anyone remember Zayers dept store? Kings? Ames?

Zayers was OK, but Ames was pretty bad from what I recall.

 

[Triumph]

It was a great dept store, not top shelf items or nothing. Kinda like Hills back in the day.

"Hills is where the toys are"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Qjzwd7NAw

Oh and Kmarts cafeteria, good food, I remember the fat French fries..and the popcorn stand they had in store, selling a long plastic bag of it for cheap.
People made fun of the Blue Light specials but as far as sales go, that's what you had.

Anyone remember Zayers dept store? Kings? Ames?

That commercial meant christmas time in my youth. Also probably the impetus for thousands of children questioning the true source of Christmas toys. "If Santa brings our toys, does he buy them at Hills on layaway? I thought he made them?"

 

[lxskllr]

Also probably the impetus for thousands of children questioning the true source of Christmas toys. "If Santa brings our toys, does he buy them at Hills on layaway? I thought he made them?"

What, are you three?! Santa contracts out to get commercial toys, and only makes the handmade stuff. There's too many people on the planet for him to make everything, so he stuck with what he knows best; the traditional toys.

That's what I told my daughter anyway :^D

 

[SKORPI0]

Zayers was OK, but Ames was pretty bad from what I recall.

That was Zayre, then bought in 1990 by Ames which then closed by 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_%28store%29

I remember when Service Merchandize (2002) and Montgomery Wards (2001) closed. Mall nearby even had a Spiegel store which closed in the mid 90s IIRC.
Some K-Marts have closed around the Chicago area too.

 

[lxskllr]

I remember when Service Merchandize (2002) and Montgomery Wards (2001) closed. Mall nearby even had a Spiegel store which closed in the mid 90s IIRC.
Some K-Marts have closed around the Chicago area too.

The Wards near me sold gas, and when they were going out of business, I got a bunch of fuel cheap. Mine lasted longer than everyone else cause I could use the leaded fuel :^)

 

[Svnla]

Is there a store out there that anyone would say doesn't cater to the sheep?

Yes.

Apple Store.


<put flame suit on...double>

 

[Fritzo]

Anyone see Family Guy last week? They addressed the Sears thing perfectly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwJ9x3e-quY

 

[IndyColtsFan]

That was Zayre, then bought in 1990 by Ames which then closed by 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_%28store%29

I remember when Service Merchandize (2002) and Montgomery Wards (2001) closed. Mall nearby even had a Spiegel store which closed in the mid 90s IIRC.
Some K-Marts have closed around the Chicago area too.

Oops, you're right on the spelling -- I was just copying the other guy's post. My favorite Zayre's memory was going to the toy section (I was probably 8 or 9) and seeing a HUGE stack of the Star Wars Sandcrawler toys. IIRC, that toy is one of the most valuable SW toys and I had an entire stack in front of me and didn't get one!

I always liked Service Merchandise to be honest but I can see why it went under.