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Sears-Kmart Death Watch

Started by Brandon, January 12, 2018, 03:55:18 PM

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How much longer do you think Sears and Kmart Have?

6 Months
20 (19%)
9 Months
11 (10.5%)
One Year
28 (26.7%)
Two Years
23 (21.9%)
Five Years
13 (12.4%)
Ten Years
1 (1%)
They'll be around forever!
9 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 105

GCrites

It looks like the lights themselves changed from a flat type to cobraheads. Though it might just be the picture. Man I'm bored


tolbs17

no more Sears in Greenville.

ErmineNotyours

According to the date on Google Earth, this image is from August 2013:

Sears Now Open, Deer Park, Washington.  Kind of a smallish store.

Brandon

Quote from: ErmineNotyours on March 28, 2020, 03:12:00 PM
According to the date on Google Earth, this image is from August 2013:

Sears Now Open, Deer Park, Washington.  Kind of a smallish store.

Looks like a hometown or dealer store.
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GCrites

Sears was really pushing for those in the 2000s/early 2010s.

thenetwork

When Sears came out with the Hardware-only stores, I liked that concept as many occupied vacant former grocery stores in my area that moved into newer, larger "megastore" buildings. They were in convenient locations.

Roadrunner75

Sears should have shifted their focus entirely to the items they are currently most known for - Craftsman tools and appliance sales - and shed the rest of the business while they still had time.  In recent years the only real reason I entered a Sears was to buy tools, mowers and appliances.  Selling off their most iconic brands like Craftsman and Kenmore was/is a terrible idea and pretty much will shut the door on Sears.  Eddie Lampert should be tried for his crimes against retail.


gonealookin

Somehow we still have a local Kmart, the South Lake Tahoe store at the north junction of US 50 and CA 89, but the (long overdue) date of impending death has finally been announced.
QuoteThe store, located at 1056 Emerald Bay Road, is scheduled to begin the closing process with a sale on Thursday, June 17, and is anticipated to shutter for good on Sunday, Aug. 22, said an email to the Tribune.

Road Hog

The Sears catalogue model was the low-tech spitting image of what the Amazon model became. All Sears had to do was transfer it to online in the 1990s and they might be at least holding their own against Walmart today.

SectorZ

The most shocking thing during Covid is that Sears and Kmart survived it. It's like they're so broke that they can't even die peacefully.

GCrites

Quote from: Road Hog on June 15, 2021, 07:30:55 PM
The Sears catalogue model was the low-tech spitting image of what the Amazon model became. All Sears had to do was transfer it to online in the 1990s and they might be at least holding their own against Walmart today.

Had they kept the catalog just 3 more years they could have made a seamless (for the time) transition. 1992 was the last year of the Big Book.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: GCrites80s on June 15, 2021, 08:41:46 PM
Quote from: Road Hog on June 15, 2021, 07:30:55 PM
The Sears catalogue model was the low-tech spitting image of what the Amazon model became. All Sears had to do was transfer it to online in the 1990s and they might be at least holding their own against Walmart today.

Had they kept the catalog just 3 more years they could have made a seamless (for the time) transition. 1992 was the last year of the Big Book.

They essentially did try with Prodigy Online.  It was WAY too soon for online retail to be viable and it flopped.  Sears and IBM pulled their money out of Prodigy Online in 1997.

GCrites

Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL started out the mid '90s on pretty even footing then AOL broke away big time and ruined Sears' chance to take full advantage of their Prodigy investment.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: GCrites80s on June 15, 2021, 09:53:00 PM
Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL started out the mid '90s on pretty even footing then AOL broke away big time and ruined Sears' chance to take full advantage of their Prodigy investment.

Prodigy was a closed ISP until the mid-1990s when it had already fallen way behind it's competitors.  The closed nature, high subscription fees and draconian moderation really buried it when things like AOL came to town.  Nonetheless the infrastructure to support online retail as we know it now was still pretty far off.   Don't forgot how primitive even eBay was in it's early years. 

Scott5114

Weren't Prodigy, CompuServe, and AOL basically a combined ISP and app subscription service like Netflix? That is, instead of opening a browser you opened the Prodigy program and it let you access stuff on the Prodigy servers? What really made the Internet (and Amazon) take off was the World Wide Web (HTTP), which meant it didn't matter which company you subscribed to, you could access the same content. It wouldn't have worked if the Sears catalog was only accessible through Prodigy; since Amazon was on the WWW they had a bigger customer base.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Takumi

The last Sears in Richmond (Chesterfield Towne Center) closed last year, but the signage still remains.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

MCRoads

Somehow there is still a Sears in Denver near the north E470/I-25 interchange. It's amazing that they are still kicking.
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Interstates traveled:
4/5/10*/11**/12**/15/25*/29*/35(E/W[TX])/40*/44**/49(LA**)/55*/64**/65/66*/70°/71*76(PA*,CO*)/78*°/80*/95°/99(PA**,NY**)

*/** indicates a terminus/termini being traveled
° Indicates a gap (I.E Breezwood, PA.)

more room plz

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 16, 2021, 12:07:20 AM
Weren't Prodigy, CompuServe, and AOL basically a combined ISP and app subscription service like Netflix? That is, instead of opening a browser you opened the Prodigy program and it let you access stuff on the Prodigy servers? What really made the Internet (and Amazon) take off was the World Wide Web (HTTP), which meant it didn't matter which company you subscribed to, you could access the same content. It wouldn't have worked if the Sears catalog was only accessible through Prodigy; since Amazon was on the WWW they had a bigger customer base.

In the case of early Prodigy (my father worked for them from 1988-1996) it was very much the case with it being a closed ISP.  Essentially the main menu was nothing but a fancy bunch of DOS based text graphics which took you to a list of Prodigy services.  The main feature was supposed to be things like retail from Sears and news (especially stocks).  What really took off was the Bulletin Boards and the gaming features.  Once Prodigy converted to a new ISP browser the live chat rooms became the main attraction.  I want to say it was 1996 when Prodigy became true Internet when it adopted a Netscape browser. 

jp the roadgeek

Just looked and there are no more Kmarts and only one Sears left in all of New England.  There are only 9 Kmarts left within 100 miles of NYC, and also only 5 full service Sears left north and east of Philly (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Newburgh, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Sunrise Mall in Massapequa).
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

kevinb1994

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 16, 2021, 02:28:38 AM
Just looked and there are no more Kmarts and only one Sears left in all of New England.  There are only 9 Kmarts left within 100 miles of NYC, and also only 5 full service Sears left north and east of Philly (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Newburgh, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Sunrise Mall in Massapequa).
Jersey City's the other end of the old Florida Special train service, so no surprise there.

SectorZ

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 16, 2021, 02:28:38 AM
Just looked and there are no more Kmarts and only one Sears left in all of New England.  There are only 9 Kmarts left within 100 miles of NYC, and also only 5 full service Sears left north and east of Philly (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Newburgh, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Sunrise Mall in Massapequa).

I know late last year there was a Kmart left in Hyannis MA but it closed at some point (it was also closing at 6 PM). Lebanon NH had one I think until late last year as well.

I haven't been to the South Shore Plaza in Braintree MA for a while. May have to go to check out what will probably be the last Sears remotely near me. It's weird that Sears has probably closed better locations to leave one open in a mall that has had multiple gang-related shootings in the past two years.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: SectorZ on June 16, 2021, 07:56:15 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 16, 2021, 02:28:38 AM
Just looked and there are no more Kmarts and only one Sears left in all of New England.  There are only 9 Kmarts left within 100 miles of NYC, and also only 5 full service Sears left north and east of Philly (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Newburgh, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Sunrise Mall in Massapequa).

I know late last year there was a Kmart left in Hyannis MA but it closed at some point (it was also closing at 6 PM). Lebanon NH had one I think until late last year as well.

I haven't been to the South Shore Plaza in Braintree MA for a while. May have to go to check out what will probably be the last Sears remotely near me. It's weird that Sears has probably closed better locations to leave one open in a mall that has had multiple gang-related shootings in the past two years.

It strsngley makes sense though. Sears usually owns the building and property where they are located. The store closures often have much to do with the selling of the real estate. If there's conditions present that reduces the value of the land, such as the crime you mention, Sears is probably better off holding onto the store for a bit.

CapeCodder

Quote from: SectorZ on June 16, 2021, 07:56:15 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 16, 2021, 02:28:38 AM
Just looked and there are no more Kmarts and only one Sears left in all of New England.  There are only 9 Kmarts left within 100 miles of NYC, and also only 5 full service Sears left north and east of Philly (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Newburgh, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Sunrise Mall in Massapequa).

I know late last year there was a Kmart left in Hyannis MA but it closed at some point (it was also closing at 6 PM). Lebanon NH had one I think until late last year as well.

I haven't been to the South Shore Plaza in Braintree MA for a while. May have to go to check out what will probably be the last Sears remotely near me. It's weird that Sears has probably closed better locations to leave one open in a mall that has had multiple gang-related shootings in the past two years.

KMart in Hyannis died a couple of months ago. Not sad to see it go. The quality of products offered was declining at a rapid pace. I found a six pack of Vess soda in there two years ago. I didn't buy it.

1995hoo

The K-Mart near us (Springfield, Virginia) closed maybe two or three years ago and a grocery store (Giant) located in the same shopping center moved into the renovated K-Mart space because it's a much bigger location than Giant had before. Rumor is that the Trader Joe's in the same shopping center may move into the old Giant space once it's renovated, which would be a positive because the current Trader Joe's space is way too small (the store is extremely cramped if it's even mildly busy) and it's located too close to the new Giant. But I wonder whether a "standard" supermarket's space would be too big for Trader Joe's in terms of the amount of merchandise they carry. They could certainly use more space for customers.
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GCrites

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 16, 2021, 12:36:31 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 16, 2021, 12:07:20 AM
Weren't Prodigy, CompuServe, and AOL basically a combined ISP and app subscription service like Netflix? That is, instead of opening a browser you opened the Prodigy program and it let you access stuff on the Prodigy servers? What really made the Internet (and Amazon) take off was the World Wide Web (HTTP), which meant it didn't matter which company you subscribed to, you could access the same content. It wouldn't have worked if the Sears catalog was only accessible through Prodigy; since Amazon was on the WWW they had a bigger customer base.

In the case of early Prodigy (my father worked for them from 1988-1996) it was very much the case with it being a closed ISP.  Essentially the main menu was nothing but a fancy bunch of DOS based text graphics which took you to a list of Prodigy services.  The main feature was supposed to be things like retail from Sears and news (especially stocks).  What really took off was the Bulletin Boards and the gaming features.  Once Prodigy converted to a new ISP browser the live chat rooms became the main attraction.  I want to say it was 1996 when Prodigy became true Internet when it adopted a Netscape browser.

By "closed ISP", you mean that it didn't have a web browser, correct? When we got Prodigy in July or August of 1995 it had its own proprietary web browser (possibly another browser just with their frontend) but after a while -- probably 1996 as you state -- you could use some sort of plugin to use Netscape. Netscape was much better than the in-service Prodigy browser. You could definitely use things like USENET and Gopher in the Prodigy service when we got it.



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