[77 TRASHCAN]

I bought some stocking stuffers from them last Christmas, might get some this year, still.

Hate to see them go down the drain.

[Hikin Mike]

I used to work at Sears as Service Adviser back in the day. Bought all of my tools, tires batteries etc. I haven't bought any tools in years, although I need to replace a few missing sockets. Quit buying tires a few years ago as they either didn't have them or found them cheaper. Used to buy their batteries too, but I go to the local auto part store now.

It is sad though.

[Hikin Mike]

To add, I still take my Firebird to Sears to get it aligned as I bought a lifetime alignment 20+ years ago and still have the red sticker for it.

[GTOnly70]

Had a summer job at Sears in 1984 on a retrofit crew. Our job was essentially to tear out old fixtures for a store-wide remodeling job. Got paid to break stuff.

Paging through the huge Christmas catalog and picking out a wish list was an annual ritual in the 70's.

Sad to see them circling the drain.

[ponyakr]

In our area, Wal-Mart has put all the small businesses out, & some of the chains stores too.

Online, Amazon & Ebay have most of the business, on items they sell. And, it's easy to see why. Amazon has the best price on lots of items, and I have found their service to be great. They ship quick & send plenty of notices to let you know how your order is progressing. Usually, if the Amazon price is not the lowest, Ebay will have the lowest.

If you're not in a big hurry, you can save quite a bit on most everything, online. Especially when you can order enuff stuff to get free shipping, and when you don't have to pay any taxes. That alone saves a lot on bigger purchases, since most local taxes are in the 10% range.

To survive in a small brick & mortar business, you must have a product or service that is not available at Wal-Mart, or online. Exceptions are few.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Hate to see them go down the drain.

Same here. I was a mechanic at Sears Auto Center back in the 80's. They use to be one of the best places to work.

Sears techically was the originator to "on line" shopping. People couldn't wait for the newest Sears catalog. Some would have family gatherings over it. Hell, you could never buy a car or a house from WalMart. You could from Sears.

Sears going down the tubes unfortunately is by their own greedy hand and poor corporate management.

[Cardo]

I stopped shopping there 20 years ago. They've been slowly going down hill for 25 years in my opinion.

[gtohunter]

Last time I was in Sears was about 3 yrs ago, and I had taken a couple of broken tools back for exchange. The place looked like a dollar store, and no, they wouldn't honor their tool warranty any longer either! Last time I set foot in one.
Been buying Kobalt tools @ Lowes now to replace worn out/broken stuff, and they seem every bit as good as any other in terms of quality and finish, and they have a good warranty on most of their tools.

[poncho-mike]

Sears really ticked me off probably 10 - 15 years ago and I stopped shopping there. I had been a loyal Sears customer for probably 25 years, having bought a couple of Craftsman riding mowers and garden tractors, Kenmore appliances, etc. My wife also shopped there quite a bit in the 80s and 90s.

I had a Craftsman brand dremel tool with a flexible shaft that I used for many years. It worked great until I broke the shaft. When I went to buy a replacement flexible shaft, Sears didn't have one that would fit my tool because it was old and the head shape had changed. I finished the work I was doing with a fixed head Dremel tool, and told my wife I wanted a new Dremel style tool with a flexible shaft for Christmas.

Christmas rolled around and my wife got me a new Craftsman dremel tool with flexible shaft. This is one of those tools that you don't use a lot, but when you need it, you really need it. Well, about a year later, I needed it for the first time. It was still in the original packaging, and it was a piece of crap. The motor barely had enough torque to turn the shaft when it was straight, and would flat out stall if you curved the shaft. If you tried to grind with it, the motor would flat out stall out. I lookd at the box, and it said "Made in China". I took it back to Sears to try and get it replaced. My wife couldn't find the original receipt, so Sears wouldn't warranty it. It was obvious the tool was brand new, it wasn't even dirty and still had all of the original packing material. With no receipt to show when we bought it, I was out of luck. We basically threw away $100 or so.

After that experience, I told my wife not to buy anything from Sears. We had a Sears credit card, and we closed the account. I stopped buying any tools from them for several years. I still go in occasionally to return broken Craftsman hand tools, but we have not made any big purchases from Sears in the last ten years.

[NeighborsComplaint]

Nothing there worth shopping for. The purchase by Kmart and sell-off of the Craftsman Brand made them just another Kmart store.

[NBF823]

I haven't been to a Sears in many years. It is sad, but we lost a lot of stores.

I don't really go to Walmart much anymore. It has nothing to do with liking of disliking stores, fact of the matter is, is they have more stuff online, and I don't have to waste time going to get stuff.

It's hard to reason spending an hour to three to get some items, when they can be at my door step in two days after spending a half hour making selections and ordering.

It's not just Amazon of EBay, it's Summit and Jegs too. I haven't been to a speed shop since my early twenties. And the only one of those that I miss had a former Holley engineer at the counter.

I specifically remember how long shopping took when I was younger - I don't miss it one bit to be honest with you.

[codyyy]

I went to Sears a couple times recently and could not find what tools I needed. The tool area is getting more bare and they don’t seem to fill the shelves back up. Now I’m not sure what to do, I hate ordering tools I need immediately online. I’m slowly switching to S-K so I may need to keep ordering stuff online.

[Chris65LeMans]

Sears’ tools don’t have the same quality anymore. I’ve been into a few recently, and it seems they are operating with the bare minimum of employees- just enough to work the registers. You’re out of luck if you have a question.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by codyyy

I’m slowly switching to S-K so I may need to keep ordering stuff online.

I thought S-K went under? I have some S-K tools and have been pleased with the quality but when I've had an issue I've always been SOL.

[72projectbird]

Sears sucks. I went into one last weekend, and it was dead as dead can be.

[codyyy]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

I thought S-K went under? I have some S-K tools and have been pleased with the quality but when I've had an issue I've always been SOL.

I’m not sure, the website still works. If that goes under I may really be SOL. Then again I usually just buy used stuff so I’ll just need to replace it. Maybe go to Proto, Stanley doesn’t look like it is going under but it’s anyone’s guess.

This has been going through my mind for a while now though: if Sears does go under, where does the hobbyist go for tools other than Harbor Freight or Home Depot and Lowes? I’m not meaning to knock quality but actually with regards to specialty tools that those stores may not carry. I don't think I can hunt down the Snap On truck. I could order such tools online but it is easier to be able to look at the tool in person and if a warranty needed to be made it would be easy as well. Just thinking about how or if that would change my tool shopping habits.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by codyyy

I’m not sure, the website still works. If that goes under I may really be SOL. Then again I usually just buy used stuff so I’ll just need to replace it. Maybe go to Proto, Stanley doesn’t look like it is going under but it’s anyone’s guess.

This has been going through my mind for a while now though: if Sears does go under, where does the hobbyist go for tools other than Harbor Freight or Home Depot and Lowes? I’m not meaning to knock quality but actually with regards to specialty tools that those stores may not carry. I don't think I can hunt down the Snap On truck. I could order such tools online but it is easier to be able to look at the tool in person and if a warranty needed to be made it would be easy as well. Just thinking about how or if that would change my tool shopping habits.

It would be interesting to know if S-K is still in operation. I have a metric socket that has a crack.

If Kmart sticks around you'll be able to purchase Craftsman tools there although the selection is horrible and minimal at best. Someone recently told me that True Value Hardware now sells Craftsman. Being that the Craftsman brand was sold off by Sears I'm sure that if Sears closes up you'll be seeing the Craftsman brand show up in one or more big box stores.

[Simple Man]

ACE Hardware sells Craftsman, the name was bought by Stanley I believe.

I worked for Sears Service, back in the early 80's. Back then, Sears was the place to work. Got a nice employee discount, benefits and pay were good, great place to work. There was a lot of people I worked with who were lifers at Sears. They had nice pensions for all their years. Not anymore.

['ol Pinion head]

my dissatisfaction with Sears came to a head in Feb of '07. Had a bad ice storm come through, had a lot of monster tree limbs down at rental property as well as at our own homes. My Dad & I are taking off to cut up down treelimbs, several that were 16" in diameter. It takes 6 solid days & we're driving 45 minutes away working at rental property. We have a high quality chainsaw, echo power polesaw, & several top of the line Craftsman side cut loppers. The side cut loppers are critical to cutting branches overhead. Two of the loppers, have a little slop in the pivot point. My Dad takes these tools up the road to the local Mall Sears store. This after prob 8 hours in the cold with me battling cutting limbs & dragging to the curbs. Long story short, my 75 year old Dad is tired & a young clerk swaps Dad out for two pair of absolute junk straight on cut entry level Chinese loppers. I'd already mentioned to Dad, we need a repair piece, if no repair piece is available, my local machinist buddy can repair the pivot points. Long story short, I end up later that night taking the junk NEW loppers back to Sears. Beat closing time by 30 minutes. The head guy in hardware/ lawn care area won't swap us into similar top line Craftsman limb loppers as what we had. I'm emphatic that the previous transaction was not acceptable, he won't budge. I'm getting beyond perturbed, have him call in the asst store mgr. This fellow at least tries to find our old loppers innthe back. Right as store is about to close, the asst mgr shows back up & states he can't find them. I'm like what the H. As soon as I can, I pulled out my Craftsman Club card & Sears credit card (seldom used) & folded them in half, tearing them up. There are quite a few stragglers at the register, & I flat tell the asst mgr, I've spent quite a bit on Craftsman tools, Diehard battery's, etc, from Sears, but I will NEVER spend another dime in a Sears. Have held true to that pledge.

The massive WALLYWORLD disaster is another story, a monsterous expanse of Chinese Cr#p, jambed up against a large area stocked with overpriced processed food/crap. Sam Walton would be proud Thankfully, our local family owned grocer smokes WalMart on grocery prices & offers very large array of high quality meat, fruit, & vegetables. One thing I've constantly noticed over the last 10-12 years is the Obama protocal/ Walmarts consistent hiring of the the slowest, poor work ethic "associates". From working in grocery stores as a young adult, running a night stock crew, then cutting meat for several years, I've never seen such a glut of chatting Cathy big butt slow as mollasses shelf stockers. Other complaint, for so long the only time one would find more than two cashiers working at any local Supercenters was near the 1st or 15th, time for the govt checks. after all the frustration with making a trip to Wallyworld, I've found I can only visit for one thing, the best price on name brand motor oil. Typically, will buy several jugs of motor oil, head to the nearby garden center checkout counter just to avoid the entire experience.

[Roadking88]

Ron White has a funny bit about Sears Auto service.