Goodbye Sears?

imoldernu said:
... Opportunity to go for training as a Catalog store manager... short training period of 3 months in Claremont NH... 5 days in a hotel and 2 days back to Pawtucket. ...
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Refresh my memory - what was a "Catalog Store"? I'm picturing a smallish store with limited inventory, but maybe they shipped your order (phone, mail, or in-store?) from warehouse to that store for you to pick up, rather than home delivery?


imoldernu said:
...
Age 22... appointed Sears Catalog Store Manager in Chelsea Mass.,, lovingly known as the armpit of the state. Tough old lady store manager who was being replaced. So bad the district manager wouldn't go to the store.

Store Credit manager was a softy who would lend to anyone, so as the new store manager, I had to chase down 100+ bad credit accounts every month... in some of the poorest homes in the country. Winter... no heat, and broken windows. stories you couldn't believe.

After 6 months, transferred to Vineyard Haven Mass... on the Island of MV. New son, nice home, boating and swimming and loving life. There for three years including second son. A wonderful life. ... .
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That sounds like a rough job for a college graduate. Sounds more fitting for a bouncer! Not sure I even want to hear the stories! :eek:

-ERD50
 
ERD50 said:
Refresh my memory - what was a "Catalog Store"? I'm picturing a smallish store with limited inventory, but maybe they shipped your order (phone, mail, or in-store?) from warehouse to that store for you to pick up, rather than home delivery?

Yes... can't remember how many, but in the thousands... including the catalog "Desks" in the back of each retail store.
What you said... the in-stock for the local catalog stores was limited to top selling appliances. 3000 to 9000 S.F.. depending on the sales volume.

Later on, my last job at Montgomery Ward, was out of Chicago, as project manager to close down 2400 Wards Catalog stores, and Catalog desks... over a three year period.

That sounds like a rough job for a college graduate. Sounds more fitting for a bouncer! Not sure I even want to hear the stories! :eek:
-ERD50
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Original plan was to be a psychiatrist, but married and poor, and with kids on the way, it was available... and paid $100/wk.
Actually not too bad, as that works out to about 46K /yr, today... with inflation. :)
 
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I think I will visit the local Sears out of curiosity ( the one that is not on the Closure list ) . I don't think I have been in one in about 20 years.
 
JoeWras said:
Well, I could have been remembering Monkey Wards instead. Mom took us to both stores equally.

imoldernu knows both and could probably clarify.


Then again, maybe it was Marshall Fields. We didn't go there much because it was too classy. :)
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I hear you JoeWras. :greetings10:

We shopped at Sears and MonkeyWards at River Oaks mall in Calumet City. Sometimes we’d also go to Goldblatt's in Hammond, Indiana.

We never went to a Marshall Fields and envied the “rich people” who went there. :D
 
Jeez, Goldblatt's. I bought Levis at the Logan Square store. How about Wieboldt's? They had a store on or Near Ashland that we shopped.
 
Even tho I worked (yeah, worked) for Montgomery Ward, I didn't follow them after I closed the catalog stores... Just looked in Google, and found a link to the current MW... still open on line. Can't post a link, but you can go to the website by googling Montgomery Ward.

Hmmm... wonder if they'd hire me as a historian... maybe a CEO? :)

Edit...
OMG just went to the site and looked at the "Electronics" section. Computer prices about double the going comparable prices. No wonder the big feature is "buy on credit" . shades of my first store credit dept... would give credit to a tree. :(
Buy Now, Pay Later!
 
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bigadventure said:
I think the government should help out Sears. Just like they did the auto makers.
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The car industry bailout in recession was due to fears that their demise would ripple across a far worse economy, which was already hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of jobs each month, and was seen as a short term fix to a specific economic problem. The car industry wasn't inherently broken, and new car sales returned to normal relatively quickly during the recovery.

Sears is fatally flawed, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. They have a broken business model and have failed to adapt. I'd no sooner want a tax-funded bail out for them than for Blockbuster. Of course I feel sorry for anyone that is going to lose their job, but this isn't like car plants going under, which decimates entire regions.
 
Lands End

Also too bad they took over Lands End clothing; we used to buy a lot of stuff from Lands End due to the reasonable prices and exceptional quality. Once Sears took over the company, the quality went south in a hurry and we no longer bought any clothes there.
 
GlennN said:
Once Sears took over the company, the quality went south in a hurry
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Agreed. But I think Lands End has come back somewhat since they got spun off from Sears. Not what it once was, but a lot better than when Sears owned it.
 
I'd put Land's End in the same category as Omaha Steaks: good stuff but still overpriced.
 
Not that I’ve paid much attention, but it was bemusing to me that Eddie Lampert was somehow trying to borrow even more money to save Sears...
 
Stopped into the local Sears the other day hoping to grab some tools but no luck, only scraps left from the liquidation sale. Store closes for good this week.
 
GlennN said:
Also too bad they took over Lands End clothing; we used to buy a lot of stuff from Lands End due to the reasonable prices and exceptional quality. Once Sears took over the company, the quality went south in a hurry and we no longer bought any clothes there.
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braumeister said:
Agreed. But I think Lands End has come back somewhat since they got spun off from Sears. Not what it once was, but a lot better than when Sears owned it.
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Oh!! I didn't know about Lands End being taken over by Sears. I am glad to read your post about Sears no longer owning it because I would hate to see them go out of business. I love their ladies' t-shirts, so comfy and durable, and in fact just ordered 4 more tonight in pretty colors, on sale. $15+tax each which is cheap enough for me though maybe not everyone. Great retiree wear for warmer days IMO.
 

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Another company Sears holdings ruined was Orchard Supply Hardware.

Sears holdings purchased the company , sucked out every nickel ,then spun it off. That spinoff promptly went Bk, and was then bought by Lowes. Now Lowes killed off the remains.
 
When I lived in CA years ago, OSH was a great hardware store as an independent. It did go down when Sears took over, and then now they don't exist.


Saw on news that Sears asking bankruptcy courts to go to liquidation. So looks like no more Sears at all. Except Eddie Lampert (current majority shareholder) has submitted a bid to keep the name and some rights; so he may try to resurrect something in the future. Many people think Eddie Lampert is a big reason why Sears has continued to go down in recent years.
 
They should have died 10 years ago. Stopped even visiting their stores in the 90's.
 
W2R said:
Oh!! I didn't know about Lands End being taken over by Sears. I am glad to read your post about Sears no longer owning it because I would hate to see them go out of business. I love their ladies' t-shirts, so comfy and durable, and in fact just ordered 4 more tonight in pretty colors, on sale. $15+tax each which is cheap enough for me though maybe not everyone. Great retiree wear for warmer days IMO.
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I wear almost exclusively lands end due to comfort, quality and warranty. Agree there was a quality hiccup, tgen a more avant garde design direction, and now I think they've steered back in the right direction. In fact my favorite shorts were ordered for my niece but due to a sizing defect fit me amazingly well :) I love that if I call them I get a real person.
 
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