Sears Canada Closing

Discussion in 'Shopping & Sales' started by Ann George, Oct 19, 2017.

  1. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    Can't say that I'm surprised but all the Sears department stores here are closing down permanently. When we retired several years ago we downsized and bought all new Sears appliances for our new home. We bought what we thought were better quality appliances and expected them to last at least 10 years without any major issues. However, within 3-4 years we had serious problems with two of the appliances. Both times, we experienced the worst service ever... from Sears (long story!), and after consulting other appliance repair businesses decided it would be necessary to replace one appliance and then another. Afterwards, we heard similar stories from others, both in our own small community and online. Since then I've rarely shopped at any Sears store and would definitely not purchase any appliance, large or small, from them ever again. I do feel for the employees, some of whom have been with Sears for decades, who have lost not only their jobs but according to the news media, appear to be facing serious challenges in receiving any severance, pension etc.:mad:
     
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  2. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    I believe that is happening here in the United States too.

    The last few times I shopped in Sears which was quite a few years ago...I did not find there clothes quality as good as in times before. And sheet sets and comforters were basically the same as what I saw at Walmart but with a bigger price tag.

    I used to love Sears and shopped there often...but somewhere along the line they stopped selling quality merchandise that you could depend on.
     
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  3. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    I bought many Sears appliances over the years. They were all top quality. They have (or had) a lifetime guarantee on their tools. I have a Kenmore vacuum cleaner that I have had for ages. My granddaughter bought me a fancy new one for a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. I still like my Kenmore one better. I use it instead of the new one. Don't tell her that, though. :D
     
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  4. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    A lot of the Sears stores in the US are closing too. For a company that began in mail order, I would have thought they would excel in the online shopping world, but they haven't been able to make the transition.
     
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  5. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Ann George
    I feel it is unfair to label Sears as the cause for your misfortune, assuming you bought Sears-branded, Kenmore, appliances. They also sell a variety of name-brand appliances, up to and including the top-quality, highest priced.

    On the obverse side, having been a Sears employee for 12 years, I must admit that I fell witness to some incredible mismanagement while there.
    Frank
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Shirley Martin
    My first wife bought me a Craftsman Circular Saw for Christmas our second year together, 1966. The saw still works perfectly! The switch was replaced once, understandably. Their selling point then: that model in testing cut through 10,000 2X4s without failing. Over 50 years' time, having built shop buildings, homes, additions, I've probably exceeded that number by several times!
    Frank
     
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  7. Harry Havens

    Harry Havens Veteran Member
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    My brother went straight from the Marines to Coyne Tech and then to Sears as a service rep., tech or whatever. It was king of the hill for a long time and then by the time he retired 40 years later, in the late 90s, was on the way out. A lot of what Sears sold had Sears brand names, but were really manufactured by name brand companies to Sear's specs. Quality was once considered important, but fell off in later years. Craftsman tools were once considered top of the line. They've been sold to Stanley Black and Decker and it will likely go through... if Sears doesn't go bankrupt first.

    Sears ain't what it used to be... but neither am I.
     
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  8. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    You're right we did buy Sears Kenmore appliances but the higher end, believing they would be problem free for some time. We replaced two of the appliances (after doing research through Consumer Report etc.) with some high end, non Sears brands, the best we could afford. Unfortunately a few years after replacing those we sold our home and as we were in a very difficult real estate market we included all appliances in the sale. In our next (ie. present ) home we do have one old Kenmore appliance that needed a repair earlier this year. When asked about the quality of new appliances in today's market, the repair guy, a senior BTW, told us that in his opinion the "average" appliance will need a major repair within 3-5 years of purchase. :( No wonder he's not retiring any time soon.
     
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  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We have a set of Kenmore washer/dryers that have been doing well, and I have always loved Craftsman tools, although they are now owned by Stanley.
     
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  10. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Ann George ".... in his opinion the "average" appliance will need a major repair within 3-5 years of purchase. :("

    I have always gotten a little chuckle every time I have heard an expert make such prediction. Often, it was electronic equipment, the failure prediction claimed to be factory-induced, part of the plan: obsolescence by design!

    Such predictors have never revealed their sources: "thwip", pulled right out of the air, or crystal ball, future expectations guaranteed. NOBODY is good at predicting the future. Sorry for my rant, it's something I've always wondered about.
    Frank
     
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  11. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    I do believe that major appliances and other things that used to last for many years are now made with less quality so they will last for less years and need fixing or replacing much sooner. Is this intentional by the manufacturers...I often think it is.
     
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  12. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Babs Hunt
    Legislation was introduced in Japan quite some time ago to restrict registration of vehicles in Tokyo to the maximum age of 5 years. This meant that, a buyer of a new vehicle was forced to scrap the car when it reached it's 5th. year. Whether that became law I cannot say. Surely, the instigators of such law will show statistical "proof" of it's reducing air pollution, when in fact, virtually ANY vehicle produced after the mid-'90s will continue to run as "clean" as new virtually forever. It HAS to; the computer ensures that!
    Frank
     
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  13. Harry Havens

    Harry Havens Veteran Member
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    Japan has long had laws about vehicle inspections with inspections required at 5 years, then 7, 9, 11... then annually. Inspections include several dozen of item related to vehicle condition and driveability as well as air quality, which must be corrected and can run big bucks. Prior to the 5 years, the law requires the vehicle be serviced regularly by a government certified shop. The concept being the regular service checks would also correct any difficiencies prior to the 5 year inspection. Japan has a very limited used car market and cars are shipped to 3rd world countries, etc. for resale.

    Caveat... that was how I remember it years ago, although some parts may have changed by now. Also, it used to be required that a certification be provided that a guaranteed parking spot for vehicle prior to purchase.
     
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  14. Kitty Carmel

    Kitty Carmel Veteran Member
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    Sears in our town closed. I didn't know until I drove to Target and noticed it seemed deserted so I googled it when I got home. The mall is sad to go into. I go to a walk in place there for hair cuts. I'm not a mall person anymore but certainly remember their heyday in the 80's. We would go to San Jose on occasion from Santa Cruz. Go to Macy's and walk the mall. The mall is now sparse and pathetic.
     
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  15. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Kitty Carmel
    We live in the 7th. largest County in the entire U.S.! Sparsely populated, it has only 3 towns of reasonably large size: Kingman, the County Seat, pop. 28,000, Lake Havasu City, pop. 53,000, and Bullhead City, pop. 39,000. Bullhead is directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, pop. 7,300. To my knowledge, Laughlin is the only city hereabouts having a real mall. It is about 20 years old, has over 100 stores, a 2-level affair in which the entire lower level is covered parking and food court, the upper being stores arranged like a square doughnut. 50+ of the stores are vacant. We are aware of it's condition not because we are shoppers, but rather because that big square is 1/3 mile around; we walk 5-10 laps several times weekly in summer, when the Riverwalk is just too hot. The past Recession had little effect on the mall, though it's ownership did change hands.

    Laughlin is primarily a tourist-based city, having no real productive business base if one excludes gambling resort hotels. It grew very rapidly after Don Laughlin ventured forth with the first large resort, his Riverside Hotel, starting very small in 1966, adding 2 large towers of rooms by the late '80s. It was predicted that Laughlin would quickly strip Bullhead City's growth status, and consequently Laughlin was speculatively overbuilt. The Recession of 5 or so years ago wreaked havoc on the real estate market. Homes, condos, town houses, and the like, fell in value by as much s 75%, all within a few-year timeframe. BHC, OTOH, doubled in population between 2000 and 2010, from 20,000 to 40,000. A very large contingency of old farts, like me, have settled here in retirement.

    Getting off track here. My old high school friend, Charlie from Chicago, visiting us recently, confirmed while we were at the mall, that the huge malls of Chicagoland were doing no better. Why? IMO, the public is fickle, largely. For example, a lush, highly-intriguing resort built by Sam Boyd of Sam's Town fame here in Laughlin in the '80s, was valued in 1992 at over $190 million; that property sold 3 years ago for $6.7 million!

    Frank
     
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