When I was a child I used to pretend my family was rich and I could have anything I wanted. I would draw a circle around everything I wanted in the Christmas catalog.
@@zenolasmalls2760 And yes, I still have my 1955 catalog, no, no color photos - and two 1960s catalogs to go with my 1902 catalog (a copy of the original) - get a new bicycle for $9.00, a new organ for $12.00, and a pound of candy for 3 cents ...
My Kenmore fridge from Sears is over 30 years old and still running like a champ :). Even though I might save a little energy by getting a new one, the "planned obsoleteness" of today's appliances keeps me hanging onto it :).
They had life time warranties on some products which were great for the customer but terrible for Sears. You could but a baby bottle warmer, raise five kids and bring it back six years later when you no longer had babies and get your money back (true story from a former Sears employee). People abused the warranties.
@@Slithey7433 in 1980, I bought the largest set Craftsman sold. 1105 pieces. 1/4 drive - 3/4 drive sockets. complete standard and metric. I paid $3200.00 for it and it had a roll-away that set in a cart with a side box. I still have it. Although they didn't break, I exchanged some sockets because they were worn. The replacement sockets always break.
My parents would take me to Sear's shopping for school clothes. You walk in and you could small the *buttery popcorn* over by the Brach's Candy! The catalog was the best.... *The Wishbook* was a book of wishes! Thank you for this great series! 💚
My mother took us to Sears on 63rd st in Chicago. How long ago you say? We took the Halsted ST. trolley there. The first thing you smelled was the cashews, the whole store smelled of hot cashews. Although we pleaded, we rarely got them, we were not blessed with money. You know, a trip to Sears was a whole day event. We would leave early and return just in time for dinner. We didn't have much, but we always had lunch somewhere and had a really good time for very little. The stores in those days were designed for you to stay a while. Now, it's get what you came for and get out. Imagine spending 3 or 4 hours in Wal Mart?
We went to Sears all the time. My father was a firm believer in Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances...just about every large purchase was purchased from Sears. And who could forget the thrill of getting the Wishbook catalog for Christmas every year!
When I was a kid and discovered the Wishbook had arrived when I went home for lunch, I'd claim to be sick, hoping to be able to stay home and read it! My mom popped a (glass mercury) thermometer in my mouth, but I was smart enough to hold the bulb near the light bulb over my bed. If it got too hot, I'd shake it down to a believable 99 degrees. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.
Our Sears had 2 buildings and the smaller one (maybe a garden center?) was turned into THE North Pole at Christmas and I remember being in my room and turning around when my dad said we were going to see Santa one random evening- I was only 4! But it made such a mark on me(the excitement) that I can remember the room, the lamp that was on, turning around when he came to my door and announced to me and my brothers I can see the linoleum floor I had that rolled up at the door way- gray and blue. Thank you for spurring my mind to that memory
The Great Depression and WWII limited new clothing. The 50’s are when keeping up with the Jones started. There was the McCarthyism subtext that meant you didn’t want to stand out from the crowd or get accused of something.
I worked for this once great company for 7 years and thought I’d never work anywhere else. But when the morning news announced the deal with Kmart and Lampert at the helm, I knew the day’s were numbered. Absolutely incredible to see how he orchestrated the extraction of over 100 years worth of wealth from two retailers and destroyed everyone and everything in his path.
Robert Nardelli did the same thing to Home Depot, then got fired by the board in 2007, got his golden parachute of $210 million, and was immediately hired by Chrysler as CEO. He promptly ran Chrysler into the ground and into bankruptcy in less than 2 years. He now runs an investment and advisory firm. Crime pays. Sociopathy pays better.
Mom had a charge account @ sears before they had credit cards,our clothes& toys came from Sears,We were poor don't know how they done it!. I Remember wanting and dreaming of everything they sold!,
I remember the Xmas Catalog came the end of Oct.....by the time Christmas was close by that book was so worn from me and my siblings looking through it .... good times in the 60's !
@@horsepower0539 As much as I liked Sears it was their own fault. Sears failed at seeing the future, they could have bought out Amazon in the early 2000's but Sears stubbornly choose to continue with the same business plan and it was their downfall... If you don't change with the future it will eventually change you. The next one to fall will be the car dealerships. Soon most people will buy their car on the internet. The days of going to a dealer are numbered .
The first thing you would smell when you walked into a Sears store was the popcorn and candy section. They had the best popcorn and the candy was great too
My Uncle Ralph, a U.S. Marine Corps World War II combat veteran, worked in the furniture department at our local Sears in Long Beach, LA County, long enough to retire. Like many other teenage boys in the 1960s, I played guitar in a garage band, The Flipside, with three friends in Lakewood after The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan on Sunday, February 9, 1964. My parents couldn’t afford Fender, Vox, Gibson, Marshall, Ampeg, etc. so for Christmas they gave me a Silvertone Twin 12 guitar amplifier, similar to a Fender Bandmaster, from Sears. Worked well. I used it with a Y cable plugged into both channels plus a TNT distortion booster and a Vox wah wah pedal until we disbanded in 1969 following graduation from high school, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... ‘Tis a magical musical memory still turning in the windmills of my mind. Thank you Sears.
My beloved grandmother worked for Sears from the early 50’s to the early 80’s in Virginia Beach, VA. I remember her getting a pension every month when I was little. I wish I had a time machine and could walk in and see her working around ‘55 when she was around my age now. ❤️
@Oats J. Mule very well might have been Norfolk. I don’t know the location. They lived in Bayside, so not far from Norfolk. I just said Virginia Beach because that’s where we refer to them living.
Many people retired from Sears with a great pension. Some retired wealthy. People had great health insurance as well. Sad those day are gone. Work for Walmart and their business plan is to have the states fund the insurance because you are so poor.
You comment came in a time today I was thinking of my Grandfather. I wished he was riding in my truck with me today so I could just talk things over with him.
I was born in 1945 so I grew up in the 50's. I always remember anxiously waiting for the mail order catalogue. We shopped there all the time. My Dad's tools and lawnmower were from there. My Mom bought clothes there for us all the time. We got our refrigerator and range from there , even our vacuum. It's just what everyone did ! Christmas was always fun. Between the catalogue and going into the store it was always fun and exciting. Way before all the big box warehouse stores opened up, THIS was the place to shop ! BEST FAMILY MEMORIES ! MISS THEM.......
Washers, dryers and fridges. They never wore out. My aunt bought me a fridge and my mom got the washer and dryer when I got my first house in 1981. I still have them and they work like charm. Only 1 minor repair on the dryer.
The Sears Christmas catalogue was a highlight each year. I'd go through the toy section circling all the things I wanted and occasionally I got some of them.
I remember leaving the shopping mall with myself, and brothers each holding 1 catalog from each dept store. We would spend the Christmas season if not throwing snowballs, peruse through them for hours at a time talking about the different toys in the different catalogs.
My father bought everything at Sears, from my school clothes to appliances to lawn tractors to TV’s, to even the oil furnace for our house. Truly one stop shopping back in the day. And the employees were knowledgeable, attentive, and actually ( or so it seemed ) were glad to help you. And the men there, I knew many, were the only ones working in their household and they bought homes, and cars and took a vacation every summer. Something went terribly wrong in this country.
Unbelievable isn’t it? Life sure has changed, I never thought I see it come to this. No stores will be left. Just hermit people ordering all their stuff on line. What a drag. Shopping was fun, even if you were only ‘looking’!
@@Melinda8162 Exactly. I hate whats happening. AND THEN!!!! Lol now this idiotic "inclusion" thing, where there won't be any gender departments, there will just be 'clothes' , 'shoes'........
@Da Big Kahuna Catfish Yes. I fear we are past the point of no return and our "new normal" is pure looney tunes. They will be locking sane people up, so when they nab you, ill meet you in the lunch room. Lol Take care Stay safe
my grandmother worked at the sears on homan avenue in chicago for 40 years, i have her bracelet with her service pins, every year she sent us the christmas wish book, it was magical...
Our parents insisted everything come from Sears. They had such beautiful stores. The warm roasted nuts and candy were really special. We lived for the new catalogs. They treated their employees well and employed lots of people. We will miss them.
My mom and dad ordered everything from Sears. My wife worked at Sears for years and I would buy loads of tools and clothes there. It's like living on another planet now.
My Family loved shopping at Sears. Then I went and worked there for 2 years 1975 to 1978 part time. I had my first credit card there. Bought my first luggage set there. My Mom would even buy material for sewing. Sears was the best.!!
My Mom worked sales for Sears in the plumbing and heating department for many years. (At Montgomery Wards before that.) She was the first woman manager in the 80's of that department. I remember the mall like absorption of these stores and ultimate dissolution of them. These retrospectives are bittersweet.
I remember an old "Dennis The Menace" comic strip when Dennis told Mr. Wilson that his mother told him that when he dies, he's going to heaven. And Mr. Wilson quoted that when he dies, he's going back to the good old days.
I worked for Sears out of college in the mid 90s. The company was just coming back and our focus was customer service. We sold service until the accountant and lawyers decided service cost to much. So they replaced service people who knew their products to just allowing people to pick items out of bins. And the company began to collapse. They were paying me $750 a week with great benefits when I was hired. They offered me $8 an hour part time and no benefits. I didn’t even give them notice. Sears stopped believing in loyalty too.
LOL. I was in a college town. They offed us five cents above minimum wage. They had THOUSANDS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS THERE AND ALL WERE LOOKING FOR A JOB. I think it was $3.30 an hour there. But I worked with good people and had the worlds best boss. One guy had worked in a city at a big Sears store since high school and was paid $6 an hour there. When he came to college the assistant manager cut him back to $3.30 an hour. He told him if he worked out he'd bump him back up. After a couple of months there he asked the assistant manger if he could bump him back up. He did. Mind you, his starting pay at the other store in his home town was $4 an hour. Yup. Sears changed. As has retail as well.
I really liked Sears. My first credit card was from them. You remember the old credit card “machines”...you put the card in the holder and slid the roller over it so it made an impression on the carbon copy form. I used to feel sorry for the sales girls- that thing never really seemed to work so well, and some of them really had trouble getting the roller to move.
I hold SEARS up as the best example of mismanagement. These modern executives that are so gifted they call for 7-figure salaries managed a company out of existence which started as a grass roots catalog company in the 19’th century and survived the Great Depression but failed in our relatively prosperous times.
I would spend hours going through the Christmas catalog, meticulous about writing down my wish list, prices and all. My grandma saved one and mailed me my list I wrote as a child after I married, said I was quite the "Budgeteer". Ha! I'm an accountant, guess it was in my blood.
LOL did the exact same thing. My brother and I were allowed a $10 {about $60-$70 now} budget to chose what we liked. My brother gave it little thought while I agonized over my choices !!
@@karin0963 I honestly don’t know why people have to be rude. I enjoyed your memory, I’m sure your grandparents wanted you to learn the value of money. It looks like it may have worked, since you’re an accountant. Best wishes.
We had a really nice Sears at the mall near us until it closed 3 years ago. They had good quality clothes and merchandise. Miss that store and their catalogs.
It truly is sad to bear witness to the end of those times, the end of Sears...and the end of how everything was back in those years. My grandparents generation, my parents, but my generation will sadly be the last ones to remember what Sears once was. There will never be another Sears...just as there will never be those times again. 😪
@@brodriguez11000 yeah that's the North Hollywood Sears store at valley plaza, which is no longer there. We bought our refrigerator there...... Now it's gone....
Sears at the Crossroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska 76th and Dodge. The mainstay of shopping forever. You could shop there and all the stores in the mall, and come out hours later knowing you had a good time. Now if I'm in a store longer than 30 seconds I want to leave. Every store has the same items, poor management, and ridiculous prices.
~ The original store downtown in the "Towers" did not have air conditioning........ Brandis was at the other end of the Crossroads Mall @ 72nd & Dodge. "The Nebraska" was an exclusive mens store in the mall, I still have a hat my dad & I bought there.
So true Chris! Back in the day if a clerk asked if they could help you they were sincere and they knew how to help you. If they couldn't find the article you were looking for they would try to source it. They seemed to be really interested in helping you and making a sale. Today most people don't speak English and are just there for the pay cheque. It's too bad but that's the way the world turns today!
@@donalddonuts6026 I went into Penny's to buy a pair of jeans for my husband. The jeans section was a jumbled mess, and there wasn't a clerk in sight. Without being able to ask anyone whether they even CARRIED his size (before wasting an hour going through literally piles of jeans), I turned on my heel and walked out. I went to Dillards, where a clerk actually helped me (and found what I needed in the back). Yes, I paid more. But I walked out of the store with my jeans without waiting a week or paying for shipping. Sometimes you want what you want NOW.
I used to enjoy dropping my car off at the Sears Automotive service station and they go into the main store to shop around. Those were the days. We must bring them back.
Not that you asked....but I'm a "Sears baby." My parents both worked for Sears when they met, and then married and then I was born. They went on to invest in their own Sears Catalog Store franchise. The store consisted of a counter with stools, where shoppers looked through the catalogs and then placed their orders. We love all things "Sears!"
I grew up on the east end of Houston, just north of the ship channel. Mom used to take me through the Washburn Tunnel, to Sears in Pasadena, TX. It was a wonderful store, with a great toy department, a cafe, and a nut stand in the center that gave off the most wonderful aroma. She would always buy me a portion of warm cashews from that stand. One of my best childhood memories from the mid-late 60s. On rare occasion, it was a REAL treat for this young boy to actually eat in that cafe.
I miss going to the mall and going to Sears. I remember the popcorn smell welcoming me to the store. I bought my bed, refrigerator, and tires at Sears. Craftsman forever
I grew up in Ontario in the early 60's and loved going to Sears. Christmas was the absolute best. Photo with Santa, personalized Christmas stocking which I still own and that awesome Christmas catalogue. It was breathtaking for a child flipping through the toy section in the hopes Santa would fulfill your dreams Christmas morning.
Remember Walking Into Any Sears Store And As Soon As The Door Would Swing Shut , A Gust Of Air Hit You . It Was Air Conditioned And Smelled Like Polyester , Pop Corn , And Roasted Nuts . Almost Intoxicating , But A Smell That Would Take You Back In Time .
@@patsygroves3812 Chocolate Peanut Clusters We’re My Personal Favorite. I Couldn’t Afford It Until High School. Popcorn And A Strawberry Icee Was Always The Best !
Growing up in the era of the shopping mall, everywhere we lived had at least one mall, and at least 2 of the big 3 department stores to anchor them: Sears, Penney's, and Wards. I worked at Sears part-time in the Men's department from the summer after my junior year in high school until I graduated from college. My dad worked part-time at Sears in another location even longer than I did; he sold appliances. All of our home appliances (our fist big color TV, our first microwave oven, our refrigerator, our dishwasher) all came from Sears because of my dad's discount and looking out for sales. I went from general men's ware to men's suits, in which I got a 3% commission on everything I rang up. Great store. Sorry to see the last CEO drive it into the ground.
How I wish we could go back to that time where men and women dressed nicely and wore hats. I remember going to Sears with my grandparents, especially shopping at Christmas time. It was a real treat my sister and I looked forward to.
People condemn shopping on-line as causing the decline of the malls and retail in general, but Sears was doing the equivalent 100 years ago. In the 50's my family bought from Sears extensively, but we never went to a Sears store. There weren't any nearby.
Gone are the days when shopping at the mall was so much fun! Sears used to decorate so beautifully for Christmas and offer so many specials throughout the stores. There appliances were and still are very reliable and of high quality, many people had them for a lifetime. The architecture e of the buildings were beautiful and always undergoing some sort of renovation. I just wish we could bring those days back, you could even get a "quality" meal in one of their restaurants.
After Montgomery Wards, this was one of my favorite stores to shop. Such a sad situation how the went under year after year. I'm especially sad to know that the very last Sears in Illinois is in the process of closing.
My parents met at Sears in the 50’s. Dad delivered and installed appliances and Mom was the dispatcher. Standing joke was my brother’s and I were all ordered from the Sears catalogue!
My parents bought a Sears microwave/convection oven in the fall of 1985 when I was in the Army. They passed away many years ago. But I got the SEARS MICROWAVE / CONVECTON OVEN AND IT STILL WORKS IN 2022! Only had to do one thing. Replace the "board" on the inside of the oven. Was able to find a board to fit it on Amazon. And still have my fathers Craftsmen tools as well.
Thank you for this wonderful video on Sears! It brought back memories of a favorite uncle of mine that "worshipped"Sears and used to take me there often in his '52 Chev. He bought me my first bicycle, a J.C. Higgins from Sears!
My maternal grandfather lived in a small Sears house for decades in Dallas. It’s been gone for several years now but it was used to raise nine kids, and I have special memories of time spent there as a kid.
Sears was a very good place to shop and all the items looked great ..looked forward as I remember going down a flight of stairs to see appliances and such..Sears always had a line of traffic in the store.
I remember me, my 3 sisters and one brother getting one new outfit each on the revolving charge card. It was a real big deal to us as it would take my mother a long time to pay it off. It was nice to have something new for the first day of school.
We did keep our doors unlocked. We went out and played till dark. Our parents had no way to keep track. We came in at dark. One tv in the house and Dad had it in the evenings
This is true. Even cars were left unlocked, even if they did have locks. The cloud of pervasive crime that now shadows communities and people today, was not as enveloping during that time. Crime, of course did occur, but it just wasn't as prevalent, especially in smaller towns or in the suburbs.
I remember the store from the 70s. I loved looking through that big curtain rod display filled with their curtain linens. I was only about 7 or 8, but the salesladies would let me. And I would always get one of their huge catalogues at each visit with my family.
Nashville in the 1960s or late 1950s built a giant Sears Store close to downtown that looked like the image with the Palm Trees. It was a magical place and I can still smell the cashews and candy counter. The store sold everything from Fine Plush Carpet to Appliances, etc. The Toy Isle and Catalogs at Christmas we're so so exciting to get in the mail!! We wore them out looking at the toys before Christmas.
I remember the catalogs I still miss them I let my kids pick out their christmas presents in them I remember going downtown christmas eve store was closing as lights were being shut off my Dad forgot a present and they let him in and he got what he needed such good people
It's hard to imagine Sears gone . I think the biggest mistake was doing away with commission salespeople . When you went to Sears they had people there that actually knew what they were selling . It was a great experience . And of course he would buy them because they stood behind their products . Which mostly were made here in the United States . And if you had a problem they would stand behind it . I can see no reason for them to go out . Other than just bad management. It's a damn shame to lose this quality store . They sell everything from motorcycles cars to homes . Now we have Walmart . The Chinese outlet . Where nobody speaks English .
"China Pride" Wal-Mart hurt Sears Badly! I remember 10 years ago, I bought all black Kenmore appliances, fridge, range, range hood, microwave and still have them till this present day. Try doing that at Wal-Mart, you'll be lucky to leave with a mini fridge and a mni microwave with a 2-year lifespan.
@@semectual You are absolutely right . Try returning something to China . I bought a pair of snow boots from Amazon . It took one month to get them . When I finally got them the wrong size . To return them it would cost me $280 . That was enough for me . I will always buy American . If I'm right Kenmore still sold in this country . I believe it's Lowe's hardware that still carries it .
They spent a fortune on the "financial superstore" idea in the 1980's. They bought Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker thinking the "synergies" would make it work. It was a big failure and saddled the company with debt and acquisition good will on its books. That's what killed the company. There was no money left to compete in the retail business.
I recall going to the SEARS tower store in Los Angeles early 1960's with my folks. It was a huge store and a all day adventure for me. That Sears even sold used Lionel trains people had traded in. When the Buena Park store opened we started going there to shop. The store at 5:31 in the video looks exactly like Buena Park store back in the day. Sad they failed to stay up to date......although we still have a local Sears store in town!
Used to love looking through the Sears Christmas catalog and showing my Mother which doll I wanted for Christmas. I was so thrilled when she got it for me! What a joy that was! Those days were magical for me as a child. Sears was a huge part of my childhood. So sad their stores are slowly disappearing. But my memories are wonderful!
Life without memories how nothing to write about. I truly missed those 60s and 70s life style, those time is nothing but fun and lot of happiness. American 🇺🇸 got so many history to always remember
Ahhh, Sears at Del Amo, remember eating hot cashews, buttered popcorn with my mom, toughskins, bought my first Beatles LP when I was 10 with money I saved washing my dad's car and even rented a tuxedo at one time.
Target was even worse. They decided to open up stores in Canada for the first time several years ago but never thought to get any product to put in the stores. You don't get a lot of customers in a store with empty shelves and sky-high prices. Whoever did that planning needs to be in an entirely different line of work.
Exactly 💯 Sears was broken from the inside run by the incompotent bureaucrats in Chicago and when Kmart bought out Sears then made it two broken corporations dying together and excellerated both their demise...when they started selling off assets like the Searscard to Citigroup I knew the timeclock started
05:20 I worked at that Sears! From around 1984 until 1989! Dayton Ohio. The building is now gone and some sort of office building and apartments have been put up in its place.
I'm 57 years old and I still have the craftsman socket set my dad bought me when I was 17 or 18 years old. The ratchet and sockets are 40 years old and going strong; although not used as often due to the fact you can't work on a newer car without computer skills or a degree in rocket science. Good memories. Those tools and my dad............ well there priceless.
My mother was disgusted when she bought new Sears appliances because at age 70, she had bought from Sears all her life, and when she called customer service the rep barely spoke English and she had a hard time getting service on her appliance. She said it used to be so different.
Well all the appliances were no longer made here..lets guess where they are all from ? My mom did the same and her refrigerator did nothing but break down
I grew up in the 1970's and 80's and as a child, I can remember the Sears Wish Book at Christmas time, and that meant to me, that Christmas was not far off! That Wish book was always a start to Christmas season, and sitting at the table, pen, paper and writting down all the item numbers of the things i wanted (To send to Santa, just to remind him!) I also remember the Eaton's Christmas Catalog around the same time. SO sad to know, we will never see the likes of catalogs like those again. I used to wait for the mail around Christmas, waiting for that magical Wish book to arrive!
Great times with the catalogue, would make my own Barbie houses from a big box would cut out all the necessities of living and it made a beautiful house for my dolls. Thank you. Wonderful scrap book video. Miss my Parents more than ever now.
As a kid I would spend hours going through the Sears and Roebuck catalogs. As recently as 10 years ago I would take my kids to Sears ground floor where we lived around Christmas time just to look at the Christmas decorations they had. So sad they closed. Fond memories.
Sears could have been a bigger powerhouse than they were. They not only had the retail division, but also Discover card AND Prodigy online, years before the internet, as we know it, was a thing! Management was catastrophically inept.
We were so poor our entertainment was to go through the catalog and pretend we could have one thing on each page. So much fun!
@@foobarmaximus3506 we were so poor, we didn’t even have a nickel to pay for the fee!
Yes I wish that I kept my old catalogs they had everything 🤗
When I was a child I used to pretend my family was rich and I could have anything I wanted. I would draw a circle around everything I wanted in the Christmas catalog.
Rodney Dangerfield said, "We were so poor when I was a kid, if I hadn't been a boy I'd have had nothing to play with."
@@zenolasmalls2760 And yes, I still have my 1955 catalog, no, no color photos - and two 1960s catalogs to go with my 1902 catalog (a copy of the original) - get a new bicycle for $9.00, a new organ for $12.00, and a pound of candy for 3 cents ...
My mom and dad still have a freezer that they bought from Sears just after their wedding in 1971. 50 years later it's still running like a champ.
And the new fridges today don't even last 7 years. Even if you pay an arm and a leg for them.
made in the USA?
My Kenmore fridge from Sears is over 30 years old and still running like a champ :). Even though I might save a little energy by getting a new one, the "planned obsoleteness" of today's appliances keeps me hanging onto it :).
Made in America but that was given away by the greedy
My parents had a Kenmore fridge that they purchased in the early-80's and it lasted until 2018.
Sears was such a great store. Had the best tools and warranties. Bought many of our home appliances from Sears. Kenmore was a great quality brand.
They had life time warranties on some products which were great for the customer but terrible for Sears. You could but a baby bottle warmer, raise five kids and bring it back six years later when you no longer had babies and get your money back (true story from a former Sears employee). People abused the warranties.
I have a Kenmore microwave over my stove that still works perfectly..complete with fake wood grain panels! :-)
My Dad is still using the same Sears Kenmore dryer that came with my grandparents' house in 1984.
Modern day Sears products are crap!
I used to love Sears, when they were dependable. Its been a long time since. What a shame!
My first sewing machine. TOL Sears Kenmore. Taught me to work hard to get the best bc the best was worth it.
Back when all Craftsmen tools were made in the USA and all had a lifetime warranty.
I still use a number of well worn Craftsman hand tools that I bought more than 60 years ago.
My father was a carpenter and always bought Craftsman tools!
That all I bought! Kept the broken ones for years , went back right before they closed locally and had them replaced for free!
@@Slithey7433 in 1980, I bought the largest set Craftsman sold. 1105 pieces. 1/4 drive - 3/4 drive sockets. complete standard and metric. I paid $3200.00 for it and it had a roll-away that set in a cart with a side box. I still have it. Although they didn't break, I exchanged some sockets because they were worn. The replacement sockets always break.
I have picked up craftman tools off the road all scratched up and gotten new ones..
My parents would take me to Sear's shopping for school clothes.
You walk in and you could small the *buttery popcorn* over by the
Brach's Candy! The catalog was the best.... *The Wishbook* was
a book of wishes! Thank you for this great series! 💚
My sister worked the candy counter...what city were you in?
Yezzzz
I had forgotten the popcorn and candy. That was a special Sears experience for sure!
My mother took us to Sears on 63rd st in Chicago. How long ago you say? We took the Halsted ST. trolley there. The first thing you smelled was the cashews, the whole store smelled of hot cashews. Although we pleaded, we rarely got them, we were not blessed with money. You know, a trip to Sears was a whole day event. We would leave early and return just in time for dinner. We didn't have much, but we always had lunch somewhere and had a really good time for very little. The stores in those days were designed for you to stay a while. Now, it's get what you came for and get out. Imagine spending 3 or 4 hours in Wal Mart?
The popcorn was the best
We went to Sears all the time. My father was a firm believer in Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances...just about every large purchase was purchased from Sears. And who could forget the thrill of getting the Wishbook catalog for Christmas every year!
When I was a kid and discovered the Wishbook had arrived when I went home for lunch, I'd claim to be sick, hoping to be able to stay home and read it! My mom popped a (glass mercury) thermometer in my mouth, but I was smart enough to hold the bulb near the light bulb over my bed. If it got too hot, I'd shake it down to a believable 99 degrees. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.
I remember Sears' "Christmas Wishbook" had always given me a whole world of wishes.
I remember that as well, as kids we could not wait to see the new toys that were out for that Christmas.
We loved the Wish Book ! The best thing the mailman ( god, i pitied him ) brought all year.
Loved the Sears "Dream" Wish Book. Couldn't wait for it to arrive. Miss those days.😥
Just like the JCPenney Christmas catalog. We were making out our Christmas lists in August. lol
Our Sears had 2 buildings and the smaller one (maybe a garden center?) was turned into THE North Pole at Christmas and I remember being in my room and turning around when my dad said we were going to see Santa one random evening- I was only 4! But it made such a mark on me(the excitement) that I can remember the room, the lamp that was on, turning around when he came to my door and announced to me and my brothers
I can see the linoleum floor I had that rolled up at the door way- gray and blue.
Thank you for spurring my mind to that memory
I was very sad when they closed Sears. Since the 60's my parent's and now my family had always shopped there. A lot of fond memories.
I love the dresses and the way people dressed back then. Everyone looked so well-kept.
Me too! I restored one on my grams circa 1954 dresses and I often wear it
@@foobarmaximus3506 I sure miss those days
The Great Depression and WWII limited new clothing. The 50’s are when keeping up with the Jones started. There was the McCarthyism subtext that meant you didn’t want to stand out from the crowd or get accused of something.
People were cleaner back then.
Now we look like bums. Ripped jeans t shirts whatever.
I worked for this once great company for 7 years and thought I’d never work anywhere else. But when the morning news announced the deal with Kmart and Lampert at the helm, I knew the day’s were numbered. Absolutely incredible to see how he orchestrated the extraction of over 100 years worth of wealth from two retailers and destroyed everyone and everything in his path.
Robert Nardelli did the same thing to Home Depot, then got fired by the board in 2007, got his golden parachute of $210 million, and was immediately hired by Chrysler as CEO. He promptly ran Chrysler into the ground and into bankruptcy in less than 2 years. He now runs an investment and advisory firm. Crime pays. Sociopathy pays better.
Yeah terrible!
Yeah. Lampert destroyed Sears.
As of October 19, 2022, there are 14 Sears stores, 2 of which are closing. It's been sad to see Sears die such a long, slow death.
This video was so heartwarming it literally brought me to tears. Thank you for a walk down memory lane.
Me too.
Me 3!
Me 4
Mom had a charge account @ sears before they had credit cards,our clothes& toys came from Sears,We were poor don't know how they done it!. I Remember wanting and dreaming of everything they sold!,
Me 5!
Ahh... The Sears Christmas catalog. Waited for that every year.
Me 2! Loved it.
I remember the Xmas Catalog came the end of Oct.....by the time Christmas was close by that book was so worn from me and my siblings looking through it .... good times in the 60's !
Ooh yes the Sears Christmas toy section was the goat lol
Hard to believe Sears is gone. My parents shopped there for everything. If they were living now they wouldn't believe it.
I’m living now and I can’t believe it.
well its the same now - instead people shop at amazon for everything
Real shame it was a good company ...
it's a shame something that old that good squashed by Walmart and Amazon not fare
@@horsepower0539 As much as I liked Sears it was their own fault. Sears failed at seeing the future, they could have bought out Amazon in the early 2000's but Sears stubbornly choose to continue with the same business plan and it was their downfall... If you don't change with the future it will eventually change you. The next one to fall will be the car dealerships. Soon most people will buy their car on the internet. The days of going to a dealer are numbered .
I was there and now I’m old but it was a grand time being a kid in the 50’s.
The first thing you would smell when you walked into a Sears store was the popcorn and candy section. They had the best popcorn and the candy was great too
Nothing compare to Sears popcorn 🍿!
@@gloriatorres2692 I agree. Their Candy was good too.
Did you type at their manual typewriters they had on display?
Warm cashews too . Greensboro NC .
@@sarasmith19 That was my Dad's favorite!
My Uncle Ralph, a U.S. Marine Corps World War II combat veteran, worked in the furniture department at our local Sears in Long Beach, LA County, long enough to retire. Like many other teenage boys in the 1960s, I played guitar in a garage band, The Flipside, with three friends in Lakewood after The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan on Sunday, February 9, 1964. My parents couldn’t afford Fender, Vox, Gibson, Marshall, Ampeg, etc. so for Christmas they gave me a Silvertone Twin 12 guitar amplifier, similar to a Fender Bandmaster, from Sears. Worked well. I used it with a Y cable plugged into both channels plus a TNT distortion booster and a Vox wah wah pedal until we disbanded in 1969 following graduation from high school, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... ‘Tis a magical musical memory still turning in the windmills of my mind. Thank you Sears.
Oh that's a flex!! ☺️
My beloved grandmother worked for Sears from the early 50’s to the early 80’s in Virginia Beach, VA. I remember her getting a pension every month when I was little. I wish I had a time machine and could walk in and see her working around ‘55 when she was around my age now. ❤️
@Oats J. Mule very well might have been Norfolk. I don’t know the location. They lived in Bayside, so not far from Norfolk. I just said Virginia Beach because that’s where we refer to them living.
Many people retired from Sears with a great pension. Some retired wealthy. People had great health insurance as well. Sad those day are gone. Work for Walmart and their business plan is to have the states fund the insurance because you are so poor.
Wonderful story ❤
You comment came in a time today I was thinking of my Grandfather. I wished he was riding in my truck with me today so I could just talk things over with him.
What a sweet memory. Bless your Grandmother :)
I was born in 1945 so I grew up in the 50's. I always remember anxiously waiting for the mail order catalogue. We shopped there all the time. My Dad's tools and lawnmower were from there. My Mom bought clothes there for us all the time. We got our refrigerator and range from there , even our vacuum. It's just what everyone did ! Christmas was always fun. Between the catalogue and going into the store it was always fun and exciting. Way before all the big box warehouse stores opened up, THIS was the place to shop ! BEST FAMILY MEMORIES ! MISS THEM.......
How I miss growing up with Sears! No Saturday night trip to the mall was complete without shopping at Sears. So sad that it has come to this...
The Sears catalog was every kids dream at Christmas! I'm getting choked up watching this. I want my America back so badly!!
Washers, dryers and fridges. They never wore out. My aunt bought me a fridge and my mom got the washer and dryer when I got my first house in 1981. I still have them and they work like charm. Only 1 minor repair on the dryer.
The Sears Christmas catalogue was a highlight each year. I'd go through the toy section circling all the things I wanted and occasionally I got some of them.
Same!!
I remember leaving the shopping mall with myself, and brothers each holding 1 catalog from each dept store. We would spend the Christmas season if not throwing snowballs, peruse through them for hours at a time talking about the different toys in the different catalogs.
Great memories. Nightgowns, appliances & computers when the 1st came out. Loved the catalogues along with th JC Penny ones. 🥰
My father bought everything at Sears, from my school clothes to appliances to lawn tractors to TV’s, to even the oil furnace for our house. Truly one stop shopping back in the day. And the employees were knowledgeable, attentive, and actually ( or so it seemed ) were glad to help you. And the men there, I knew many, were the only ones working in their household and they bought homes, and cars and took a vacation every summer. Something went terribly wrong in this country.
@Christian Adams and the democrap crime machine.
There are many paths, but one root. We forsook Jesus.
@@YSLRD Nah, we put ourselves to sleep.
I agree.... and it's more wrong every day. We are actively in a lot of trouble and worse on down the road, and the road is narrower and shorter.
The american dream is gone
I wish i could go back in time.
Unbelievable isn’t it? Life sure has changed, I never thought I see it come to this. No stores will be left. Just hermit people ordering all their stuff on line. What a drag. Shopping was fun, even if you were only ‘looking’!
@@Melinda8162
Exactly. I hate whats happening.
AND THEN!!!! Lol now this idiotic "inclusion" thing, where there won't be any gender departments, there will just be 'clothes' , 'shoes'........
@Da Big Kahuna Catfish
Yes. I fear we are past the point of no return and our "new normal" is pure looney tunes.
They will be locking sane people up, so when they nab you, ill meet you in the lunch room. Lol
Take care
Stay safe
@Da Big Kahuna Catfish
I was hoping it would be after i was dead too! Lol are you my brother?
Sad days ahead, huh?
@Da Big Kahuna Catfish
Sadder days.
❤
my grandmother worked at the sears on homan avenue in chicago for 40 years, i have her bracelet with her service pins, every year she sent us the christmas wish book, it was magical...
Our parents insisted everything come from Sears. They had such beautiful stores. The warm roasted nuts and candy were really special. We lived for the new catalogs. They treated their employees well and employed lots of people. We will miss them.
I use to love looking at the Toy catalog at Christmas time when I was a kid!
I want a 1950’s car so bad 😍
The last Sears store closed in my city a little less than a year ago. So surreal to see what it used to look like during my parent's childhood.
My mom and dad ordered everything from Sears. My wife worked at Sears for years and I would buy loads of tools and clothes there. It's like living on another planet now.
a planet mae in china AND their virus.
My Family loved shopping at Sears. Then I went and worked there for 2 years 1975 to 1978 part time. I had my first credit card there. Bought my first luggage set there. My Mom would even buy material for sewing.
Sears was the best.!!
@@khloecohen4831 - Fauci helped with that virus.
My Mom worked sales for Sears in the plumbing and heating department for many years.
(At Montgomery Wards before that.) She was the first woman manager in the 80's of that department. I remember the mall like absorption of these stores and ultimate dissolution of them.
These retrospectives are bittersweet.
I miss those HUGE Sears Christmas Catalogs, phonebook thick things.
I remember an old "Dennis The Menace" comic strip when Dennis told Mr. Wilson that his mother told him that when he dies, he's going to heaven. And Mr. Wilson quoted that when he dies, he's going back to the good old days.
is they why i live in my grandparents home and still have the 1974 Sears catalogue?
I worked for Sears out of college in the mid 90s. The company was just coming back and our focus was customer service. We sold service until the accountant and lawyers decided service cost to much. So they replaced service people who knew their products to just allowing people to pick items out of bins. And the company began to collapse. They were paying me $750 a week with great benefits when I was hired. They offered me $8 an hour part time and no benefits. I didn’t even give them notice. Sears stopped believing in loyalty too.
LOL. I was in a college town. They offed us five cents above minimum wage.
They had THOUSANDS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS THERE AND ALL WERE LOOKING FOR A JOB.
I think it was $3.30 an hour there.
But I worked with good people and had the worlds best boss.
One guy had worked in a city at a big Sears store since high school and was paid $6 an hour there.
When he came to college the assistant manager cut him back to $3.30 an hour.
He told him if he worked out he'd bump him back up.
After a couple of months there he asked the assistant manger if he could bump him back up.
He did.
Mind you, his starting pay at the other store in his home town was $4 an hour.
Yup.
Sears changed.
As has retail as well.
I really liked Sears. My first credit card was from them. You remember the old credit card “machines”...you put the card in the holder and slid the roller over it so it made an impression on the carbon copy form. I used to feel sorry for the sales girls- that thing never really seemed to work so well, and some of them really had trouble getting the roller to move.
You make me feel old! I worked for years in Woolworths and can still use one of those rollers in my sleep!
Back in the day Sears cards were hard to qualify for. So if you got one, the others were sure to follow.
Anyone remember “Sears Checklist Credit Cards”? These were used by Sears execs who on salary pay versus hourly.
Yes I do!
I was one of those sales girls!
I hold SEARS up as the best example of mismanagement. These modern executives that are so gifted they call for 7-figure salaries managed a company out of existence which started as a grass roots catalog company in the 19’th century and survived the Great Depression but failed in our relatively prosperous times.
Exactly.
Nsiled it!
I would spend hours going through the Christmas catalog, meticulous about writing down my wish list, prices and all. My grandma saved one and mailed me my list I wrote as a child after I married, said I was quite the "Budgeteer". Ha! I'm an accountant, guess it was in my blood.
LOL did the exact same thing. My brother and I were allowed a $10 {about $60-$70 now} budget to chose what we liked. My brother gave it little thought while I agonized over my choices !!
@@dhart8451 ❤
@@foobarmaximus3506 it turns out my grandparents were very wealthy, but I didn't know it.
@@karin0963 I honestly don’t know why people have to be rude. I enjoyed your memory, I’m sure your grandparents wanted you to learn the value of money. It looks like it may have worked, since you’re an accountant. Best wishes.
@@jerrytaylor4078 thank you for your nice comment. Actually I may have written the prices down on my own accord, or maybe my mother told me to do it.
I was a saying back in the 1960's that "As goes Sears Roebuck, so goes the nation." Well, that pretty well sums it up for America.
Sad, but true. The United States is in such severe decline.
Spot on.
You got that right, so sad!
@@howtubeable you know that when they close sears and open wal marts , that this country is in trouble !
Absolutely true! Sears was "America's store". Now everything is sold online and most of it comes from China.
I live near a big sears and it closed a couple of years ago, dang I sure miss that store!!!
We had a really nice Sears at the mall near us until it closed 3 years ago. They had good quality clothes and merchandise. Miss that store and their catalogs.
It truly is sad to bear witness to the end of those times, the end of Sears...and the end of how everything was back in those years. My grandparents generation, my parents, but my generation will sadly be the last ones to remember what Sears once was. There will never be another Sears...just as there will never be those times again. 😪
You are so right. I hate the way things are now. Just breaks my heart
Memories of days gone by.
Price of gas in one of the photos.
@@brodriguez11000 yeah that's the North Hollywood Sears store at valley plaza, which is no longer there. We bought our refrigerator there...... Now it's gone....
The store, that is.... My Kenmore fridge still works praise God.
Used to be a nice sear building in highland Park Michigan
Seeing the store from Lincoln Park Michigan brought a smile to my face..🥲
Sears at the Crossroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska 76th and Dodge. The mainstay of shopping forever. You could shop there and all the stores in the mall, and come out hours later knowing you had a good time. Now if I'm in a store longer than 30 seconds I want to leave. Every store has the same items, poor management, and ridiculous prices.
@aaron short Exactly right. Back when shopping was fun and something worthwhile to do.
~ The original store downtown in the "Towers" did not have air conditioning........
Brandis was at the other end of the Crossroads Mall @ 72nd & Dodge.
"The Nebraska" was an exclusive mens store in the mall, I still have a hat my dad & I bought there.
I remember that location well from the mid 90's.
So true Chris! Back in the day if a clerk asked if they could help you they were sincere and they knew how to help you. If they couldn't find the article you were looking for they would try to source it. They seemed to be really interested in helping you and making a sale. Today most people don't speak English and are just there for the pay cheque. It's too bad but that's the way the world turns today!
@@donalddonuts6026 I went into Penny's to buy a pair of jeans for my husband. The jeans section was a jumbled mess, and there wasn't a clerk in sight. Without being able to ask anyone whether they even CARRIED his size (before wasting an hour going through literally piles of jeans), I turned on my heel and walked out. I went to Dillards, where a clerk actually helped me (and found what I needed in the back). Yes, I paid more. But I walked out of the store with my jeans without waiting a week or paying for shipping. Sometimes you want what you want NOW.
I used to enjoy dropping my car off at the Sears Automotive service station and they go into the main store to shop around. Those were the days. We must bring them back.
How are we going to bring them back?
Not that you asked....but I'm a "Sears baby." My parents both worked for Sears when they met, and then married and then I was born. They went on to invest in their own Sears Catalog Store franchise. The store consisted of a counter with stools, where shoppers looked through the catalogs and then placed their orders. We love all things "Sears!"
I grew up on the east end of Houston, just north of the ship channel. Mom used to take me through the Washburn Tunnel, to Sears in Pasadena, TX. It was a wonderful store, with a great toy department, a cafe, and a nut stand in the center that gave off the most wonderful aroma. She would always buy me a portion of warm cashews from that stand. One of my best childhood memories from the mid-late 60s. On rare occasion, it was a REAL treat for this young boy to actually eat in that cafe.
The old buildings had a nice feel to them. Wood panel walls, and the shiny floors
I miss going to the mall and going to Sears. I remember the popcorn smell welcoming me to the store. I bought my bed, refrigerator, and tires at Sears. Craftsman forever
Hello from Canada. All the Canadian Sears Stores are shut down. Miss them. Thank you. God bless you. 💗➕💗
I grew up in Ontario in the early 60's and loved going to Sears. Christmas was the absolute best. Photo with Santa, personalized Christmas stocking which I still own and that awesome Christmas catalogue. It was breathtaking for a child flipping through the toy section in the hopes Santa would fulfill your dreams Christmas morning.
Remember Walking Into Any Sears Store And As Soon As The Door Would Swing Shut , A Gust Of Air Hit You . It Was Air Conditioned And Smelled Like Polyester , Pop Corn , And Roasted Nuts . Almost Intoxicating , But A Smell That Would Take You Back In Time .
They sold chocolate in large bricks that could be broken up to order.
And warmed cashews in a paper bag ! God Bless .
@@patsygroves3812 Chocolate Peanut Clusters We’re My Personal Favorite. I Couldn’t Afford It Until High School. Popcorn And A Strawberry Icee Was Always The Best !
@@youfuckmywife6719 YESSSSSS !! Those were Amazing ! God Bless You .
Growing up in the era of the shopping mall, everywhere we lived had at least one mall, and at least 2 of the big 3 department stores to anchor them: Sears, Penney's, and Wards. I worked at Sears part-time in the Men's department from the summer after my junior year in high school until I graduated from college. My dad worked part-time at Sears in another location even longer than I did; he sold appliances. All of our home appliances (our fist big color TV, our first microwave oven, our refrigerator, our dishwasher) all came from Sears because of my dad's discount and looking out for sales. I went from general men's ware to men's suits, in which I got a 3% commission on everything I rang up. Great store. Sorry to see the last CEO drive it into the ground.
Janita Poe
0 seconds ago
The Sears Christmas catalog. How we couldn't wait to pore over it in our pajamas.... Thanks for the memories!
How I wish we could go back to that time where men and women dressed nicely and wore hats. I remember going to Sears with my grandparents, especially shopping at Christmas time. It was a real treat my sister and I looked forward to.
Before online shopping and Amazon we had Sears and those catalogs wish books life was good
Amen Buddy and life was better back then, than present day.
People condemn shopping on-line as causing the decline of the malls and retail in general, but Sears was doing the equivalent 100 years ago. In the 50's my family bought from Sears extensively, but we never went to a Sears store. There weren't any nearby.
and human interaction
Gone are the days when shopping at the mall was so much fun! Sears used to decorate so beautifully for Christmas and offer so many specials throughout the stores. There appliances were and still are very reliable and of high quality, many people had them for a lifetime. The architecture e of the buildings were beautiful and always undergoing some sort of renovation. I just wish we could bring those days back, you could even get a "quality" meal in one of their restaurants.
When I needed some clothes that were tough and would last, my mom went to Sears! The prices were reasonable!
My mother used to buy us those jeans one could only buy at Sears; toughskins. They certainly lived up to their name.
My back-to-school clothes came from the Sears catalogue. Why bother having kids try on clothes when they just out-grow them anyway? LOL
After Montgomery Wards, this was one of my favorite stores to shop. Such a sad situation how the went under year after year. I'm especially sad to know that the very last Sears in Illinois is in the process of closing.
😮
We had a great Sears store down town. I miss it. The service was wonderful, the goods were excellent quality and you could find EVERYTHING.
My parents met at Sears in the 50’s. Dad delivered and installed appliances and Mom was the dispatcher. Standing joke was my brother’s and I were all ordered from the Sears catalogue!
That's cute. Good to remember those times.
My parents bought a Sears microwave/convection oven in the fall of 1985 when I was in the Army.
They passed away many years ago.
But I got the SEARS MICROWAVE / CONVECTON OVEN AND IT STILL WORKS IN 2022!
Only had to do one thing. Replace the "board" on the inside of the oven.
Was able to find a board to fit it on Amazon.
And still have my fathers Craftsmen tools as well.
Thank you for this wonderful video on Sears! It brought back memories of a favorite uncle of mine that "worshipped"Sears and used to take me there often in his '52 Chev. He bought me my first bicycle, a J.C. Higgins from Sears!
I can smell the wonderful smells from the candy counter! Loved the escalator!
In the early 1900s, Sears was Amazon of its day. Sears sold houses and some still exist today.
Sears even sold groceries and medicines via mail order in its early days.
Richard M Nixon childhood home may have come from Sears. it was a mail order house.
Yes l live in a Sears catalog home that's 100 years old this year. It's a great home in NJ
My maternal grandfather lived in a small Sears house for decades in Dallas. It’s been gone for several years now but it was used to raise nine kids, and I have special memories of time spent there as a kid.
Not really! Amazon is a sweatshop!
🌺thank you for bringing back memories indeed, of a better time to have known. And it truly was🍁
Thank you.
Great show wish we could be there in that time now today sucks.
Sears was a very good place to shop and all the items looked great ..looked forward as I remember going down a flight of stairs to see appliances and such..Sears always had a line of traffic in the store.
I remember me, my 3 sisters and one brother getting one new outfit each on the revolving charge card. It was a real big deal to us as it would take my mother a long time to pay it off. It was nice to have something new for the first day of school.
My mother ordered school clothes there too. It was grant to get something new. Best thing about school.
This is becoming one of my all-time top 10 TH-cam channels
Wish I lived back then.... People actually left their doors unlocked 😉... Easy living, I love the dresses 👍
Did you notice most cars in the parking lot had there windows down? I would not want to try that today.
@@bobbymorgan6868 I'm with you on that one Bobby, now it's scary 😱.
We did keep our doors unlocked. We went out and played till dark. Our parents had no way to keep track. We came in at dark. One tv in the house and Dad had it in the evenings
@@MsPrecious61 I'm glad you agree, I'm sitting here watching "Leave it to Beaver" ,love June's kitchen!!! Yeah playing till dark was fun 👍🤗😉
This is true. Even cars were left unlocked, even if they did have locks. The cloud of pervasive crime that now shadows communities and people today, was not as enveloping during that time. Crime, of course did occur, but it just wasn't as prevalent, especially in smaller towns or in the suburbs.
Miss Sears. Grew up in the late 70s. Going there with my Family was always quality time.
I remember the store from the 70s. I loved looking through that big curtain rod display filled with their curtain linens. I was only about 7 or 8, but the salesladies would let me. And I would always get one of their huge catalogues at each visit with my family.
Never thought I’d see Sears go away.
I never thought I’d see a lot of great things go away.
I wish I had a couple of the old catalogs, I miss those so much!
Nashville in the 1960s or late 1950s built a giant Sears Store close to downtown that looked like the image with the Palm Trees. It was a magical place and I can still smell the cashews and candy counter. The store sold everything from Fine Plush Carpet to Appliances, etc. The Toy Isle and Catalogs at Christmas we're so so exciting to get in the mail!! We wore them out looking at the toys before Christmas.
I remember the catalogs I still miss them I let my kids pick out their christmas presents in them I remember going downtown christmas eve store was closing as lights were being shut off my Dad forgot a present and they let him in and he got what he needed such good people
I own a sears silvertone amp...still works and still sounds amazing, I use it to this day for recording and live gigs. :)
It's hard to imagine Sears gone . I think the biggest mistake was doing away with commission salespeople . When you went to Sears they had people there that actually knew what they were selling . It was a great experience . And of course he would buy them because they stood behind their products . Which mostly were made here in the United States . And if you had a problem they would stand behind it . I can see no reason for them to go out . Other than just bad management. It's a damn shame to lose this quality store . They sell everything from motorcycles cars to homes . Now we have Walmart . The Chinese outlet . Where nobody speaks English .
Joe, PERFECTLY SAID!
Sears also shot itself in the foot by failing to put its catalogue in the Internet in the '90s.
"China Pride" Wal-Mart hurt Sears Badly! I remember 10 years ago, I bought all black Kenmore appliances, fridge, range, range hood, microwave and still have them till this present day. Try doing that at Wal-Mart, you'll be lucky to leave with a mini fridge and a mni microwave with a 2-year lifespan.
@@semectual You are absolutely right . Try returning something to China . I bought a pair of snow boots from Amazon . It took one month to get them . When I finally got them the wrong size . To return them it would cost me $280 . That was enough for me . I will always buy American . If I'm right Kenmore still sold in this country . I believe it's Lowe's hardware that still carries it .
They spent a fortune on the "financial superstore" idea in the 1980's. They bought Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker thinking the "synergies" would make it work. It was a big failure and saddled the company with debt and acquisition good will on its books. That's what killed the company. There was no money left to compete in the retail business.
I recall going to the SEARS tower store in Los Angeles early 1960's with my folks. It was a huge store and a all day adventure for me. That Sears even sold used Lionel trains people had traded in. When the Buena Park store opened we started going there to shop. The store at 5:31 in the video looks exactly like Buena Park store back in the day. Sad they failed to stay up to date......although we still have a local Sears store in town!
3:02 All those cool cars in the parking lot!😍
That piano is magnificent.
Used to love looking through the Sears Christmas catalog and showing my Mother which doll I wanted for Christmas. I was so thrilled when she got it for me! What a joy that was! Those days were magical for me as a child. Sears was a huge part of my childhood. So sad their stores are slowly disappearing. But my memories are wonderful!
My Grandmother worked for year as the head cook in their cafeteria, in Los Angeles.
Life without memories how nothing to write about. I truly missed those 60s and 70s life style, those time is nothing but fun and lot of happiness. American 🇺🇸 got so many history to always remember
Ahhh, Sears at Del Amo, remember eating hot cashews, buttered popcorn with my mom, toughskins, bought my first Beatles LP when I was 10 with money I saved washing my dad's car and even rented a tuxedo at one time.
I’m a 60s child, but thoroughly enjoyed going through that catalog, all year round.
Sears, another case study in grossly incompetent management.
Target was even worse. They decided to open up stores in Canada for the first time several years ago but never thought to get any product to put in the stores. You don't get a lot of customers in a store with empty shelves and sky-high prices. Whoever did that planning needs to be in an entirely different line of work.
@@ilanamillion8942 Target was a lot better than WalMart !
Exactly 💯 Sears was broken from the inside run by the incompotent bureaucrats in Chicago and when Kmart bought out Sears then made it two broken corporations dying together and excellerated both their demise...when they started selling off assets like the Searscard to Citigroup I knew the timeclock started
I am not so sure about that . I think the times outgrew them . God Bless .
05:20 I worked at that Sears! From around 1984 until 1989! Dayton Ohio. The building is now gone and some sort of office building and apartments have been put up in its place.
The Sears Catalog! I would make my Christmas list from that catalog. I couldn't wait to get the new one every year. Same for the JC Penny Catalog
I'm 57 years old and I still have the craftsman socket set my dad bought me when I was 17 or 18 years old. The ratchet and sockets are 40 years old and going strong; although not used as often due to the fact you can't work on a newer car without computer skills or a degree in rocket science. Good memories. Those tools and my dad............ well there priceless.
My mother was disgusted when she bought new Sears appliances because at age 70, she had bought from Sears all her life, and when she called customer service the rep barely spoke English and she had a hard time getting service on her appliance. She said it used to be so different.
Mass migrations ruined everything.
Well all the appliances were no longer made here..lets guess where they are all from ? My mom did the same and her refrigerator did nothing but break down
I grew up in the 1970's and 80's and as a child, I can remember the Sears Wish Book at Christmas time, and that meant to me, that Christmas was not far off! That Wish book was always a start to Christmas season, and sitting at the table, pen, paper and writting down all the item numbers of the things i wanted (To send to Santa, just to remind him!)
I also remember the Eaton's Christmas Catalog around the same time.
SO sad to know, we will never see the likes of catalogs like those again. I used to wait for the mail around Christmas, waiting for that magical Wish book to arrive!
the soundtrack makes me feel like sobbing uncontrollably.
My grandfather bought his parachute from Sears before. He only used it once. Never opened. Still good as new.
Great times with the catalogue, would make my own Barbie houses from a big box would cut out all the necessities of living and it made a beautiful house for my dolls. Thank you. Wonderful scrap book video. Miss my Parents more than ever now.
As a kid I would spend hours going through the Sears and Roebuck catalogs. As recently as 10 years ago I would take my kids to Sears ground floor where we lived around Christmas time just to look at the Christmas decorations they had. So sad they closed. Fond memories.
RIP .. Sears.......my first bike came from this store......good memories
Mine too
I was floored watching this, besides all the memories, the photo shown here of the man shopping for a stove in the appliance department is my dad !!!
Sears could have been a bigger powerhouse than they were. They not only had the retail division, but also Discover card AND Prodigy online, years before the internet, as we know it, was a thing!
Management was catastrophically inept.
The over expanded in the 1980's. The financial supermarket idea cost them too much and was not profitable.
I remember the Christmas catalogue and we looked at it for hours. Loved watching this.
I have to admit that I have binge watching your channel!! And love it!!
I am a happy subscriber!!! 🥳♥️🙋🏻♀️
I miss Sears more than any other store that is no longer here. In California the Sears in San Jose there wasn’t a time I left empty handed.