Sears- an observation

[Thatswhatshesaid]

Of those, the only I'd really miss is Barnes and Noble. Though I buy most books and magazines in electronic form, I do enjoy a good bookstore. But with free shipping, Amazon is hard to avoid...selection, ease of ordering, quick shipping makes them pretty irresistible...

The Barnes and Noble near me doesn't even carry as many books as they used to. They have a big section of Legos and Toys in there now.

Amazon is the place to go for books.

[Rob Hall]

The Barnes and Noble near me doesn't even carry as many books as they used to. They have a big section of Legos and Toys in there now.

Amazon is the place to go for books.

The B&Ns near me are the only local source for Motorsport, F1, Car, Top Gear and other UK car magazines....I miss Borders, they always had a good selection of UK car mags..

[randx0]

Considering at one time Sears basically provided everything from lumber to livestock even cars via mail that they are failing now seems ironic .

[Rob Hall]

One thing i remember back in the day was a small Sears 'catalog store' in a small rural Ohio town near where I lived as a kid..my folks would order stuff from the Sears catalog and pick it up at the store..I remember them doing this all through the '70s-80s..

[unclescott58]

Thinking about it, the Sears catalog was the Amazon of its time. You could live in the middle of nowhere. Order from the Sears catalog and get it delivered to your door step. Now you can live I the middle of nowhere. Order online from Amazon and get it delivered to your door step. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And the Sears Christmas Wish Book was one of my favorite parts of Christmas as a kid. Christmas started the day the Sears Wish Book came to the door. We also got the JC Penny's and Alden's Christmas catalogs too. Neighbors got the Montgomery Wards. But, the Sears Christmas catalog was the best. My sisters and I were forced to agree to take turns on who got the catalog for how long. Else we would get into fights over it. Every year my mother would tell us to put our initials by the one big gift in the Sears catalog we wanted. And just about every year you would get that gift. When it was one your siblings turn with the Sears catalog, we would grudgingly look at the Penny's or Alden's catalog. Waiting to get back to the Sears, and drool and dream.

Scott

[Harry P.]

It seems that Sears is caught in an unenviable "Catch-22" situation... their business has been dropping steadily, so to shore up the company they have sold off various assets like Land's End, for example. Also, remember when Sears had rental cars? And portrait studios? I do. For a long time, they have been keeping themselves alive by selling off bits and pieces of themselves in order to fund the company and offset their losses... sort of like a guy stranded on a desert island eating his own arm to keep himself alive. Obviously that strategy can only work for so long....

I don't really understand where Sears went wrong. When I was a kid, Sears was the place to shop. Somehow they lost their way... not sure if it was bad marketing, a slowness to react to new competitors, or what.

Also... as far as you guys who won't buy online because the info you want isn't reliable (or available)... I strongly disagree.

If you go to a brick-and-mortar store, you're relying on one salesperson's "expertise" to guide you. That "expertise" may be genuine, or they may just be pushing the product(s) they were told to push. Just because a "sales associate" tells you that the Trashmaster 2000 is the world's best trash compacter doesn't necessarily make it so.

I shop online and I rely on the tons of reviews available, both from "professionals" and consumers who already own the product.

By shopping online I can get many reviews from many sources, and see an average rating for a product based on many reviews, not just the opinion of one store clerk who may or may not know what the heck he/she is talking about!

I bought a new dishwasher online, sight unseen. First I did a search for dishwashers in my price range, then refined those results by placing them in order from the highest reviewed models down to the lowest. Same when I bought my digital camera. First a search to find a model in my price range (and with the features I needed or wanted), then refine that search by reviews. In the case of the camera, reviews from a leading photo magazine. Try doing that the next time you're shopping in a "brick-and-mortar" store.

Not only can I get a very thorough sampling of product reviews, but once I settle on the exact item I want, I can then do a price search and find that product at the lowest price available in the entire country (or world, for that matter).

I don't see how shopping "in person" can compete with that. Not for me, at least.

[High octane]

You need to get out more Harry, before you start banging your head against the walls.

[Rob Hall]

For big stuff like appliances, I'd read the reviews online, but purchase locally so I can have it delivered and installed.

[martinfan5]

In the same vein, Radio Shack has gone from being a source for switches, chips and semiconductors, and various other electronic components to a smart-phone and toy store. Useless to me, but I'm not their target market anymore.

Luckily, Frys Electronics has that covered, if you have a store near you.

[Rob Hall]

Luckily, Frys Electronics has that covered, if you have a store near you.

Frys stores are fun...haven't been in one in ages, though. Anytime I need an hdmi cable or something I just get it on Amazon.

[cobraman]

As a child I loved when the "Wish Book " would arrive. I would look through it several times a day at first. Can't remember the last time I was in a Sears store.

[Harry P.]

For big stuff like appliances, I'd read the reviews online, but purchase locally so I can have it delivered and installed.

I do my own installation. Home remodeling and "This Old House" sort of stuff is a hobby of mine.

You need to get out more Harry, before you start banging your head against the walls.

Huh?

[martinfan5]

Frys stores are fun...haven't been in one in ages, though. Anytime I need an hdmi cable or something I just get it on Amazon.

They are, I like to just go and walk around and take a look at everything, its been awhile for me too , but same here, most of the HDMI cables I have bought have been online as well

Edited August 25, 2014 by martinfan5

[Rob Hall]

I do my own installation. Home remodeling and "This Old House" sort of stuff is a hobby of mine.

Not me..I leave that stuff to the professionals.

[Harry P.]

Not me..I leave that stuff to the professionals.

I can see that. But for a guy like me who can (and does) do his own installs, like a dishwasher, I prefer shopping online. Better prices almost in every case. Even shopping for something like a new camera, which doesn't require any installation, you can't beat checking the reviews, checking the prices, and shopping online. No camera store on Earth will have all the cameras in stock that the internet does. I could spend an entire weekend driving around from one store to another compared to what I can do in just minutes online.

I can get tons more information online on any given product than I can get in any brick-and-mortar store.

[JunkPile]

I wanna touch, taste, and smell it before I buy it

[Harry P.]

I wanna touch, taste, and smell it before I buy it

You can only touch, taste and smell so many products in person. Let's say you're shopping for a new lamp. Every store only has a limited inventory. Say you look at 5-10 lamps in person. That leaves hundreds others that you've never seen and know nothing about.

Or take a dishwasher. It's not like the store will let you run it through a cycle so you can see for yourself. You may see the thing "in person," but what does that prove?

You can check out all the lamps online. And all the dishwashers. And read the reviews from people who already one one, and professionals who review products for a living.

[Chuck Most]

You can only touch, taste and smell so many products in person. Let's say you're shopping for a new lamp. Every store only has a limited inventory. Say you look at 5-10 lamps in person. That leaves hundreds others that you've never seen and know nothing about.

Or take a dishwasher. It's not like the store will let you run it through a cycle so you can see for yourself. You may see the thing "in person," but what does that prove?

You can check out all the lamps online. And all the dishwashers. And read the reviews from people who already one one, and professionals who review products for a living.

Jeez... awfully particular about lamps aren't we?

I have to ask... what is there to review about a lamp, other than "It lights up the room"?

[Rob Hall]

Most consumer electronics like cameras and laptops I buy online, likewise for most home theatre product...though I do like hearing speakers and seeing TVs in person.. about the only consumer electronics stores I really enjoy shopping at are the Apple store and Best Buy's Magnolia showrooms..

[Harry P.]

Jeez... awfully particular about lamps aren't we?

I have to ask... what is there to review about a lamp, other than "It lights up the room"?

Maybe "lamp" wasn't the best example. But you get my drift.

Rob... I agree I'd like to hear speakers live before I buy, because the sound of speakers is such a subjective thing... but there are so many things you buy that just don't really need an in-person look. And most appliances, like dishwashers and clothes washers and microwaves and refrigerators and toasters, etc., can't be taken for a real "test drive" in person anyway.

[Ju Ju]

Ed Roth worked at Sears.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't see how shopping "in person" can compete with that. Not for me, at least.

I don't recall ever once taking the word of a "sales associate" ANYWHERE for anything other than where an item was located in the store. The tool department in the local Sears here used to be HUGE, so being pointed in the right direction was helpful there.

The part I miss about shopping "in person" is being able to actually HOLD the product in my hand and make MY OWN judgement as to its quality.

It's similar to what I miss about book and music stores. At BN, I can see and scan the covers and titles of MANY books in a particular genre pretty much instantly, and let MY OWN MIND zero in on the one I think most relevant. Then a quick flip through the pages, ALL the pages (not just the ones available online) and I KNOW if it's what I need or not. But the local BN has cut it's "transportation" section back so much that the only option I have searching for car-related technical books is online, and it does work well.

With fiction, same thing, but reading a random passage or several pages can pretty much tell me if I like the author's style and rhythm. I haven't found a really good way to do that online yet, but I haven't tried very hard, because we still have a couple of book stores nearby.

Far as music goes, the now-history Borders here had a CD section with headphones and an extensive library where you could browse and listen to an ENTIRE ALBUM before purchasing it, not just the 30-second clip-per-track you get on the net. Again, I could see a wide variety of music I'd never specifically SEARCH for, and I broadened my musical taste and appreciation considerably. When that was available I bought several hundred $$ worth of music monthly. Since they've been gone, my music purchases have dropped to almost nothing.

The flip side, far as the "printed" word goes, is the expanded availability of material long out of print, of interest to such a limited audience that a re-print just isn't going to happen due to the cost of producing a physical "book". I've found some e-editions of some things I thought I'd never find, and I'm grateful that technology makes some little gems once again accessible.

Still, to me, reading something on a glowing screen just doesn't have the same appeal as holding a book and turning pages.

But then, I LIKE to read. I think that's a trait that's disappearing as rapidly as tool-users.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Rob Hall]

Rob... I agree I'd like to hear speakers live before I buy, because the sound of speakers is such a subjective thing... but there are so many things you buy that just don't really need an in-person look. And most appliances, like dishwashers and clothes washers and microwaves and refrigerators and toasters, etc., can't be taken for a real "test drive" in person anyway.

True... I've bought small appliances like my Keurig coffee maker and espresso machine online...

[Harry P.]

As far as buying music, I stopped doing that years ago. Back when Napster and Limewire were still working and the music police hadn't shut them down yet, let's just say that I managed to "find" all the music I ever wanted.

As far as new music these days... for an old fart like me, there's very little I care to spend my money on to "own." I'll listen to music online for free, and I always have my very extensive collection of "homemade" CDs as backup. And in the very rare case where I hear something new that I like, I'll buy it on itunes. No need to go to any store for me. But that's what works for me. Your mileage may vary.

[Rob Hall]

Far as music goes, the now-history Borders here had a CD section with headphones and an extensive library where you could browse and listen to an ENTIRE ALBUM before purchasing it, not just the 30-second clip-per-track you get on the net. Again, I could see a wide variety of music I'd never specifically SEARCH for, and I broadened my musical taste and appreciation considerably. When that was available I bought several hundred $$ worth of music monthly. Since they've been gone, my music purchases have dropped to almost nothing.

I miss Borders and Tower Records for browsing CDs...though I wouldn't have the time for to listen to an entire album in a store..there is a good local music chain that I hit once in a while and buy new and used CDs from, though I mostly buy music from iTunes or Amazon these days..