Sears Will Close 120 Stores as Sales Fall

Don’t blame the high salaries and incompetence of the CEO’s and upper management. Lets just get rid of the little people workers instead. They don’t really need jobs after all.

Why is it incompetence of CEO’s and upper management if people don’t have the money to spend at Sears or K Mart??? In case you didn’t notice it’s rough out there and competition is stiff…especially when you are going against Wal Mart, who can afford to sell their Chinese products at a lower price (just sayin)

So you can’t comment on the truth anymore. Does Sears own you ABC?

The Sears store near us has employees who are everything but helpful..When I most recently asked for help I was confronted with indifference and information which was not correct. I had to go online and on the phone to get the facts. Needless to say, I won’t shop at my Sears store in the future. It is too bad that Sears will close stores because for those people who care about doing their job, a closing will mean their job and jobs are already in short supply.

kmart and sears have junk items and do a horrible job marketing their items that they do have,the head honchos need to be fired and a whole new marketing plan needs to be put into place as well as a overhaul on items especially the style and quality of their clothes, they are still stuck in the 80s, meanwhile target and walmart are crushing them with their products and marketing of their products, sears and kmart stores around the chicagoland area looks rundown and outta touch, their whole look even their sign looks old and depressing , they need a fresh new look.

There was a time when Sears was a respectable retailer. In many ways Sears has lowered the quality of their merchandise to the level of Wal-mart. Example: We were looking for a treadmill. We checked Wal-mart and found it to be substandard. We went to Sears in K-W, Ontario and found the treadmills of top standard. The service of the employees was efficient and friendly. I hat to say this, but when it comes to cleanliness in the stores, the quality of employees there is a difference between the US and Canada. Unfortunately neither country produces anything locally anymore.

Sears has been going down for years. I will never buy a major appliance from Sears again. The oven went out after 1 year (just after the warrantee expired), the refrigerator compressor went out just before the warrantee expired), the washer finally gave up all together (we bought a new one from Loews). The only appliances still working after 5 years is the dryer and the dishwasher (we bought the best one they had so maybe that had something to do with it). I’ll still cruise on through the Craftsman tool department if I’m there at the mall, but I won’t make any special trip to Sears. In other words, I’m not too surprised at this turn of events.

Anyone over thirty has fond memories of a Sears that had high standards, knowledgeable sales staff who dressed appropriately, and products that one could depend upon. The last time I was in a Sears store that USED to be great, it reminded me of a very bad Kmart. The sales people were mostly inappropriately dressed KIDS who had no interest in even being there. The displays were sloppy and NOTHING like they used to be. Except for the tools and appliances section, I would not have known I was in a Sears. Kmart brought Sears down to its level or lower and their management should be FIRED for destroying what had been a great company!

Blame Edward Lampert for the Reason Sears and Kmart has failed.

KATS (10:28 AM); “I eventually went with Lowes (before the bigoted advertising move) I got my washing machine almost $100 cheaper than the same model at Sears and free delivery.” Exactly my experience. Amazing, huh?

hey mister CEO: read these comments!

Frankly, I’m not surprised. Sears customer services is horrifying. Instead of spending their budget on executive salaries, they could have spent it on how to actually deliver great customer service. Employees have low morale and clearly go out of their way to do the least amount of work, including long lines at registers. Plus, you haven’t lived until you have to deal with their phone customer service support. That is truly horrific.

I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with a Sears in Virginia. I have bought multiple riding mowers, weed eaters, tools galore, dishwashers, ovens,washer and dryers….etc. My last Kenmore washer and dryer from Sears lasted 22 years and was still running but we upgraded about 4 years ago and not one problem. I just replaced our Kenmore refrigerator after 19 years and it also was still running.

I work at Sears, and I see the pain everyday of the customers that do try to purchase items. I wish the head honchos would just purchase something at a register and see how many questions cashiers are required to ask, and how very few we have. The registers are woefully slow and were new in the 70′s. I can’t tell you how many times a day they just crash for no reason. We do have ihelds though.

At least this did not happen under my watch. ho.. ho.. ho.. – Bush

My Sears is the west end anchor of our local mall. It says Sears on the door but the last time I went there it was K-Mart in stock and display. The east end anchor is Penney’s and it was not much better. In the middle is Macy’s where you can’t afford to even look. Sears was there before the mall was built, and it seems like as Sears goes, so goes the mall. Outdated display yes. The staff does their best.

I agree with most of the comments posted. There is a Kmart store not far from where I work. It’s old and dingy, and stuck in a time warp. It looks just like it did back in 1992, when I worked part time at another Kmart location. The prices of the products are poorly marked, and located on the shelves, and as for the toy dept, you can’t locate what you want, everything is scattered about and forget about figuring out what the prices are. They have failed to keep up with the times. Sears…no comment… I think it’s time to clean house at the corporate level…they are stale and stagnant also.

Sears used to be “THE” place for appliances and tools. Kenmore and Craftsman were built to last and competed easily with other brands. Clothes were kind of clunky, but reasonably priced and made well. And remember the Christmas Wish Book? That was our family’s Christmas go-to for those coveted toys and games.

The last time I shopped at Sears, the clothing had improved and the selection was much better. However, we had a nightmare situation trying to order a water heater online from sears.com when ours had failed. We had paid a fortune for expedited delivery as we had no suitable vehicle for picking on up at Sears. In addition, the nearest store with the item (allegedly) in stock was 90 miles away. Long story, short version, the water heater we had selected was not in stock (nowhere was this indicated on the website) and no ETA of when more would be arriving. We had to open a dispute with our credit card company when Sears “customer service” (I use that term loosely) informed me there was no way to cancel our order and credit us immediately for the purchase. We would have to wait for delivery, then refuse it, according to Sears’ CSR. Thank goodness we had used a credit card for the purchase or we’d probably still be waiting on a refund.

And KMart…KMart allowed every store manager to run it the way they saw fit and some of them had absolutely no concept of customer service. A very nice older cashier who made small talk with her customers while waiting on them was suddenly silent when we went through her line. I asked her if she was ok and she nodded. Then very quietly, she said, “I was told I couldn’t talk to my customers anymore.” Her conversations were in no way holding up the lines or her work, she was simply being pleasant. Wal-Mart came in, heavily emphasized friendliness and customer service and before long, KMart was just a memory.

I have read of similar experiences people have had posted all over the web and that might give people an idea of why people are shopping elsewhere, although the state of retail in the US sucks for the most part.

K-Mart is where I buy all my things, but my kids go elsewhere, I guess it’s a generational thing?

Management couldn’t be more stupid. They have a rewards system and a card that you scan (as you all know) but they are adding more and more BS on that little machine you swipe your payment card on that does nothing but hold up the line. Do you have an email? and God forbid if the person in front of YOU says yes i do and takes 5 mins to enter it into the system. Then the customer asks the cashier how many points to I have? More time to hold up the line. The cashier punches in 500,000 key strokes and then finally says 50 points. Then the customer says how do I check that myself online? Another 5 mins that takes and again the line is held up. More and more crap questions are being added to the checkout process because the MORONS at corporate think they know best and force this BS onto not only the customers but the cashiers. Here’s a hint Mr. CEO: I stopped coming back to Kmart because I don’t have hours to spend in a line to check out. You’re a moron and an idiot…!!!

I hope the CEO wrote himself a big paycheck!

From personal experience, the sales are down due to the lack of CUSTOMER SERVICE provided. We had one of the worst experiences at Sears just a few weeks ago. The employees that we dealt with were rude, uninformed, arrogant, and down-right stupid! And it wasn’t just one person….it was 2 different departments! We will NEVER buy from Sears again because of this!!!! We used to be loyal customers of Sears, but NO MORE!

I quit going anywhere near a K-Mart years ago because I should not have to hop over all the disposable daipers abandoned in the parking lot.

I can see why Sears is closing, but it’s a shame because they were a reputable dealer many years ago with quality merchandise. That’s when they were Sears & Roebuck. They used to deliver and install a major kitchen appliance at low cost and take away the old appliance, but now you have to pay a contract laborer through Sears as much as $150.00 to install it.

I bought a Kenmore stove, which works fine, but if you want all the stove reflectors to fit all the burners you have to order them through Sears for about $35.00. Otherwise I have to buy a set at one store to fit the large burners, then go to another store and buy another brand to fit the smaller burners. Ridiculous!

Sears isn’t what they used to be. Clothing and accessories section has a lot to be desired. Cheap junk at way marked-up prices.

KMART is a joke, I almost fell over when THEY bought Sears. KMart has 20 cash registers and they never have the majority of them running. They are arrogant and crappy just like Walmart. Sears has been a staple and their reputation was lowered by being bought by the joke KMart. I am not surprised.

Sears is a classic (tweener)
a tweener in the sports world refers to a player who is too big for 1 position ,but to small for another.
Sears is the only Department Store @ the Mall where you can buy a Lawnmower,get the Brakes fixed on your car,and buy a A/c unit and Fridge .
So you want to be a Auto Service Repair shop and a Home Improvemnt Store and fashion Retailer!Not to mention my local Sears also has a Golf Shop
Because you know when i go to the mall im thinking work,good to know i can get a mower ,some LL Cool J aparrel,and take a defensive drivers course
You kow what i do like about Sears?
Its got great mall parking
their lot is always empty
Park at Sears, shop @Macys

I bought a potato peeler at K-Mart. Martha Stewart brand, Took it home, grabbed a russet potato and the peepler folded in half. K-Mart cannot even make a potato peeler that stands up to a grown-in-Idaho potato. (I got two for the price of one – they both ended up in the trash immediately!) I do not care about their discounts, two-for-one=pricing or Martha Stewart. I just want a peeler that works.

Wal-Mart is killing them. As Wal-mart continue to grow more and more, You will likely see more Sears closings. I would not be suprised to see some Targets bite the dust as well. Just drive buy any Wal-Mart, any time of day, and the parking lots are PACKED! Drive by K-mart or Target and all you see are empty spaces. DANG, I should have bought Wal-Mart stock years ago!

Bottom line here is that the economy has changed since the stores name changed. five and dime is what the economy can’t afford. Sears and Kmart, Listen, the problem here is that when Kmart folded and went bankruptcy why would you merge with a company that can’t stay afloat. My motto is out with the old and in with the new. Hire new employee’s with new ideas for the global markets and stop half stepping because there are new breeds and I do mean new breeds that have ideas that can get you out of the hold but there is a weak link to the deal you shaken hands to on this deal. Like my mom use to say, “You made your bed now sleep in it”. You both have old product which need upgrading. Take Martha Stewart, her life changed a lot when she has been sentenced to five months in prison and fined $30,000 for lying to investigators about her sale of ImClone Systems stock in late 2001. Perhaps discontinuing her product at that time would of been a good choice for Kmart and they would of had more money to add a new product that people can use. Many stars has a full line of clothing and perfumes. Sure its high in value but sale it for less and watch the margin increase. See, Sears took a gamble when they let Kmart ride there coat and now they have to close 120 stores thinking they will increase sales. I don’t think so because Kmart was all washed out in 2002 why would Sears gamble with there money with Kmart. Kmart kept Martha Stewart in there store for a long time after her conviction and look what it did for Sears it hurt their sales. Sears, get rid of the garbage and don’t close your store close the rest of Kmart stores and burn all their merchandise and make a full line of new product in good a good line of quality and low line price will send your business into orbit. You need to hire an insider from Walmart and they will consult your business into where you need to be. It’s how you run the business and shelf need to be 100% capacity and 100% in stock. Do surveys to see what the consumers need and I’m pretty sure you will see change. Wrong choice new start new people. Wake up!!