Everything You Remember And Miss About ... Sears

[appnut]

The dishwasher that was featured at about 4:16 was the exact model (right below the LK Rotorack) that replaced the Waste King that my dad installed the day Dr. King was assasinated. I found it interesting that photos used for the various appliances ranged from 1960s/1970s to the laundry rom the 1980s after the DDs were being sold. I wish they'd been able to include photos of laundry models from stores in the 1960s as I felt those were far more classic and in the heyday days of Kenmore laundry.

 

[DADoES]

 
The Sears we visited had a toy section only during the Christmas season.

 

[blockeight88]

Sears showroom

I really miss Sears. I remembering visiting the one at my local mall in the late 90s/early 2000s seeing all the shiny Kenmore DD's. I also remember all the vacuums they had too lol.

 

[goatfarmer]

Working at the Service Center in the early 80's. Some really good and talented people worked there.

 

[washerlover]

I really enjoyed the video, although we were Montgomery Ward shoppers, I do recall some visits to Sears as a kid…

 

[e2l-arry]

Sear Coffee House

Does anyone remember "Sears Coffee House"? They were only in the A (large) stores. My first job was working as a bus boy there. They had more than just coffee and cokes. We had Milk Shakes and Chocolate Sodas made from scratch. Real ice cream. Not the soft stuff from a dispensing machine. They even had 1/4 pound burgers called a "Searsburger", came with lettuce, tomato and onion. Or you could order a "Searsburger Banquet". That was the burger with fries and a drink. I have great memories of working there.

 

[washerlover]

As a kid, I do remember eating at a Sears Coffee House in a large store in Sacramento. Very similar to the “Winky Wards” in-store cafes in larger Montgomery Ward stores.

 

[ea56]

The very first credit that I established on my own was with Sears. I was 19 years old and bought a 12” color TV from the little Sears catalog store in Petaluma, Calif. for $169.00 on time. My payment was $6.50 a month, which I dutifully made in person every month at that very same Sears catalog store.

Then in ‘73 when I was 22 and was moving into a brand new apartment I bought my first furniture at the Sears store in Terra Linda, Calif., and of course added this onto my Sears acct. I bought a double dresser with a mirror, a Parson’s end table, and hexagonal night table and a credenza entertainment center. If a recall correctly it all came to just over $400.00. We still have the hexagonal table in our living room. I remember being very proud of myself that I was able to buy brand new furniture. My monthly payments to Sears went up to a bit over $20 with this purchase. And Sears delivered the furniture for free while I was at work and the apartment manager let them in for the delivery!

Here’s a photo of that table. The black table lamp was purchased at the Salvation Army Thrift Store the year before for $3.00 and its one of our very favorite possesions.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 5/8/2023-11:56]

 

[tomturbomatic]

Did you have the Sears Revolving Charge? I remember signs for it in the stores. I think it was like some sort of club account where you could keep adding purchases and pay a minimum amount each month until you found yourself hopelessly in debt if you were not careful.

We had the warehouse for the entire Southeastern United States attached to our giant huge Sears store. If you ordered stuff out of any Sears catalog and said you would pick it up at the downtown store, you did not have to pay for delivery. The place also had an employees' store where they sold rebuilt appliances and even in the early 70s, an occasional rebuilt Kenmore combo from the mid 60s with the little red reset light for the balance system below the door, could be found.

Our suburban Sears had a great garden department where my brother, a lav hashalom, saw orchid plants for the first time and got us interested in raising orchids. The plants were in little pots inside a mesh bag. When I was in the second grade and getting interested in aquariums, a friend and I used to spend hours looking through the catalogs back when you could even order tropical fish through the Sears catalogs. I never was attracted to the toy department. For me the greatest toy department was the major appliance department.

I can't believe the mismanagement that brought that great institution down. I think the most amazing bad business decision is that they got rid of Discover cards.

 

[ea56]

Tom,
I don’t know that my acct. was called a Revolving Acct., but I never had any trouble adding additional purchases to my acct. However the payments went up accordingly too, and didn’t remain the same. Yes, you could easily get yourself buried in debt with the ease of charging additional purchases. After I bought the furniture in ‘73 that was the last charge purchase I made on my Sears charge acct..

Eddie[this post was last edited: 5/8/2023-18:59]

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Demos

I remember all the Kenmore machines being set up and having demos or windows for you to see some of the 'action'. I explicitly remember the HE3T and Calypso being shown off. I feel like they had a much larger selection of machines on display as well. It seemed like every model was shown and you could visibly see the differences and prices.

 

[pierreandreply4]

what i remember from sears

what i remember from my childhood from sears was owning in harvest gold this portable dishwasher in harvest gold and the one in white with the start button that was own by my godmother credit to turquoisedude for first pic and second pic from a member on the site

 

[qsd-dan]

I miss their American made quality tools with a lifetime warranty.

 

[circlew]

Sears restaurants

I don't remember the "Coffee House", but some Sears locations had cafeterias similar to Morrison's and Piccadilly. I remember my friend Fred and I ate in the one in Canton, OH in June of 1972, before seeing the movie "Skyjacked" in the malls theater.

 

[wayupnorth]

I had a Sears Charge and it automatically changed to Discover in 1988. I kept Discover and it still works fine for me. My Sears store had a restaurant also with great food. As a kid, they has the clear Visi-Matic swirling Poker Chips on low speed and I would swith the speed to normal and run to the tv department. Lots of good old ads by searching, "Theres more for your life at Sears".

 

[seedub]

In my hometown of Birmingham, AL, Sears Roebuck stood out for another very unique reason: before 1963 it was the only department store downtown whose toilets were racially integrated.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Only 18 left

Should I drive the 2 hours and visit the two near me before they close?

https://www.scrapehero.com/location...any Sears retail stores,as of March 21, 2023.

 

[rp2813]

I still have a lot of my dad's Craftsman tool that were purchased in the '50s and '60s, and I treasure them. 

 

I live a stone's throw from where the early '50s Sears store that we'd occasionally shop at once stood.  It was surrounded by a huge parking lot on all sides and took up a large city block.  There was an auto center and a garden department/nursery area in the back, along with a Snackette.  Primary exterior treatments were tall palms and glitter sidewalks.  Some palms were saved but they're lost among other landscaping where a large Safeway and an apartment complex replaced Sears over 30 years ago.

 

[swestoyz]

I Loved Sears

I have plenty of wonderful memories of going to the large anchor Sears at Crossroads Mall in Waterloo as a child, and through my adulthood. Trips to go Christmas 'shopping' right after Thanksgiving with my folks, so they could figure out what us kids wanted under the tree. Trips in to the tool department so Dad could replace a 1/2" Craftsman ratchet that he had bought new in the early 70's. And the appliances. So many hours looking and playing with the latest and greatest Kenmore laundry offerings. And by the time I was old enough to venture the store alone, Sears Brand Central became a thing and just about every brand was there.

What I do wish I could have seen was the downtown Waterloo Sears store on W 4th St, with the front window lined with the newest 1959 Coldspot refrigerators and Kenmore laundry pairs. Sadly, the only building still standing in this photo is the YMCA building on the left. Everything else on the photographer's side of the Cedar River is long gone.

The last memory I have of Sears is going to the downtown St. Paul store with a close friend, to pick up a new set of Gear Vendor ratchet wrenches. I'm so glad I made that last trip as the store was closed shortly after.

One of my prized possessions is a 1/4" Craftsman ratchet set that my father gave me as a gift, that had been given to him from from my grandfather. I suspect it's from the late 40's and I do use it every so often. There's a really good chance he bought it at the store in the photo below.

Sadly, there aren't any retail stores left that excite me enough for tools or lawn care products these days. While all the box home stores (Menards, Lowe's, etc.) have house brands that are decent, sadly this weekend warrior will forever remain loyal to Craftsman tools, even if most of cheap knock offs of the originals. Thank God for garage sales and eBay.

Ben

 

[gyrafoam]

The Sears on Ponce de Leon in Atlanta

was a huge playground when I was a kid. They always had a great working display of various appliances. The Plexi-Glass tub Lady Kenmore Wringer washer or the latest Lady Kenmore Automatic, always with a full tub of water, a couple dozen poker chips, set to agitate and ready for action.

Many, many childhood memories of this store. The Atlanta Crackers Baseball field was right across the street for even more action.

They eventually built a store up on the North side closer to where we lived and the folks stopped driving into the city. However, that store never had the charm of the old store on Ponce.

 

[fisherpaykel]

Sears in MEXICO

I visited Guadalajara in February and I saw two Sears stores, the one I went into was 12 or so blocks from the old Centro district on a busy four lane street, nice Mid-Century modern suburban design building white exterior. It appeared fully stocked, their was a friendly greeter inside the entrance- he spoke English as well after hearing my Spanish!, I don't know how many other Sears stores exist in Mexico. I remember Sears as a good department store but also for having one of the best appliance departments.

 

[washerlover]

Thankfully one of my Mom's good friends worked in the appliance department of the Eureka, CA Sears store, located in what was then called "The Mall" (Eureka was and is a small town in the middle of nowhere on California's north coast -- population approx 30,000). While my Mom and her friend would gossip, her friend would run a Kenmore washing machine for me to be entertained while the two of them gabbed about who knows what!

 

[frigilux]

Put me firmly in the “loved Sears” column.

My family (I was born in ‘59) bought nearly everything on offer at Sears, from appliances, TVs, and clothing to home furnishings, tools, and house paint, most likely due to the easy credit terms. I was pretty weary of all Sears mania by the time I was 10 or so and developed a serious case of Frigidaire envy.

Having said that, I loved wandering through the large appliance section of the store, looking into all the washers, refrigerators, ranges & dishwashers, much to the chagrin of the salesmen on duty.

Can’t believe there are fewer than 20 Sears retail stores left. Even when we moved to a small town of 2,000 there was a Sears Catalog Store with a few appliances and tires on display. They were Amazon before Amazon existed and a retail powerhouse of Walmart-ian proportions.

 

[jamiel]

Sears seemed to me to be the first store with a computerized POS system (remember the big tall Singer terminals). I remember being quite awed by them and at about 10 y.o. being quite impressed when I asked at our store in Crestwood Plaza, Crestwood MO"do they talk to something" and they said "oh yes, they talk to Chicago". After all, my grandparents lived up there and that was a 5 hour drive away!

 

[tomturbomatic]

The trouble with the POS terminals was that they were serving several departments and there were no sales people to help you with merchandise in the departments, at least in the store near me. Most department stores were not designed to be self service. I don't shop at Best Buy because I can't find people to answer questions about the merchandise or even where to find what I'm looking for. Sears might have had what you wanted in the stock room, but there was no one to get it for you.

I wonder if the clothes that Sears employees wore to work retained the smell of the nut frying oil that hit you when you walked in the door.

Sears had a funny arrangement for things. In the 50s, dishwashers were not sold in the major appliance department, but in the kitchen cabinet department, even the portables. There was a little department that sold closet stuff that also sold irons and that little Silex-made washer and dryer, even the little washers with the motor in the top.

 

[luxflairguy]

"Nut frying oil" THAT"S what I remember more than anything! Walking in the door and smelling frying nuts! Of course my family headed directly for the nut counter! Years later as an adult it's still my fondest memory other than the domed washers/dishwashers and of course the vacuums! We had an electrolux model 30 until 1969! Can't forget the laundry detergent that has a faint lemony smell (to me) and then of course the CATALOG! Wish I'd saved them! Memory's!

 

[qsd-dan]

Walking in the door and smelling frying nuts!

Reminds me of walking into Sprouse-Reitz and smelling popcorn.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Do you also remember the little metal railing between the fryer and the edge of the counter to prevent customers from getting too close to the heated surfaces?

 

[bradfordwhite]

1977 to 1986 Sears

EVERYTHING Sears. lol

 

[sambootoo]

Oh the memories! I loved the appliance department! During spring and summer I would linger in the fan department. They seemed to have 1 of every model plugged in so you could turn it on and try it out. I think I tried them all! Remember the brightly colored streamers attached to fans and window unit ac’s so you could “see” the breeze they produced? They also had a wringer washer with a hula dancing doll attached to the agitator. She could really make that grass skirt flutter if you switched the washer to high speed! I have no clue now where mom and dad were while I entertained myself! And don’t forget that paging system or whatever it was, the constant Ding….Ding Ding, Ding…Ding Ding!