Sears Spins Off Land's End

[iheartmaytag]

A store should not be as they were in their hayday

They should be better. They should evolve, That is if they want to survive.

Whirlcool, you are correct, there are a limited number of car battery manufactures, Sear's, however, is on the hook because they sold it, they warrant it, so serve the customer and forget that shop fee BS.

Sear's started swirling to bowl when they merged with K-Mart. Now they are just waiting for that final flush.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

K Mart... Another archaic bargain basement joint! Don't forget it originated the Dollar Depot w/ Jupiter & Kresge (w/ the Muszak version of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" playing in the background over the PA, to boot!)...

-- Dave

 

[jerrod6]

Dress shirts

danemodsandy

I like shirts from Paul Fredrick and also Charles Tyrwhitt. They have online stores so you might look at their web sites and see if there's something you like.

 

[ovrphil]

I can't say more than you all of you, but I am laughing and (figuratively speaking) crying over what has happened to Sears and many other retailers who were bought out or disappeared for different reasons.
(Hudsons and Parisian, for example, which we really liked..Hudson's was THE best at Christmas..windows, inside displays, and merchandise). Not to drift ...

Sears offered so much at one time, some of you know...they once sold houses. I think aw.org may have a thread discussion on this, sometime ago. My neighbor across the street lived in a Sears kit home. You wouldn't believe the quality. To look through an old Sears catalog, most think 50's, 60's, and 70's. Look at the really old catalogs if you want to see what Sears offered.

It's not just the web...it's a way of doing business today and by the bleeping way,

Who of you wants cheap, throwaway goods and doesn't care about quality in design, form and function?

Even with the internet, the above question is still ringing....

...I've missed the old Sears, overall, for years....

 

[whirlcool]

Whirlcool, you are correct, there are a limited number of car battery manufactures, Sear's, however, is on the hook because they sold it, they warrant it, so serve the customer and forget that shop fee BS.

Yup, whoever sells it is left holding the bag.

Did anyone see the CBS Morning News today? They had a segment on sales at stores. It seems the consumer is no longer interested in the 10-25% discount. They want 50% off or more!

 

[firedome]

Agree retail is going to the internet...

but I, for one, still like the experience of shopping in a store personally examining and evaluating items, and asking a question, IF you can find someone to answer, which goes to the heart of why people are abandoning the in-store experience. If you can't get decent personal service, why even go? Macy's et al aren't much better than Wally World or Dollar General, the wife says Macy's is just a dressed up WalMart now... it was OK 50 years ago. But even then we had schlock-meisters, anyone remember E.J. Korvettes? If one could avoid those, growing up in the 50s/60s with Lord & Taylor, I. Magnin, and the quality local chains like Hutzler's, Hochschild Kohn, Filene's and Hudson's and their like spoils one for the mass dreck merchandisers of today.

 

[washman]

You left one out firedome

Ayr-way. Run by Ron Mayer after he defected from Walmart in 1976. And Danners Discount, also known as 3D.

 

[arbilab]

Though owned by Sears (last I looked), the K in Kmart stands for the remnant of Kresge.

 

[ovrphil]

Kresge

Sears and "Monkey Wards" were often the choice for appliances and some clothes, but my mom loved shopping for alot of her household and some clothing needs at Kresge. I still remember the store layout,as early as 3 years old. They had the grill where you'd smell french fries as the lunch crowd came for burgers, hot dogs, and whatever else. From K-Mart to Korvettes, the experience was never like Kresge's.

 

[petek]

Speakin of Kresges

The first two Kresge stores opened at the same time. The one in Detroit and the one in Port Huron. It was located iirc in the building shown here next door to the PH Woolworths and later moved to the adjacent corner. Both closed in the late 70's , early 80's victims of the suburban mall

 

[petek]

The second location adjacent to Woolworths.

 

[petek]

One of the first Canadian Kresge stores here in Sarnia. Also a victim of suburban mall and a new KMart
Appears to be a 62 Pontiac Parisienne driving down the street and can estimate the picture had to be taken in 65 or later because of the new Canadian flag replacing the Union Jack.

 

[hydralique]

Parked in front of the red '64 Thunderbird outside the store is an early Hillman Imp, the Rootes Group's answer to the BMC Mini. I'm quite surprised to see this as very few Imps were sold in North America. It's a technically interesting car that deserved better, but quality out of the Scottish assembly plant was poor and Rootes had enough trouble selling them in UK let alone internationally.

 

[petek]

You'd see a scant few of them around along with Austin 1100's and Mini's. I think they were called Sunbeams here which always made me think of the mixers. I recall we did have a small dealer for Austin / British Leyland but no clue if anyone sold Sunbeams in town or not.

 

[hydralique]

Hillman was the lower-end brand with Sunbeam being more upmarket. I think the one in the photo is a Hillman, at least some of the Sunbeams had quad headlights. I always think of mixers too, LOL. There was also a Singer badged variant that I believe slotted in between the Hillman and Sunbeam, but when I think of Singers sewing machines and vacuums come to mind.

 

[ptcruiser51]

@ petek

You post the most gorgeous pix! The Pontiac is a '64, my OM had one in the same color. To me, that looks like a Renault parked at the curb. We did see Hillmans in New Jersey in the early 1960s, but the ones I remember looked similar to later-model Volvos. Funny, we moved into our brand-new suburban development in 1959. Our neighbors had: A Hillman, a Peugeot (kind of a van-like thing), a Morris Minor, a DKW, a Renault Dauphine, an MG 2-seater, and a Borgward Isabella (!!!). Plus the usual Chevrolets, Fords, DeSotos, Studebakers, Nashes, Packards, Plymouths and Kaisers!

We had Kresge's in the Garden State for a long time. For awhile in the 40s/50s they were rather upscale with beauty parlors and such. My OL used to get her hair done there often.

 

[hydralique]

The small blue car in front of the store is unquestionably an Imp, they look vaguely like first generation Corvairs from the front but are much smaller. Rootes had more success here with their larger front-engined sedans than the rear-engined Imp, plus of course they were known for the Alpine/Tiger sports cars.

 

[petek]

Charlie,, did you know that Nathan Boynton of which Boynton Beach is named was born and died in Port Huron.. This is his house today . Notice the carriage step at the curb [this post was last edited: 12/17/2013-21:40]

 

[whirlcool]

Looks like a major remodel is underway. Or maybe a major restoration? It kind of reminds me of the Addams family house from TV.

 

[polkanut]

Sandy,

In reply #16 you stated that anyone selling good quality dress shirts could make a killing.  Check out Paul Fredrick online.

http://www.paulfredrick.com

 

[iheartmaytag]

I was at the Mall last night with my daughter.

Though I swore to never do business with this store, I actually attempted to make a purchase of an item that I had not found elsewhere as a gift for my mother.

After 20 minutes in a line of three people at the only checkout open on the first floor, I finally put down the potential purchase and left (we had already visited Santa in the food court).

My belief is the poor horsey is dead, I will quit beating it.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

It's been more than a few weeks ago, that my local K Mart has suddenly been advertising "Store Closing" and Discounts on stuff are up to 30-to-60-Percent!

Good sign that at least that's what Sears is spinning off, before it spins off itself...!

-- Dave

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/kmart-closing

 

[whirlcool]

JC Penney seems to be making a small comeback. Their stock has stabilized and several stock houses have put a buy on the stock. They seem to have quite a bit of cash on hand.