Inside the Last Sears in New England: Is the End Near? April 2023. Braintree, Massachusetts.
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- Опубліковано 4 кві 2023
- Join me as I visit the last operating Sears in New England! This is the Sears at South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Massachusetts.
There currently are not any "going out of business" or "store closing" signs up, but it appears clear that this store won't be around much longer, in my opinion. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
This was filmed on a Tuesday around 1:00pm.
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfo...
www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/sears...
#sears #retail #massachusetts #mall #shoppingmall #deadmall #deadmalls
I know we’ve all been saying for years “Sears is done, it’s their final year, etc.”, but this absolutely truly feels like it.
Yes but I wish that Sears was doing a little bit more better same thing with a Kmart they were both ones great stores except whoever runs the company is completely decided to sell everything along companies worth obviously the person who sears and the Kmart obviously do not care for neither company and decided to put both companies down in the dirt
I like to know when they said that in 2019 then 2020 then 2021 then 2022 it's 2023 who knows when that will be because the only person that knows if the one who owns it now Eddy Lambert don't assume something you don't know ask Eddy Lambert that question
I trufuly think we will see some sears go into 2024 they drain out one more holiday season I just dont think there go deep into 2024
I thought Sears was completely bankrupt and shut down. But I learned it was just Sears Canada which was completely shuttered and gone. Sears Canada had even gone through a remodel and renovation to some of its stores, but they still ultimately failed.
@@tyeralexander7346 I personally think he's keeping these Sears stores open either due to some kind of tax shelter deal or to use as collateral to get more loans out of various banks. Making a profit is clearly not the goal here.
I used to be the Men's department manager at this location in 2013, the same year Eddie Lampert took over as CEO, and the difference is astounding. Every inch of wall space of all 3 floors (before they sold/rented the top floor to Primark) used to be occupied with merchandise and/or signage. We as associates would dread holidays like Black Friday or Christmas because of the overwhelming crowds. Now it's a ghost town. Back in 2013 we knew the inevitable end was coming when Lampert took over - surprised any Sears is still open.
I started working at Sears in 1985 in Ft. Lauderdale and moved to Lady Lake, working at the Lake Square Mall Sears #2745. I was there nearly 20 years. Things changed rapidly because of Eddie Lambert, we lost good managers. They got escorted out of the store, no farewell party for them it was awful. I worked the shoe department and loved every moment. But when things changed and they got rid of the best, I knew it was over.
Because of this, Sears and its assets may Need to Depart from ESL Investments and Transform Holdco, cutting ties. Then the retailer will make a comeback in All 50 States
@@youtubeuser7082 I hope you are right. We still have one Sears remaining here in Washington State, it looks even sadder than this location.
And Also terminating the decades long merge with Kmart as well. 2004 was the beginning of the end and by that time, that very same year, 2004... Sears was then doomed when Kmart merged with Sears, Roebuck and Company
@@zibbyzubb THAT was Southcenter! Former site of Frederick and Nelson until its insolvency in 1992, which the anchor became Sears in 1994. There is Also another Sears in Washington State, which is at Yakima Valley Mall in Union Gap, Washington
I remember a day when you couldn't squeeze through two racks without knocking something off. Now it's the saddest garage sale ever.
Sad to see Sears like this 12 years ago before we moved to Maine this Sears was loaded with customers and merchandise always mobbed.We will miss Sears.
I worked in a Sears in maintenance and cleaning back from 1987 to 1991 and at the time they were a great power now they are a ghost of themselves , so sad, that particular store opened in 1963 and closed in 2018.
I was born in 1992 and even as a child in the early 2000s I remember older relatives talking about how Sears was on the decline and that most people shopped at Walmart now. The general thought where I live (middle Tennessee) was that Sears was the place you went for appliances and Craftsman tools but it was less well regarded than Walmart or Target as a general shopping store, but no one thought it would go out of business anytime soon.
The last time I was at Sears was Black Friday 2012, we were getting a new washer and dryer there. It was packed and pretty well stocked at the time. Somewhere in the mid 2010s Sears went from second tier department store to taking a nose dive. Our local Sears closed in March 2019. Today it sits abandoned in a dying mall.
August 26, 2023 2:16 pm
Do you wear Sperry Top-Sider Boat shoes without socks ?
They were still a top competitor in 2010. They burned a lot of customers in the early 2010s too with their credit lines. Nobody I talked to received a bill from them. They tried to charge us with late fees and all the other crap. They lost me as a customer for life over that. Not to mention there was a ton of employee theft. I know for a fact there were loopholes in their system and employees at a lot of locations were conspiring with one another to steal returned merchandise. That cost the store millions. I know people at one location were taking home brand new TVs, weight machines, stereos, and furniture. They would literally call people to come pick it up for free from their loading docks.
Looked more like a scene from George Romero's movie Dawn of the Dead. Seems un-Sears like that there were so few sales associates. I can fondly remember that following Hurricane Katrina, Sears was my go to store in the New Orleans area. Aside from say Radio Shack, back in 1980-1981 Sears was also the go to place for a personal computer of electronic video game system. It was actually a great store for all home electronics. And their tools, don't even get me started on that....
Yes. It was pretty much dead. I've heard that they may be reducing this one to just a single floor.
thanks for bringing back some nostalgia to my memory
We were there in September and it was still open, but even less than you show here was available. I picked up a really cute bikini and a dress for my granddaughter. I'm going to try to make it back next weekend because it's very sad to see it go. :(
Thank you for this walk through! xo
Sears used to be the place to get everything from electronic equipment to appliances. I'm surprised there are any left.
There probably won't be any left in a few years....
NEXT STEP: Probably Going Out Of Business And Closing All Remaining Stores And Website😥
(Going Out Of Business Sale Everywhere)
Sears Canada went out of business in January 2018 so All Stores and there website are permanently closed
Oh my, Sears had an amazing selection of electronics! I got a DVD video recorder and a MiniDisc recorder there, was the only place in town to get them. The last time I was in Sears I got a power strip used to power all the TVs on display and 3 blue Sears shopping baskets with a great big Sears logo on them at the liquidation sale at Mid Rivers Mall in the St. Louis Metro. It's a long lingering death for the once #1 retailer, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see them just close their doors and walk away like Fry's did several years back.
2010 is last time I was at Sears in Costa Mesa, Ca. I could tell than it wasn't looking good for them Sad to see it go.
I was at this mall last week
In 2017 two of my siblings were playing inside the the sears I have a great memory 😢
I was a loyal SEARS customer dating back to the 1970s. Mostly bought Craftsman hand tools, power tools, Kenmore appliances, and lawnmowers. These were quality products made in the USA that lasted many years and gladly pay more for. I still have all my Craftsman tools today. Once these products were outsourced overseas I found out the hard way that quality went downhill and SEARS lost me as a customer.
Yes i agree, i needed new pliers, so they said they were selling Craftsman tools, bought them, so surprised at the terrible quality of the pliers, very cheaply made.. they had outsourced them to China .. it was the last time i bought anything from Sears..
I worked at Sears 2003-2010, and since 2005 it was a gradual slide downward that only accelerated every year. Sears was barely clinging to a shadow of its former self when I left. It was such a sad thing to witness the dismantling of a retail legend. They should have just ripped the bandaid off long before now instead of letting this company fade out like this.
The slowest retail death in history, beyond life support.
They layout is almost exactly how I remember the one in Tri-County mall was in the early 90's. I also remember there was a whole lot more stuff packed in there back then also. lol
what a thoroughly dreary sears. empty floor space, stained, sometimes misaligned ceiling panels, empty walls, no people. truly a "backrooms"-esque place. really good video. the new signage on the outside gave me some hope that this sears might be on the up and up....nope.
I used to live in Quincy, MA about 3 to 4 miles away from where this mall is located. I used to come to this mall and this Sears in particular. It definitely looks sadder than it once did. It used to be a 3 floor store, basement, mall level, and a second floor which is now occupied by Primark. Photo studio, a dentist office, housewares, kitchen and bath and electronics TV's were on floor 3. Plus the only store with an exit on the upper store level to the top floor of the parking garage near what used to be Jordan Marsh, then Macy's and then torn down to build a new Nordstrom's.
Before my local Sears closed, they merged a 2 floor store into just one. Then they also leased the other floor to Primark. Maybe they had a bigger deal with them than most people realized?
Here in the Philippines there was a SEARS wayback in the mid 70's. It closed in the late 70's.
The sad part about this is Sears invented the store catalog but didn't have an decent on-line presence which is a catalog. Like most Sears they didn't update the interior of their stores since the 1990s. I bet all the items in the store were covered in dust.
My optometrist used to be a store inside a Sears near me. I miss that.
Yes, Sears optical..it'd be right next to the portrait studio.
a* decent
This thing of remodeling and updating is a joke. I've seen store remodeling. They move everything around to confuse you and change the color of the walls from light blue to light green. And then raise prices to pay for it.
I worked for Sears from 1998 through 2006. Before they merged with Kmart, Sears was listed as being one of the most cash rich corporations in America. They owned the stores and land they did business in, and had a good online website with a lot of product. Sears did what most other retailers do when they filled online orders. They used the stores inventory to fill the orders as well as warehouses. When they merged with Kmart, the website changed. There was less merchandise online on their website, and the same merchandise appeared on Kmart's website. Then when they started having cash difficulties, their websites offered less merchandise. When Sears and Kmart merged, I knew the end was coming because Kmart already had a bankruptcy filing in 2002 long before merging with Sears in 2005. Kmart also had several bad investments in other retail companies long before merging with Sears. The only objective of the hedge fund that owned Sears and Kmart was to strip both of their assets and real estate holdings. It was Kmart that destroyed Sears. Kmart knew they couldn't compete with Walmart, Target, Costco, and Amazon,. Kmart management took over Sears, and started running it like Kmart. They did not put the customer first, and they did not make exceptions. They pissed off the customer, and they shopped somewhere else.
Feels like an old episode of the twilight zone. Empty store, no sales people, no customers.
Sad. Part of my childhood.
Kmart and Sears had the slowest retail deaths in history
Sears will go into 2024, they way they do it normal is have like a year wear there send nothing and slowly openty the stores
From what I've heard from Sears, that department store might focus on only one store in the future. The last and only one remaining Sears will carry on its existence.
Very sad. I remember our family having holiday photos taken at the Sears in Augusta, Maine 23 years ago. I still have my Craftsman tools from there, too.
Me and my family used to spend the day at malls like this in the late 2000s/early 2010s. It's a time I will remember fondly, even if I complained to my mom a lot that my feet hurt... Over the years, a lot of the department stores in the area started to close down. I was shocked to learn today that there were only 11 Sears stores left in the entire US. It's sad to see these places where I spent time as a kid fade away.
I grew up in Braintree and the "Plaza" provided lots of jobs for High Schoolers. I worked at this Sears in the paint department over winter break in 1987. I remember having to take a version of the MMPI (personality test) to get hired for a part time temporary position!
Audio wise, what is that background vocal on their PA system that keeps looping. Just that alone was making me go crazy.
Man, the Sears in my mall was one of the last to go, like 2020 ish, but the sign in the mall is still up and they still keep the lights on but it’s just sad
I was in pure shock when i saw it was open according to Google today. I used to go to SSP before I moved closer to other malls, i dont even remember the Sears being there to begin with. I can't believe how dark the ceiling tiles are
The surprising thing was when this was the only Sears remaining in New England (very early on), it looked the same, somewhat in another video I've seen. They spaced out everything because it appears in your video that they got rid of what I call the "Last Nail in the Coffin", a whole side of the store dedicated to a guy selling area rugs.
Last time I was here, it was not the last New England store, and the 3rd level was completely empty. The fire marshal tag on the elevator was covering the 3rd floor button, since it's another store up there now.
I was here the same day you were filming 😂 this store had absolutely nobody in it
Yeah, there's literally no way this store isn't closing in the near future. Thanks for watching!
Well, that's not true since there was you and the guy filming this!
Went here on Christmas Eve in 2023. Place was a damn ghost town whilst the entire mall was packed. 6 people were in the store maximum. The 3 employees looked bored to fucking tears. One of the poor bastards was measuring random shit with a ruler. I don’t blame him, the experience clearly was not measuring up. 😂
As of 10-26-23, it's still there.
I heard they may be downsizing it?
Eddy Lambert owns kmart and Sears there are 11sears left and 8 kmart left
I will always miss the Sears tool and lawn and garden section of the store.
Looks just like the newest incarnation of JC Pennys at my mall in Texas.
I used to love sears and JCPenney’s junior dept was when I was a teenager, so sad
Last time I was in Sears in early 2014 they had 1 guy working in the whole full size store haha. Me and buddy needed some random tool so cruised over during a later night snow storm. The one guy working there was a guy my buddy went to high school with so talked it up a little about how comical it was. We were also the only two customers in the store, that store was also the most profitable store in the nation at that time.
Wow, I have been going to this Sears since before I could walk. I remember my Nonnie getting my Christmas outfits here. This store used to be 3 floors all stocked to the brim. Sears closed their Quincy Center store in 1980 when they built this one.
Is South Shore Plaza your next video?! 😊
South Shore is coming up! I've got a ridiculous backlog of videos. So many videos, so little time......
@@fleabittenadventures I look forward to it! I am sure editing can be very time consuming.
I need to go check my local mall and see if our Sears is still there. Every time I’ve went in the past, it has been a ghost town. There are very few employees and even fewer customers.
Sears went out of business in most of the Southeast in 2015. How the hell do they still have stores left up there
Their appliance section is impressive.
Damn you Eddie!!
Eddie never had experience in retail, I remember him blaming the retirees for Sears downfall. Eddie got his golden parachute.
great video. yes the prices seemed good 2:00 Maybe because they are going out of business. Wouldn't it be great, if Sears returned to it's origins, and became a mail-order only company again. Then in 20 years, becomes bigger than Amazon lol.
After a year is still there but doesn't have much left
I'll bet they announce the closure sometime this year. Just a guess though.
I think hearing those mysterious creepy sounds in your video is what is causing this mall to shut down.
The last Sears in Maryland recently closed. It didn't even look like a Sears store. Just cheap casual clothes, a few tools and a lot of appliances. No toy department, hardware, paint, furniture, home decor, electronics. It was sad. Our Sears store in Hagerstown MD had all of that when it closed about ten years ago. The demise of Sears and Kmart was a plan for failure.
When I was there, I was harassed for filming ua-cam.com/video/5hJkRFLLkpU/v-deo.html lmfao by the way, I called the lady who yelled at me, Karen and I told her that she should mind her own business next time, but it wasn’t caught on camera and also I didn’t listen to her. I just kept filming.
It is amazing though that in places like LI here, we still have Walmart and Target that do well, although Target isn't as huge or stocked as Sears once was. Walmart at least
is similar, though still not as big on the tools and hardware as Sears was. Plus no auto center. Caldor and KMART had a brief reign on LI NY decades ago, but never really
lasted. TSS Stores did very well as direct Sears competitors here in the 70 and 80s, then closed down, alas.
The store will be going out of business. It's like the one i worked at a few years ago. All the clearance signs on the appliances. All the boxed appliances. That's what Our 2 stores did, one closed in December 2019, and the other announced the store going out of business in January 2020.
I wish Eddie would just sell Sears and Kmart To someone with retail experience. Both are well known brands, and who would think, Ames is making a comeback, Recently, Transform Holdco did major changes to the Kmart in Kendall Lakes Florida, the last one open there. They shrunk it way down, it almost looks like a Family Dollar. Although, shockingly Kmart was well stocked bright and, Clean. And they have invested in digital price tags.
I heard Sears reopened a store in the LA area. The store I think had been closed for 5 years and they didn’t remodel it. They moved all the trash to the top floor. I like Penny’s over Sears.
I've been in Sears recently and it still looks the same as it did in this video. Very bare from it's hay day. Customer wise it was about the same very few. Not sure if they are behind the scenes trying to re-invent themselves. They should have a market researcher and see what other successful stores are doing. Maybe bring in different styles, bigger investors to invest in things that customers want to see. I always stop in Sears while at the South Shore Plaza. I see some other clothing stores going thru the same thing. All stores need to find better ways to re-invent when business gets to this point. Too many retailers closed up because of this. Need to fight back against the giants like Walmart and Amazon.
Didn’t buy the Roebuck shirt? Then go around and went to the last Sears in NJ in 24. Stated you were looking for something with the Sears logo. Roebuck would’ve been a great reminder. I’d have bought it.
Do not go to a sports book. You are a bad predictor. The Jersey City store has closed, as you know. Braintree is still open as of March 8, 2024!
There were 13 stores left as of January. Jersey City has since closed. They did something odd in fall 2023. 2 closed stores actually reopened. One in Burbank, CA in mid October & one in Union Gap, WA in November. Transformco is doing some odd stuff here and there. Another oddity is Miami has both a Kmart and a Sears open as of today, March 8, 2024. Only place to have both stores. The Sears is in Coral Gables and the Kmart is in Kendale Lakes. You could go down and do 2 videos for the price of one!
Former employee here. They definitely sold mattresses, but also you are right. This is the end. Those clearance fridges are just old floor models... Everything in the store is old stock at this point. Every Sears store is a time capsule right now.
This Sears is not making much longer. Despite them renovated this location not that long ago with downsizing the store from 3 levels to 2. They can’t even fill the space they have so they obviously don’t care for this location anymore.
Next fall it’ll be a spirit halloween!
It looks as though there isn't even anyone in the store 😢😢😢
I think there were maybe 2 other customers there? Something like that.
May guess is there be one holiday season for some of the sears and i think most will be closed in febary 2024,
I bet they would have chirsmas stuff either like most did not last season
I think that Sears should keep this store open and hopefully open more stores. Sears needs to come back.
Yeah bud… that’s not gonna happen
The spaced out merchandise screams "lack of purchasing power", which further enhances the downfall from grace that Sears has had over the past 20 years.
I will miss Sears. The Sears of the past was a top store. I have been going there for more than 40 years. Clothes, Tools, Music, Rugs, and Appliances. They had a huge catalog business that used that delivered the most every home. See items to buy in a paper catalog and order it. It would then be delivered to millions of homes in the preamazon world. Sears should have gone into the digital ordering ecosystem instead they made multiple mistakes, did not adapt and have gone extinct.
I just bought 1000 shares in Sears stock since it's only worth $0.10 per share. When they turn around I'm going to be rich!
Foresight and patience - this is how millionaires are born. Remember me when you hit it big!👍
Ne secito saber el precio de las lavadoras griasac
Braintree Mall the next video? :D
Maybe......
This location is still open
Yes, for now. I'm assuming it won't be much longer though. I have a saved Google search to tell me when that happens and I'll probably be there to film it.
That just sad...watching America slowly dying 😮
Many things are coming to a end#FJB
Retails been dying for years, but sure.
The literal saddness about this is I stoped at this store today, and the whole place is actually worse now than 2 months ago, the Mens area. Has been reduced and now just generic cape cod shirts and in the bacment a lot of the ping pong tables are gone, so it’s even more empty, the whole store over all is actually
Amazon and the fast food lazy I want it delivered to my house is part of the problem working there is worse lol ! Too bad sears used to be packed christmas was crazy I dropped my Amazon account I buy local
RIP SEARS IN NEW ENGLAND
RIP SEARS IN NEW ENGLAND
It’s still open
Why Eddie Lamber doesn't COLSE ALL the location and sale off ALL the store land they own per store in the USA and over seas!
Sears was the place to be so was Kmart😂
Also, I asked the worker if they have any plans to close and they said that the building is for sale if someone wants to buy it and they said that they may close by 2024 and after they close, it may be repurposed into a Dick’s Sporting Goods after
Nooooo
Eddy Lambert Bought it out of bankruptcy in 2019 and now own by transformco known as esl investment that Eddy Lambert owns
This store is terminally sick. There is no way to revive this place.
Yes there is, renovate, put an electronics section with an emphasis on lighting, advertise the section on UA-cam. Boom, young people traction
what is sears though?
What was
It’s just a matter of time before that Sears you’re in closes.
For sure.
Horrible. The corporations have destroyed everything
FYI, Jan 2024, still open.
Sears and Kmart is a private company no one nger on the stock market
Sears is a Zombie Department Store at this point. Still very sad.
I bet if they put heads on all those mannequins, the place would be mobbed!
It Was SEARS That Built America 🗽🇺🇸🗽
mire a este americano😂😂😂
Not the last Sears in New England. Misleading.
It sure is. Where is there another one?
@@fleabittenadventures In Newport Mall, New Jersey, to me, it still look like one day it will close one of these days though they have a sign indicating they are renovating part of the store.
@@edthom2210 Yes, I've been to that one, but his comment was that it's not the last Sears in New England. New Jersey is not part of New England. New England is CT, RI, MA, NH, VT and ME.
I could see these stores setup for homeless people someday. What else?
I applaud the refusal to die
Just leave the music alone.
What do you mean?
@@fleabittenadventures the store audio. Sorry for the confusion.