I remember the Toys r us ad. (2000’s kid here) Would circle all the things I wanted and hoped I got it. Was always fun. Have the last one saved forever.
I work at Sears. Our store was extremely busy until Sears filed bankruptcy. Now it's damn near dead. Many employees have been there for decades, and they are the ones I feel bad for. I took the job as a temporary gig and enjoy working there because my coworkers are awesome! My grandfather worked as a salesman for Sears back in the day. It was a store that was destroyed from within, much like our country. 😭😭😭
I am a Kmart pensioner myself only because I worked there just a couple years after my 401K became eligible for vesting. The general manager of my location was a jerk who eventually fired by Kmart for customer complaints way back in the 1990s, but some of the assistant managers had been there since 28 cents per hour was the going wage everywhere. Some of them were even sons and daughters of men who had lost their lives during World War II who had gotten a job at what was then Samuel S. Kresge and who had been promised excellent pensions, but they had their pensions rolled over to IRAs with high maintenance costs when Kmart & Sears combined into one company. And now that they have cried with their mothers as they read telegrams beginning "we regret to inform you that your husband has been killed in action" and gone to work as soon as they were legally able to for what was then a great place to work are getting pennies on the dollar.
@@petenielsen6683 I hear that my mother worked for K-mart for thirty years (she retired last year) through two (technically 3) k-marts I always loved going to k-mart when I was a little kid.
Hey Pete Nielsen, it was $2.65 an hour the Wisconsin Kmart where I was. I worked there as a cashier in 1977. The "higher-ups" got paid $3.05 an hour. Remember back then we all got paid in cash, in those little manilla envelopes. At times, that seems like only yesterday. Other times it feels like it was 10 lifetimes ago!
Annette Morrison which Sears do you work for? I worked for one in Tulsa for years in the nineties and I thoroughly enjoyed my job. I walked through there recently and they had the same cash registers as when I was there in 92. I went back to the loading dock where I started and the same pallet skids and metal tongues to tow them with were there. I feel like I am losing a part of my youth.
My grandma, a former Sears employee, who always made the family "SAY SEARS!" when getting our pictures taken, is rolling over in her grave. I miss her and I will miss Sears.
2:42 Remember folks, Sears employees are people too! People having a very blue Christmas right now - please don't make it worse with your selfish and reckless behavior!
When I was working retail, there was one morning where I was doing stock and not five feet from me a guy was ripping the packaging off phone cases so he could "make sure they fit his phone". Not just opening them, but ripping the cardboard to shreds. With me right there. I will forever be that customer that picks things up off the floor and puts things back where I found them. And never will i purposely destroy packaging. Or else I feel guilty af.
@@howardstern9129 If a phone case says "will fit X" and you can see the case theough the packaging, there's no reason to shred it open. If you really want to make sure, break the seal and slip it out-- not rip the cardboard.
I work for a Sears that's at the end of it's liquidation and honestly, it sucks. The customers are rude and blame the employees for everything but we can't control anything anymore. Oh and no one is getting a severance pay, they don't care about us that much LOL
Thank you for mentioning the hard working employees and what a disgrace it is that the customers are doing this. Our store is also closing, there is no way we can keep it presentable and it was always tops in our district for our presentation. It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. ( liquidation )
Leave that shit the way it is. If corporate is going to line their own pockets and completely disrespect their hard working employees then fuck em. Leave that store completely trashed just like the higher ups left the company
That’s beacuse Eddie Lampert is nothing but a selfish money stealing cheapskate crook who only wanted sears for their real estate and assists for money to get on his own. The only truely good thing of sears now is Sears Mexico and let me tell you Mexican companies seems to always have a person like Eddie Lampert to screw companies to the way side like this but Sears Mexico is way better than Sears America and is no thanks to Fast Eddie.
In my experience, 90% of the mess is from adult women customers. Once saw a lady push a stack of 5 shoe boxes off a bench just to sit down, without a care in the world.
Going in a Sears store is depressing, there is no life left there. Our metro area with a population of almost 800,000 lost both of the Sears stores in the local malls and all the Kmarts closed up too. Most of the spaces have already been repurposed which is great to not have empty retail spaces. One of the Sears is now a Burlington Coat Factory. The Kmart stores in our area became a T-Mobile call center, a sporting goods/gun store, a body shop for a huge car dealership, a bowling alley/arcade, and part of a revitalized shopping center with new stores. It's just sad how something that was so vibrant for so long could just wither away to die.
There are 2 Kmart stores in Northern New Jersey that are booming and both are 2 miles from each other. Wonder why they succeed in some places and die in others?
harrismi7 Remember the commercials back in the 80’s when Sears made a slogan saying “There’s more for your life, at Sears”? Now “There’s no more life, at Sears”.
I worked at Sears in Louisiana we didn't make it to Christmas. These stupid customers don't realize that these employees will not have a job . I spent 17 years and to see the corporate idiots sail away unscathed is despicable
No offense but people have been saying Sears and Kmart were gonna be out of business since 2004, yet here we are 15 years later and they’re still in business. Can we stop saying RIP Sears every year just to say “told ya so” Eddie Lampert may be interested in Sears for the real estate (nothing wrong with that, especially if the stores are unprofitable) however, Sears still has a large number of stores that ARE profitable and can be salvaged once all the dead weight is cut off. My Kmart which is only 5 mins from my house was remodeled and is buzzing with business (it survived yet the latest announcement of 80 store closures) and I still shop at both Sears and Kmart.
It's pretty disgusting. I'm not a shareholder or a creditor so I don't have a dog in that fight, but how can the bankruptcy court approve $25 million bonuses for executives who ran the company into the ground?
@@Milesco The reasoning - which is ubiquitous in bankruptcies, and based on understandable though often flawed logic - is that while you can lose low level employees and keep running, losing a "key" executive would be devastating to the business's ability to turnaround, since they have unique knowledge and expertise. This is technically true - without these bonuses, I'd bet every single one of Sears's executives would hit the road. Of course, in this case, I can't imagine it would actually be a meaningful loss, hence why I question the bonuses :)
@@Milesco I think it has to do with future job opportunities for executives vs. mid-range and lower level retail staff. A failure will haunt the careers of the mid-range and upper level executives way more. It isn't necessarily fair, but look at where the different level employees are in a decade. Also, executives almost always have multi-year contracts, and they are more than likely settling for pennies on the dollar. No one is truly "winning" here. Sears is definitely not a great resumé point for nearly everyone who has only worked there after 2009. Experienced cashiers, dept managers, mechanics and salesmen are always in demand and coming from a place like Sears shouldn't be too much to overcome for these based on the obvious environment. The rest will be hit or miss at best.
the executives that jumped ship were the fathers of the failure, the argument is that they need these executives to help save the company.. its a retention bonus
At least it's just clothes being thrown about. I remember when Caldor was being liquidated, customers were opening food, snacks, drinks; eating some, then leaving the contents everywhere.
Dennis R-Oh, I believe it! I used to work for Caldor back in 1989. I was 19 & a half & I was working as a pt cashier. The customers that I rang up-ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN-would behave VERY BADLY!!
Remember the Tele-Games Video Arcade? It was a rebadged Atari 2600, and it was the video game console that had an Atari licensed. They put out the same exact games with different titles. Remember “Outer Space”? It was called “Star Ship”, “Tank Plus” which was “Combat”, and “Space Combat” which was “Spacewar”. Sears did released a series of games that were licensed by Atari. That was way back then when Sears made a video game console that were Atari licensed.
I'm a child of the 60's our family was a Sears family. My folks had the revolving credit there. Every appliance we had was a Kenmore. Most of our clothing came out of the catalog. I wore Toughskins jeans ( couldn't wait to get my first pair of Maverick jeans!).. My brothers and I grew up with the Christmas Wishbook. We would spend hours dreaming of the toys in that catalog. It's so sad to see the end of an era. Another thing from my life that will soon be just another memory.
Customers at these Sears stores liquidating, he is right, if you are doing this you suck. And he stated the reasons. The problem is is that I was at the mall on Saturday and even the non closing stores of other chains are a mess. These people aren't getting paid much. It just amazes me that even in rich areas how people just want to be scum bags. I know most people don't know how to fold the proper way, but at least try to put it back neatly on the shelf. All I can say is wow. We live in a fallen world.
I agree, those people who throw shit around and don’t pick up what they dropped do suck. Pick it back up put it away nice i do it. I have been to sears and seen this myself and I started organizing the shoes myself and I don’t work there. I can’t stand it.
It’s just depressing walking into any Sears these days. Just a few weeks ago I was in the Sears at Mall of America. It has multiple floors and is an anchor store of the largest mall in the country, so you would think that’s the one location they would want to keep in top condition. It is anything but that. With all the Christmas shopping, the mall was shoulder to shoulder with people but Sears was quiet. It’s not even closing or in a liquidation sale and there were still empty shelves everywhere. It honestly felt really sad being in there and I just had to leave.
Sears is a prime example of what happens when companies don't evolve with the times. They could have moved online and exploited their huge supplier base and took on Amazon, instead they will become an article in some histroy book. Still, makes good youtube content.
Worse than that, they shut down their catalog operation in the early '90s just five or so years before online shopping started to be a thing. They'd had the best order-fulfillment system in the country for decades, and ended up having to rebuild it from scratch.
MRH, Or, people like you could try getting off your fat ass once in a while to shop at the mall get some exercise too, instead of sitting at your screen pushing a key to order things, why does all these stores have to evolve into the computer world leaving stores empty, people unemployed, you think you've evolved so much just because you have and use a smart phone LOL, the phone is smart not you....
The employees don’t give af about the stores appearance either. The place is a sinking ship and they’re being paid peanuts. I don’t think anyone who works there is exactly chomping at the bit for that big promotion
I worked at a closing sears in the last 4 months of it and people would throw everything everywhere looking for a needle in a haystack of something worth buying for maybe 2-3 dollars
I feel weird actually crying a little while watching this, because I remember my time as a child coming to Sears around the holidays, because my extended family would visit and we would all get family pictures there. And just... generally going there for the holiday sales... Seeing it so barren... Things thrown all around. People sleeping in it. I feel weird getting sentimental over a department store, but it hurts to see. :(
My Sears liquidation looked pretty much the same. I had actually inquired about purchasing the hanging escalator signage that all Sears have. They said they weren’t allowed to which is fine but it seems like corporate would be fine with it since they won’t be a thing soon and I’m one of the few people that would actually pay money for some old escalator sign. I was at the mall yesterday and it was funny, the Sears closed a few weeks ago but the Sears lot was the busiest I have even seen it even though the store was closed. The mall itself was packed so I guess the Sears lot was a good opportunity for a close spot
I still remember when Sears *was* the internet. Figuratively speaking, of course. As a kid, I used to thumb thru those huge Sears catalogs. Especially when christmas was just around the corner. 😢 All of those years of going to the mall, fighting for a good parking spot, playing the Sega Genesis display, eating in the food court. Now we just click a few buttons and what we want gets delivered to our doorstep, or instantly downloaded to our devices.
"Our" Sears, at Holyoke Mall in Holyoke Massachusetts just closed this past November. Boy, this Sears looks just like ours did. People sure can be inconsiderate slobs. I hope everyone there is able to secure employment quickly, and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
OMGWTF? I didn't hear about it!At least the other Anchors are still there. Eastfield is without Anchors now unless you count the theaters,and old Navy,but ON don't have external entrance,and idk if you want to call a cinema an anchor, although the flea market in former Macy's space could be A good part time anchor,but it's sat/Sunday only,not weekdays and weekends!
It's sad to see the decline of retail department stores. Even with all the conveniences of online shopping, I still like to do my shopping in person. Yesterday, I found out the last Kmart closed where I live. Metro Mall in Middle Village, Queens. This came a few months after the Toys r Us across the way closed. It was sad to see the entrance to the mall sealed off. There are still shops that are in the back end of the mall. What's ironic is that they plan on opening a massive shopping center next year in East Rutherford, NJ, which has been under construction since 2004. I don't see how that place is going to last, given the current situation with retail outlets. Keep up the great work and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
They shouldve made the legendary Sears catalog ON LINE! promote the f**k out of catalog sales!!.They shoulve jumped on board early, now wit Amazon Its too late baby its too late .....
I once worked for Sears corporate. The amount of unfairness between those of us at corporate, and the poor shits in "the field" was beyond belief. We often enjoyed company paid meals when traveling that were in Michelin 3 star restaurants. We would laugh and say, "how many maintainance agreements need to be sold to pay for our meal. Ha ha ha!" These were high paid VP'S who probably hadn't been on the sales floor in twenty years. No company I ever worked for held their front line employees in lower regard. This is NOT a recent development either. Back in the mid nineties, then CEO Arthur Martinez laughed during a meeting which discussed how they were going to save money by cancelling retiree health-care benefits. Those at the top of the Sears executive food chain enjoyed bonuses, stock options, and all manner of perks. One only needed to visit the Sears HQ to find a building that had its own in house catering service, as well as a lunch cafeteria offering at least TEN different venues offering all manner of delicious and heavily subsidized food. I often ate the six dollar prime rib sandwich that was as big as a dinner portion. There were also dozens of cubby holes fitted with comfy leather chairs where we could hire out and nap after a big lunch. In short, Sears executives lived like KINGS while the poor schlepps who worked in the stores got a half hour lunch that they could use to wolf down their sack lunch before it was time to run back to work. I got out at the turn of the millennium , when it became obvious to me that Sears would die a slow death after their K-Mart acquisition.
@Herbert N Walmart inflicted a sucking chest wound upon Sears years ago. Amazon is just giving them the coup d'grace. And then attacking the remaining brick 'n mortars like Walmart and Target. Its not gonna be pretty for the remaining folks working retail. Target and Walmart are trying to shed employee positions as fast as they can, but you can't shrink your way into growth.
I'm a sears employee, thank you for the recognition. Its sad to see the store go down, and its hell when we have to pick up after rude and messy people. Thank you for recognizing us.
The executives won't be getting that bonus. That was only if they met certain sales goals as part of the liquidation, and they did not meet them. Eddie Lampert loaned Sears a billion dollars and his idea is to buy sears from himself, forgive a billion dollars in debt, and then proceed to further cannibalize the store. Lampert is sleaze in human form.
I really hope this Sears, the one at Chandler, and the one at Paradise Valley don't get the wrecking ball. Those stores have awesome elevators and escalators.
It is a shame they never kept up with the times. Somewhat ahead of their time with the innovative "Sears Catalog" back in the day for years. Didn't advance much past that though. Such leadership with Golden Parachutes who couldn't care less.
3:00 I worked for a closing Sears store. It was my idea to clear off the tables as quickly as possible. As we collected used hangers from purchases we went around to the tables and put all the clothing items onto hangers (and we sorted out the rest of the hangers and offered them for free to whoever wanted them). That meant the only things we had to organize were things like underwear and lingerie, though toward the end of our sale we adopted a "Dollar bin" into which we placed all the loose items. We didn't even worry about matching up sizes, colours, or styles, because people were going to paw through the items whether they were organized or not. The only sorting we did was pants and shirts, for each department. Such a mess usually means the store has bad management, lazy employees, or short staffing.
Thank you Amazon and online consumer consumption. No one blinked an eye when Blockbuster went down. Just wait till automation takes over and unemployment goes through the roof.
People can sure be pigs. I can't understand why people would do that and I can't understand why people do a lot of things. Retail does treat their employees like shit though. Not usually the managers or co-workers but just as far as pay and benefits plus working long hours. I almost worked at the Sears near me but I didn't get the job and I'm glad I didn't. When you're desperate, you'll take about anything, but I have a good job now. That Sears closed too.
It's truly disgusting knowing how CEOs in corporations when they fail get these 'golden parachutes' even if they're FIRED from their jobs while the real hard working employees working in the stores for these higher-ups end up possibly getting no severance pay or help finding new jobs. I worked for a grocery store chain for 15 years when suddenly the CEO decided to shut all the stores down due to 'to much competition' in our state for grocery sales, leaving us to deal with what the Sears (and many like it) in this video are going through. Meanwhile, the CEO walked away with millions for screwing up our business.
The golden parachutes are incentives for them to stay on and handle the last bits of paperwork. Without them, there is no incentive for those execs to stick around, and the low level employees would be even more screwed. They wouldn't just miss out on severances, they'd even miss out on their final checks. And no one would make sure the inventory was liquidated, it would just be abandoned where it was.
I think it should be a rule any CEO who destroys a company should be forced to jump out of a plane with their golden parachute in the form of actual gold. It would be funny to see them trying to clutch a literal ton of gold before going splat.
Our Kmart store closes on the 20th of January and the only reason I'm sticking around is so I'll be able to collect my unemployment while I plan my next move. This is my 3rd and final liquidation. My heart goes out to the employees who have been with the company 20-30 plus years...They aren't getting anything for all that hard work and dedication
Very informative, Its interesting to note that these stores from last year still looked rather nice compared to how fast stores this year look destroyed. Next year will be the final nail in the coffin. Happy Holidays!
Sears is history. There just aren't enough stores left to continue the retail brand, at least as stores. Maybe someone will buy the name and have a totally online version. The Sears store in my part of the world (in the San Fernando Valley) always seems to survive the store closing list, as other Sears stores in nearby areas keep closing. It's only a matter of time when my local Sears finally bites the dust.
SuperPatriot777 Remember when Sears did these commercials with catchy slogans? 1. Where’s America Shops 2. There’s More For Your Life, At Sears 3. Come See the Softer Side of Sears That brings back some memories. Now Sears is 1. Where America Never Shops 2. There’s No More Life, At Sears 3. Come See the Bankruptcy Side of Sears
Take it from someone who use to work at Kmart for 4 years. This company had to die. Witnessed a loooooot of corruption with Management, bad management all together, and harassment that wasn't being taken seriously. Glad it's dead.
The company whose catalog was a vital plot point in M*A*S*H*, not to made for damned fine toilet paper (in a pinch), is reduced to this. Seriously, though, this is just sad all around. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
Eddie doesn't want to buy what's left of sears to save it. He wants to buy what's left of the land since it arguably has more value than what hasn't already been poached from what used to be sears.
Thanks for mentioning rude customers. A Sears near me closed in September and when I was there, a customer was complaining to an employee how bad the service was. She said she'd been waiting for another employee who never came back. This was two days before these people will be unemployed. I felt bad for all those who had to work those last days.
I dont know how you get this footage, but these videos get me super excited! Merry Christmas ! I could see you making a sweet film with all the content you record
I worked at Sears in Automotive for 31 years. When I started in 1985 the company had so much money the executives blow it on buying up failing companies that ended up eating them alive. Then came that disastrous merger with Kmart. Greed and stupidity killed the company.
As a much younger man, I did seasonal work at the Sears in Orlando, Florida, from 1965 to 1967. On one occasion, I was assigned at the proverbial "last minute" to work in the toy department on Christmas Eve. To say this was a "mad house" environment would be an understatement. Ironically, dealing with the kids was nothing compared to assisting the frantic parents who had waited to do their last minute shopping. The "Grand Central Station" atmosphere I dealt with was a far cry from the "ghost town" environment shown in the video. With that background, I found it of interest to compare mental notes with my experiences in shopping at Sears in the last several years. Without fail, I found that the merchandise displays were consistently messier but moreover the demeanor of many (I will not say all) of their sales staff varied from less than helpful to outright rude. Sadly, it seems that management failed to recognize that their customers wanted two things: helpful service and quality goods (I will go a step further and remark that I have encountered some of the same less than helpful service at J. C. Penny which now has problems of its own). While I, for one. am sad to see Sears demise, it was a long time coming and I think the firm created and fostered this problem.
I'm not sure which is more disgusting, the way Eddie Lampert has driven Sears into the ground, or the way "customers" have been treating the employees and the merchandise in their stores. People should be ashamed of themselves. If you don't like the company or want to buy any of its merchandise, don't shop there. And if you hate Eddie Lampert, don't take it out on the employees. They are just trying to make a living and many of them are going to out of jobs through no fault of their own, while Eddie and his buddies will be getting golden parachutes.
To any current or former Sears and K-Mart employees watching this, Merry Christmas. The "gift" your former big boss, corporate white collar criminal "Fast Eddie" Lampert has decided to give you all is the gift of unemployment for 2019. If you retired before the shit hit the fan, he gave you the gift of your pensions not being worth jack shit while he jumps out on a golden parachute. He'll probably get a job working for Trump, knowing how that other criminal does things.
jwathas In regards to criminal and immoral activities I would have to agree. However, I think Eddie is probably better off financially than Trump(at least before he became President) and he is without a doubt smarter than Trump.
This year, I bought as much from Sears as possible, and spent less than $40 at Amazon. Amazon has never kept a store in my town that employees people who sell me wheels or do my truck alignments. Sears does. And the local Sears store was REALLY well-stocked, beautifully lit, fully staffed, nicely decorated...they were really trying their best.
I have a friend who worked at Toys R Us. People were literally walking right over merchandise. Funko Pops were ripped open (which saddens me as I'm a collector), things tossed all over the isle, and people just walking over all the merchandise on the floor. Apparently a lot of merchandise had to be thrown out because people would destroy it or walk all over it. They'd try to keep it clean but as soon as they opened, chaos. Even on slow days.
I'm kinda surprised Sears lasted this long considering it's sales model hasn't changed much since the 1960s. It was a magical place back then during Christmas, the Del Amo Mall Sears in Torrance Calif had the most incredible Toyland display, absolutely huge selection of toys that all the kids would marvel at, looking for those toys we all saw and wanted from the Sears Catalog. It's hard to describe, but imagine a world without the internet, smart phones, personal computers, cable TV, video games, video streaming, heck even color TVs were just starting to get more popular, most were black and white sets. Fresh, unjaded eyes, not overly saturated like the children of today, being a little boy and seeing that Sears Christmas toy display is something I'll never forget, a very simple and special time. RIP Sears.
I remember my father buying me my first fishing pole at Sears. He bought one too. He is gone now but my son still uses his fishing pole. I remember my cousin buying a shotgun and shells there too. So sad what happened.
Genuinely breaks my heart. I remember always going shopping at Sears with my folks when I was a kid in the 80's. Especially around Christmas time. I have soooooo many wonderful nostalgic stories to tell but nobody cares or would want to read them. I love this channel. I always have flashbacks down memory lane.
Same story up here when I was touring the mall Sears in Canada last year. Clothing and shoes were trashed and I was talking to one of the remaining employees about the time when Sears was doing great before the construction of the main mall, and how it got here. My final purchase from a liquidated Sears was a Sears branded skip rope for under $5. Happy Holidays to all!
I worked in Sears 1999-2000 and it was a job for a high school kid. After quitting I went back to the store regularly and noticed the older employees who were not leaving and making a living from working there. Sadly, just like others this Sears also got shut down and looked like this when I went to see what was left. I noticed a couple employees that were still working there from the time I was working there. It was one of the saddest things to see grown people in their 60-70s with their head down walking around like as if they failed, but they were still running around trying to help people to the last days.
I remember dragging my parents, after we were done paying, to the Christmas displays. We'd stand there and point at which tree was the prettiest. I always have loved Christmas shopping.
Sears is all about real estate right now. Each day the stores remain open means the property they own becomes more and more valuable. For example, they recently closed a Kmart in Annandale, VA. The land, sitting on a massive space, is worth a lot of money in this land-starved hyper developed area. Another Sears store nearby in Falls Church, VA occupies a large retail tract in a major retail area and is just waiting for the axe to drop and close. When it goes on the market, it'll be worth a fortune. This is being played out, with various levels of value, around the country. The owner has slowly unloaded the less profitable stores (meaning land value-store sales=net value). His alleged business plan for Sears is based on unloaded what remains of the stores major owned brands, such as Kenmore, etc. Or, asset stripping. When he's done Sears, the entire company, will look like the store in this video. It's all sad, Sears used to be 'America's Store'. I propose it still is, and reflects our country at this weird time.
Who remembers the big Sears catalog as a kid? The toy section was the Best!
I remember the Toys r us ad. (2000’s kid here) Would circle all the things I wanted and hoped I got it. Was always fun. Have the last one saved forever.
Here is their last wish book from 1992: ua-cam.com/video/p1KFfdqAbr8/v-deo.html
I remember (1970's) that even if my family didn't shop much at Sears, the toy catalog was where my wish list originated. It had everything!
Loved it I was always excited when it came.
Montgomery Wards
I work at Sears. Our store was extremely busy until Sears filed bankruptcy. Now it's damn near dead. Many employees have been there for decades, and they are the ones I feel bad for. I took the job as a temporary gig and enjoy working there because my coworkers are awesome! My grandfather worked as a salesman for Sears back in the day. It was a store that was destroyed from within, much like our country. 😭😭😭
I am a Kmart pensioner myself only because I worked there just a couple years after my 401K became eligible for vesting. The general manager of my location was a jerk who eventually fired by Kmart for customer complaints way back in the 1990s, but some of the assistant managers had been there since 28 cents per hour was the going wage everywhere. Some of them were even sons and daughters of men who had lost their lives during World War II who had gotten a job at what was then Samuel S. Kresge and who had been promised excellent pensions, but they had their pensions rolled over to IRAs with high maintenance costs when Kmart & Sears combined into one company. And now that they have cried with their mothers as they read telegrams beginning "we regret to inform you that your husband has been killed in action" and gone to work as soon as they were legally able to for what was then a great place to work are getting pennies on the dollar.
@@petenielsen6683 I hear that my mother worked for K-mart for thirty years (she retired last year) through two (technically 3) k-marts I always loved going to k-mart when I was a little kid.
Hey Pete Nielsen, it was $2.65 an hour the Wisconsin Kmart where I was. I worked there as a cashier in 1977. The "higher-ups" got paid $3.05 an hour. Remember back then we all got paid in cash, in those little manilla envelopes. At times, that seems like only yesterday. Other times it feels like it was 10 lifetimes ago!
My Sears has big lines when it was closing, then it gets empty, both shelves and custmomers
Annette Morrison which Sears do you work for? I worked for one in Tulsa for years in the nineties and I thoroughly enjoyed my job. I walked through there recently and they had the same cash registers as when I was there in 92.
I went back to the loading dock where I started and the same pallet skids and metal tongues to tow them with were there. I feel like I am losing a part of my youth.
So depressing..
Makes me sad
Artzie Music what are you doing here?
Feels bad man =(
How do you get to flim inside sears i tried but got kicked out
Yup. A quiet moment in nothingness.
Absolutely disgusting that the executives who ran the place into the ground get millions while thousands lose their jobs.
And retirement benefits packages.
It's the same situation with any retail outlet (or corporation come to that) which folds. Those at the top NEVER suffer!
People don't understand basic employee contracts.
That’s what will always happen until the people band together and root out these evil bastards
@@clink76 I'm really glad that I don't have to rely on my employer for retirement benefits.
My grandma, a former Sears employee, who always made the family "SAY SEARS!" when getting our pictures taken, is rolling over in her grave. I miss her and I will miss Sears.
Erix7810 Did your grandmother receive a pension from Sears? I was discussing this issue with somebody else, about Sears & pensions.
Your grandma worked at Sears during it's golden age when Sears treated the employees really good instead of like dogs.
My grandmother too, through the 1960s and early 70s. And she got a nice pension upon retirement.
Very sad !!
@@mjt2231 Mine did, too.
2:42 Remember folks, Sears employees are people too! People having a very blue Christmas right now - please don't make it worse with your selfish and reckless behavior!
Yeah and don't make a Gigantic mess they have to clean up.
فيح
It's sad that being pigs and a**holes is now the norm...poor employees. :(
@@kittymamayyz Don't insult actual pigs by referring to people like that. 😀
When I was working retail, there was one morning where I was doing stock and not five feet from me a guy was ripping the packaging off phone cases so he could "make sure they fit his phone". Not just opening them, but ripping the cardboard to shreds. With me right there.
I will forever be that customer that picks things up off the floor and puts things back where I found them. And never will i purposely destroy packaging. Or else I feel guilty af.
He just wanted to make sure it was the right size...Not trying to steal it
@@howardstern9129 If a phone case says "will fit X" and you can see the case theough the packaging, there's no reason to shred it open. If you really want to make sure, break the seal and slip it out-- not rip the cardboard.
*people are spoiled*
Ara Fenrir Let me guess? Once he found out that it did fit he bought a package that wasn't torn apart!
@@charlesbolton8471 Yup. Dead on.
Am I the only one that kinda feels sorry for that doll?
RA should buy that doll and do a giveaway
I would have had to buy it if I saw it sitting there like that.
Probably not since there seem to be a lot of weird people crying over inanimate objects these days. I swear, so many cry babies these days.
Sad to see a former giant that was such a big part of my childhood in shambles.
It is good investments, lots of over depreciated estates ready to be sold.
I'm 63 now. The whole system has been going down the drain since the 70's. People are rude and more selfish more and more.
The future is now old man
I work for a Sears that's at the end of it's liquidation and honestly, it sucks. The customers are rude and blame the employees for everything but we can't control anything anymore. Oh and no one is getting a severance pay, they don't care about us that much LOL
Yu are probably getting a big Christmas bonus
@@howardstern9129 nope
When you throw div 88 and start making your own prices
Thats awful to hear. Most Sears employees Ive encountered are really nice. You all deserve better.🙏
Lol
Thank you for mentioning the hard working employees and what a disgrace it is that the customers are doing this. Our store is also closing, there is no way we can keep it presentable and it was always tops in our district for our presentation. It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. ( liquidation )
Leave that shit the way it is. If corporate is going to line their own pockets and completely disrespect their hard working employees then fuck em. Leave that store completely trashed just like the higher ups left the company
tuffy2342 what happens when they close for you? Do you get a severance or just a “goodbye we’re done here”
@@somethingsomething404 Supposed to get a small severance.
0:45 It’s not a liquidation sale without random fast food cups on the shelf😄
Cameron Reeves I hate that.
Standard display.
Someone always thinks their mom will pick up after them.
People can be that lazy and ignorant. They need to know that their parents ain't around to clean up after them anymore. It's not even sanitary.
This is really depressing
It sure is I want Sears to survive. As a Kid Grandmother always got me Sears clothes from the Catalog.
That’s beacuse Eddie Lampert is nothing but a selfish money stealing cheapskate crook who only wanted sears for their real estate and assists for money to get on his own. The only truely good thing of sears now is Sears Mexico and let me tell you Mexican companies seems to always have a person like Eddie Lampert to screw companies to the way side like this but Sears Mexico is way better than Sears America and is no thanks to Fast Eddie.
Sears be like: SELL THE LIGHTS! SELL THE COPPER WIRING!!!
Employee: "What can we sell, sir??"
Gary Oldman: *E E E E V V V E R Y T H I N N G G G*
Haha...not
Dear Jesus, don't say that!
Some crazy sumbitch will try,and they'll be lucky if they only need EMT's!
Kmart said the same thing but oh my just don't sell the shopping carts. We need to sell them umm umm send them to an open store.
They can't.....they rent that space. Another reason they can't turn a profit, wasting revenue paying mall rent.
In my experience, 90% of the mess is from adult women customers. Once saw a lady push a stack of 5 shoe boxes off a bench just to sit down, without a care in the world.
Going in a Sears store is depressing, there is no life left there. Our metro area with a population of almost 800,000 lost both of the Sears stores in the local malls and all the Kmarts closed up too. Most of the spaces have already been repurposed which is great to not have empty retail spaces. One of the Sears is now a Burlington Coat Factory. The Kmart stores in our area became a T-Mobile call center, a sporting goods/gun store, a body shop for a huge car dealership, a bowling alley/arcade, and part of a revitalized shopping center with new stores. It's just sad how something that was so vibrant for so long could just wither away to die.
Sounds like Portland, at least the Beaverton KMart. Ink is barely dry from liquidation and a redevelopment proposal sign is up
im in phoenix.. we will have 1 sears store left and millions of people
There are 2 Kmart stores in Northern New Jersey that are booming and both are 2 miles from each other. Wonder why they succeed in some places and die in others?
harrismi7 Remember the commercials back in the 80’s when Sears made a slogan saying “There’s more for your life, at Sears”? Now “There’s no more life, at Sears”.
Sounds like the Dayton Ohio area, 2 Sears stores closed and 3 Kmart stores
I worked at Sears in Louisiana we didn't make it to Christmas. These stupid customers don't realize that these employees will not have a job . I spent 17 years and to see the corporate idiots sail away unscathed is despicable
Sears (1893 - 2019)
@Scott That's a bingo.
@Scott He was not only the Ceo of sears he also ran the bank that kept lending them money. So no matter what happens he'll make out like a bandit :(
Not just Sears, but its sister store chain Kmart (1899-2019) could soon be on its way out too.
@@erickirk6966 not could, IS! They both will be toast some time in 2019
No offense but people have been saying Sears and Kmart were gonna be out of business since 2004, yet here we are 15 years later and they’re still in business. Can we stop saying RIP Sears every year just to say “told ya so”
Eddie Lampert may be interested in Sears for the real estate (nothing wrong with that, especially if the stores are unprofitable) however, Sears still has a large number of stores that ARE profitable and can be salvaged once all the dead weight is cut off. My Kmart which is only 5 mins from my house was remodeled and is buzzing with business (it survived yet the latest announcement of 80 store closures) and I still shop at both Sears and Kmart.
The golden parachutes themselves aren't nearly as painful as the fact that they come hand in hand with severances being cancelled
It's pretty disgusting. I'm not a shareholder or a creditor so I don't have a dog in that fight, but how can the bankruptcy court approve $25 million bonuses for executives who ran the company into the ground?
@Herbert N : Yep.
@@Milesco The reasoning - which is ubiquitous in bankruptcies, and based on understandable though often flawed logic - is that while you can lose low level employees and keep running, losing a "key" executive would be devastating to the business's ability to turnaround, since they have unique knowledge and expertise.
This is technically true - without these bonuses, I'd bet every single one of Sears's executives would hit the road. Of course, in this case, I can't imagine it would actually be a meaningful loss, hence why I question the bonuses :)
@@Milesco I think it has to do with future job opportunities for executives vs. mid-range and lower level retail staff. A failure will haunt the careers of the mid-range and upper level executives way more. It isn't necessarily fair, but look at where the different level employees are in a decade. Also, executives almost always have multi-year contracts, and they are more than likely settling for pennies on the dollar. No one is truly "winning" here.
Sears is definitely not a great resumé point for nearly everyone who has only worked there after 2009. Experienced cashiers, dept managers, mechanics and salesmen are always in demand and coming from a place like Sears shouldn't be too much to overcome for these based on the obvious environment. The rest will be hit or miss at best.
the executives that jumped ship were the fathers of the failure, the argument is that they need these executives to help save the company.. its a retention bonus
You know it’s bad when they’re selling the STOCK PHOTOS from the photo center.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year RA!
Did you see those snazzy frames though?
At least it's just clothes being thrown about. I remember when Caldor was being liquidated, customers were opening food, snacks, drinks; eating some, then leaving the contents everywhere.
That's really gross. Either way, regardless, I'd just put my feet down, quit, walk away, and find a new job. (I know it's the customers' fault)
Dennis R-Oh, I believe it! I used to work for Caldor back in 1989. I was 19 & a half & I was working as a pt cashier. The customers that I rang up-ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN-would behave VERY BADLY!!
Good night & goodbye, Sears, Roebuck & Co. Thanks for the Christmas videogame console huge setup memories.
Guitar Anthony i got a few Nintendo DS games back in 2010. And used to buy Craftsmans tools too.
Remember the Tele-Games Video Arcade? It was a rebadged Atari 2600, and it was the video game console that had an Atari licensed. They put out the same exact games with different titles. Remember “Outer Space”? It was called “Star Ship”, “Tank Plus” which was “Combat”, and “Space Combat” which was “Spacewar”. Sears did released a series of games that were licensed by Atari. That was way back then when Sears made a video game console that were Atari licensed.
I'm a child of the 60's our family was a Sears family. My folks had the revolving credit there. Every appliance we had was a Kenmore. Most of our clothing came out of the catalog. I wore Toughskins jeans ( couldn't wait to get my first pair of Maverick jeans!).. My brothers and I grew up with the Christmas Wishbook. We would spend hours dreaming of the toys in that catalog. It's so sad to see the end of an era. Another thing from my life that will soon be just another memory.
Customers at these Sears stores liquidating, he is right, if you are doing this you suck. And he stated the reasons. The problem is is that I was at the mall on Saturday and even the non closing stores of other chains are a mess. These people aren't getting paid much. It just amazes me that even in rich areas how people just want to be scum bags. I know most people don't know how to fold the proper way, but at least try to put it back neatly on the shelf. All I can say is wow. We live in a fallen world.
Less than 40 seconds in: There's the ubiquitous cup!
SueBobChicVid and it 40% off.
Lol, empty Coke container on the shelf....
I agree, those people who throw shit around and don’t pick up what they dropped do suck. Pick it back up put it away nice i do it. I have been to sears and seen this myself and I started organizing the shoes myself and I don’t work there. I can’t stand it.
This looks like post hurricane footage
It’s just depressing walking into any Sears these days. Just a few weeks ago I was in the Sears at Mall of America. It has multiple floors and is an anchor store of the largest mall in the country, so you would think that’s the one location they would want to keep in top condition. It is anything but that. With all the Christmas shopping, the mall was shoulder to shoulder with people but Sears was quiet. It’s not even closing or in a liquidation sale and there were still empty shelves everywhere. It honestly felt really sad being in there and I just had to leave.
That is almost as sad as toys r us video my childhood is being erased one store at a time 😔
I know.. and even some theme parks just feel devoid of their soul (hi, Epcot..).
Toys r us still exist in Canada.... for now
Sears is a prime example of what happens when companies don't evolve with the times. They could have moved online and exploited their huge supplier base and took on Amazon, instead they will become an article in some histroy book. Still, makes good youtube content.
Worse than that, they shut down their catalog operation in the early '90s just five or so years before online shopping started to be a thing. They'd had the best order-fulfillment system in the country for decades, and ended up having to rebuild it from scratch.
No, it was strip mined slowly.
This really is a great comment. They had so much infrastructure and channels/connections already in place. Plus, they were a household name.
They would have been Amazon.
MRH, Or, people like you could try getting off your fat ass once in a while to shop at the mall get some exercise too, instead of sitting at your screen pushing a key to order things, why does all these stores have to evolve into the computer world leaving stores empty, people unemployed, you think you've evolved so much just because you have and use a smart phone LOL, the phone is smart not you....
People can be so rude! Was it necessary to trash out the place?? Geez! 😒😒😒
The employees don’t give af about the stores appearance either. The place is a sinking ship and they’re being paid peanuts. I don’t think anyone who works there is exactly chomping at the bit for that big promotion
@@mattkennedy6115 Promotion to what? Sears is in its death throes. There are no new jobs.
hindler read my comment again. 🙄
Yes it was necessary.
I worked at a closing sears in the last 4 months of it and people would throw everything everywhere looking for a needle in a haystack of something worth buying for maybe 2-3 dollars
I love the sound of your voice
I feel weird actually crying a little while watching this, because I remember my time as a child coming to Sears around the holidays, because my extended family would visit and we would all get family pictures there. And just... generally going there for the holiday sales... Seeing it so barren... Things thrown all around. People sleeping in it. I feel weird getting sentimental over a department store, but it hurts to see. :(
Thanks Eric. Your content rules. You and your family have a Merry Christmas. 🎄🎁
Somebody should give that doll A home
This is so sad and to see how people just trash the store.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
My Sears liquidation looked pretty much the same. I had actually inquired about purchasing the hanging escalator signage that all Sears have. They said they weren’t allowed to which is fine but it seems like corporate would be fine with it since they won’t be a thing soon and I’m one of the few people that would actually pay money for some old escalator sign. I was at the mall yesterday and it was funny, the Sears closed a few weeks ago but the Sears lot was the busiest I have even seen it even though the store was closed. The mall itself was packed so I guess the Sears lot was a good opportunity for a close spot
I still remember when Sears *was* the internet. Figuratively speaking, of course. As a kid, I used to thumb thru those huge Sears catalogs. Especially when christmas was just around the corner. 😢
All of those years of going to the mall, fighting for a good parking spot, playing the Sega Genesis display, eating in the food court. Now we just click a few buttons and what we want gets delivered to our doorstep, or instantly downloaded to our devices.
"Our" Sears, at Holyoke Mall in Holyoke Massachusetts just closed this past November.
Boy, this Sears looks just like ours did. People sure can be inconsiderate slobs.
I hope everyone there is able to secure employment quickly, and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
OMGWTF? I didn't hear about it!At least the other Anchors are still there. Eastfield is without Anchors now unless you count the theaters,and old Navy,but ON don't have external entrance,and idk if you want to call a cinema an anchor, although the flea market in former Macy's space could be A good part time anchor,but it's sat/Sunday only,not weekdays and weekends!
Oh I've been to Holyoke!
It's sad to see the decline of retail department stores. Even with all the conveniences of online shopping, I still like to do my shopping in person. Yesterday, I found out the last Kmart closed where I live. Metro Mall in Middle Village, Queens. This came a few months after the Toys r Us across the way closed. It was sad to see the entrance to the mall sealed off. There are still shops that are in the back end of the mall. What's ironic is that they plan on opening a massive shopping center next year in East Rutherford, NJ, which has been under construction since 2004. I don't see how that place is going to last, given the current situation with retail outlets. Keep up the great work and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This video almost made me cry
I agree. It is so very sadening
Becoming a part of the America of the past. I don't much like the America of the present. Very depressing.
So many childhood memories just dying like this. Kinda sickening
They shouldve made the legendary Sears catalog ON LINE! promote the f**k out of catalog sales!!.They shoulve jumped on board early, now wit Amazon Its too late baby its too late .....
Yeah. And blockbuster should have dominated the streaming business. Big corporations are not nimble.
Its sad to see Sears end this way.
This is the fate of any company that declares the internet to be a fad and make no efforts to modernize since the 80s.
pretty soon sears will be one more for the nostalgia book. makes a guy sad
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Retail Archeology. I can't wait for new content in 2019.
I once worked for Sears corporate. The amount of unfairness between those of us at corporate, and the poor shits in "the field" was beyond belief. We often enjoyed company paid meals when traveling that were in Michelin 3 star restaurants. We would laugh and say, "how many maintainance agreements need to be sold to pay for our meal. Ha ha ha!" These were high paid VP'S who probably hadn't been on the sales floor in twenty years. No company I ever worked for held their front line employees in lower regard. This is NOT a recent development either. Back in the mid nineties, then CEO Arthur Martinez laughed during a meeting which discussed how they were going to save money by cancelling retiree health-care benefits. Those at the top of the Sears executive food chain enjoyed bonuses, stock options, and all manner of perks. One only needed to visit the Sears HQ to find a building that had its own in house catering service, as well as a lunch cafeteria offering at least TEN different venues offering all manner of delicious and heavily subsidized food. I often ate the six dollar prime rib sandwich that was as big as a dinner portion. There were also dozens of cubby holes fitted with comfy leather chairs where we could hire out and nap after a big lunch. In short, Sears executives lived like KINGS while the poor schlepps who worked in the stores got a half hour lunch that they could use to wolf down their sack lunch before it was time to run back to work. I got out at the turn of the millennium , when it became obvious to me that Sears would die a slow death after their K-Mart acquisition.
Amazon killing stores left and right
🙄🙄🙄 Really Queen?
Ebay is even better in my view...I honestly don't even know when was the last time i used a stamp or an envelope
@Herbert N Walmart inflicted a sucking chest wound upon Sears years ago. Amazon is just giving them the coup d'grace. And then attacking the remaining brick 'n mortars like Walmart and Target. Its not gonna be pretty for the remaining folks working retail. Target and Walmart are trying to shed employee positions as fast as they can, but you can't shrink your way into growth.
@Rich Lux so right! Amazon killing sears and other companies is like uber killing taxi companies!
Not really. Many mall real estate companies like Macerich and Simon are doing better than ever.
Kinda of a heartbreaking end to a once great company and a huge part of many people's collective experience.
I'm a sears employee, thank you for the recognition. Its sad to see the store go down, and its hell when we have to pick up after rude and messy people. Thank you for recognizing us.
The executives won't be getting that bonus. That was only if they met certain sales goals as part of the liquidation, and they did not meet them.
Eddie Lampert loaned Sears a billion dollars and his idea is to buy sears from himself, forgive a billion dollars in debt, and then proceed to further cannibalize the store. Lampert is sleaze in human form.
I really hope this Sears, the one at Chandler, and the one at Paradise Valley don't get the wrecking ball. Those stores have awesome elevators and escalators.
skyvator I have been to those stores.
appalling how customers leave that store when they are offering discounts. Be civil people. Its not that hard.
It is a shame they never kept up with the times. Somewhat ahead of their time with the innovative "Sears Catalog" back in the day for years. Didn't advance much past that though. Such leadership with Golden Parachutes who couldn't care less.
3:00 I worked for a closing Sears store. It was my idea to clear off the tables as quickly as possible. As we collected used hangers from purchases we went around to the tables and put all the clothing items onto hangers (and we sorted out the rest of the hangers and offered them for free to whoever wanted them). That meant the only things we had to organize were things like underwear and lingerie, though toward the end of our sale we adopted a "Dollar bin" into which we placed all the loose items. We didn't even worry about matching up sizes, colours, or styles, because people were going to paw through the items whether they were organized or not. The only sorting we did was pants and shirts, for each department. Such a mess usually means the store has bad management, lazy employees, or short staffing.
Thank you Amazon and online consumer consumption. No one blinked an eye when Blockbuster went down. Just wait till automation takes over and unemployment goes through the roof.
Dojocho
well there’s already a vending machine restaurant in Japan.
Honestly the people brought that to themselves with the minimum wage fiasco.
Thank you for always providing such excellent content. Merry Christmas & Happy 2019 to you and your family! :)
1:30 “ one solitary doll that didn’t get a home for Christmas “
That hit me at another lever .
The executive thing is pretty much what happened when Sears Canada went out last year.
People can sure be pigs. I can't understand why people would do that and I can't understand why people do a lot of things. Retail does treat their employees like shit though. Not usually the managers or co-workers but just as far as pay and benefits plus working long hours. I almost worked at the Sears near me but I didn't get the job and I'm glad I didn't. When you're desperate, you'll take about anything, but I have a good job now. That Sears closed too.
It's truly disgusting knowing how CEOs in corporations when they fail get these 'golden parachutes' even if they're FIRED from their jobs while the real hard working employees working in the stores for these higher-ups end up possibly getting no severance pay or help finding new jobs.
I worked for a grocery store chain for 15 years when suddenly the CEO decided to shut all the stores down due to 'to much competition' in our state for grocery sales, leaving us to deal with what the Sears (and many like it) in this video are going through.
Meanwhile, the CEO walked away with millions for screwing up our business.
MSTie Fan-Oh they should serve time in prison for doing that to employees!! That SHOULD be considered a crime!!
The golden parachutes are incentives for them to stay on and handle the last bits of paperwork. Without them, there is no incentive for those execs to stick around, and the low level employees would be even more screwed. They wouldn't just miss out on severances, they'd even miss out on their final checks. And no one would make sure the inventory was liquidated, it would just be abandoned where it was.
I think it should be a rule any CEO who destroys a company should be forced to jump out of a plane with their golden parachute in the form of actual gold.
It would be funny to see them trying to clutch a literal ton of gold before going splat.
I'm grateful Sears has made it to the end of 2019. Another Christmas to celebrate.
Our Kmart store closes on the 20th of January and the only reason I'm sticking around is so I'll be able to collect my unemployment while I plan my next move. This is my 3rd and final liquidation. My heart goes out to the employees who have been with the company 20-30 plus years...They aren't getting anything for all that hard work and dedication
Very informative, Its interesting to note that these stores from last year still looked rather nice compared to how fast stores this year look destroyed. Next year will be the final nail in the coffin. Happy Holidays!
It's like when the Staples near me closed. It was a free for all on the last day of business taking things you normally wouldn't buy
Sears is history. There just aren't enough stores left to continue the retail brand, at least as stores. Maybe someone will buy the name and have a totally online version. The Sears store in my part of the world (in the San Fernando Valley) always seems to survive the store closing list, as other Sears stores in nearby areas keep closing. It's only a matter of time when my local Sears finally bites the dust.
This is the first video I’ve watched on your channel, and I’m already hooked
No severance just bonuses for the managers.
Hope you have a great Christmas!! Hopefully it is better than Sears.
So long Sears
We'll never forget you
SuperPatriot777 Remember when Sears did these commercials with catchy slogans?
1. Where’s America Shops
2. There’s More For Your Life, At Sears
3. Come See the Softer Side of Sears
That brings back some memories. Now Sears is
1. Where America Never Shops
2. There’s No More Life, At Sears
3. Come See the Bankruptcy Side of Sears
Merry Christmas, Retail Archaeology! 🎄
Take it from someone who use to work at Kmart for 4 years. This company had to die. Witnessed a loooooot of corruption with Management, bad management all together, and harassment that wasn't being taken seriously. Glad it's dead.
The company whose catalog was a vital plot point in M*A*S*H*, not to made for damned fine toilet paper (in a pinch), is reduced to this.
Seriously, though, this is just sad all around.
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
Eddie doesn't want to buy what's left of sears to save it. He wants to buy what's left of the land since it arguably has more value than what hasn't already been poached from what used to be sears.
Thanks for mentioning rude customers. A Sears near me closed in September and when I was there, a customer was complaining to an employee how bad the service was. She said she'd been waiting for another employee who never came back. This was two days before these people will be unemployed. I felt bad for all those who had to work those last days.
I dont know how you get this footage, but these videos get me super excited! Merry Christmas ! I could see you making a sweet film with all the content you record
Dying business get you excited?
@@maxpainal1937 no just the emptiness of what stores really look like or what they use to look like.. Just oddly satisfying to me hah
I hope there's a special place in hell for those greedy, rotten executives!
This is a prime example of executives truly selling their souls for a dollar.
I worked at Sears in Automotive for 31 years. When I started in 1985 the company had so much money the executives blow it on buying up failing companies that ended up eating them alive. Then came that disastrous merger with Kmart. Greed and stupidity killed the company.
The fun days of great shopping life is over. Now it will only be memories. R.I.P. Sears I will miss you.
My Sears is emptier than this store
DogManKidYT As Diana Ross and the Supremes would say “My World Is Empty Without You”.
@@Musicradio77Network How do you know I like Michael Jackson
Whoa
That's so sad... :(
alexa play despacito 2
Our Sears didn't even make it past November before it was gone.
As a much younger man, I did seasonal work at the Sears in Orlando, Florida, from 1965 to 1967. On one occasion, I was assigned at the proverbial "last minute" to work in the toy department on Christmas Eve. To say this was a "mad house" environment would be an understatement. Ironically, dealing with the kids was nothing compared to assisting the frantic parents who had waited to do their last minute shopping. The "Grand Central Station" atmosphere I dealt with was a far cry from the "ghost town" environment shown in the video. With that background, I found it of interest to compare mental notes with my experiences in shopping at Sears in the last several years. Without fail, I found that the merchandise displays were consistently messier but moreover the demeanor of many (I will not say all) of their sales staff varied from less than helpful to outright rude. Sadly, it seems that management failed to recognize that their customers wanted two things: helpful service and quality goods (I will go a step further and remark that I have encountered some of the same less than helpful service at J. C. Penny which now has problems of its own). While I, for one. am sad to see Sears demise, it was a long time coming and I think the firm created and fostered this problem.
I'm not sure which is more disgusting, the way Eddie Lampert has driven Sears into the ground, or the way "customers" have been treating the employees and the merchandise in their stores. People should be ashamed of themselves. If you don't like the company or want to buy any of its merchandise, don't shop there. And if you hate Eddie Lampert, don't take it out on the employees. They are just trying to make a living and many of them are going to out of jobs through no fault of their own, while Eddie and his buddies will be getting golden parachutes.
To any current or former Sears and K-Mart employees watching this, Merry Christmas. The "gift" your former big boss, corporate white collar criminal "Fast Eddie" Lampert has decided to give you all is the gift of unemployment for 2019. If you retired before the shit hit the fan, he gave you the gift of your pensions not being worth jack shit while he jumps out on a golden parachute. He'll probably get a job working for Trump, knowing how that other criminal does things.
Trump is a master at ruining things...He's already Fu++ed our country.
jwathas In regards to criminal and immoral activities I would have to agree. However, I think Eddie is probably better off financially than Trump(at least before he became President) and he is without a doubt smarter than Trump.
This year, I bought as much from Sears as possible, and spent less than $40 at Amazon. Amazon has never kept a store in my town that employees people who sell me wheels or do my truck alignments. Sears does. And the local Sears store was REALLY well-stocked, beautifully lit, fully staffed, nicely decorated...they were really trying their best.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Have a wonderful one. 🎄❄⛄
I have a friend who worked at Toys R Us. People were literally walking right over merchandise. Funko Pops were ripped open (which saddens me as I'm a collector), things tossed all over the isle, and people just walking over all the merchandise on the floor. Apparently a lot of merchandise had to be thrown out because people would destroy it or walk all over it. They'd try to keep it clean but as soon as they opened, chaos. Even on slow days.
It’s strange watching this in 2023 listening to you talk about 2020 and all the projects you had coming up
I'm kinda surprised Sears lasted this long considering it's sales model hasn't changed much since the 1960s. It was a magical place back then during Christmas, the Del Amo Mall Sears in Torrance Calif had the most incredible Toyland display, absolutely huge selection of toys that all the kids would marvel at, looking for those toys we all saw and wanted from the Sears Catalog. It's hard to describe, but imagine a world without the internet, smart phones, personal computers, cable TV, video games, video streaming, heck even color TVs were just starting to get more popular, most were black and white sets. Fresh, unjaded eyes, not overly saturated like the children of today, being a little boy and seeing that Sears Christmas toy display is something I'll never forget, a very simple and special time. RIP Sears.
I remember my father buying me my first fishing pole at Sears. He bought one too. He is gone now but my son still uses his fishing pole. I remember my cousin buying a shotgun and shells there too. So sad what happened.
Genuinely breaks my heart. I remember always going shopping at Sears with my folks when I was a kid in the 80's. Especially around Christmas time. I have soooooo many wonderful nostalgic stories to tell but nobody cares or would want to read them. I love this channel. I always have flashbacks down memory lane.
Same story up here when I was touring the mall Sears in Canada last year. Clothing and shoes were trashed and I was talking to one of the remaining employees about the time when Sears was doing great before the construction of the main mall, and how it got here. My final purchase from a liquidated Sears was a Sears branded skip rope for under $5. Happy Holidays to all!
I worked in Sears 1999-2000 and it was a job for a high school kid. After quitting I went back to the store regularly and noticed the older employees who were not leaving and making a living from working there. Sadly, just like others this Sears also got shut down and looked like this when I went to see what was left. I noticed a couple employees that were still working there from the time I was working there. It was one of the saddest things to see grown people in their 60-70s with their head down walking around like as if they failed, but they were still running around trying to help people to the last days.
I remember dragging my parents, after we were done paying, to the Christmas displays. We'd stand there and point at which tree was the prettiest. I always have loved Christmas shopping.
I love that somber mall music version of "silent night", it really fits the mood of the store.
Still remember when I went to Sears every school year for new clothes as a kid. Sad to see it in this state. First Toys R Us, now Sears.
Very sad to see this happening. Thank you for keeping us informed, great vid !
Sears is all about real estate right now. Each day the stores remain open means the property they own becomes more and more valuable. For example, they recently closed a Kmart in Annandale, VA. The land, sitting on a massive space, is worth a lot of money in this land-starved hyper developed area. Another Sears store nearby in Falls Church, VA occupies a large retail tract in a major retail area and is just waiting for the axe to drop and close. When it goes on the market, it'll be worth a fortune. This is being played out, with various levels of value, around the country. The owner has slowly unloaded the less profitable stores (meaning land value-store sales=net value). His alleged business plan for Sears is based on unloaded what remains of the stores major owned brands, such as Kenmore, etc. Or, asset stripping. When he's done Sears, the entire company, will look like the store in this video. It's all sad, Sears used to be 'America's Store'. I propose it still is, and reflects our country at this weird time.