Good stuff as always Dan. Used to live in MD and have actually been to some of the abandoned malls you've been to (Owings Mills, Security Square, The Hilltop Hotel) and it is fascinating to see what these places look like after people forget about them. Hope to see more abandoned stuff in the future, I support you 100%
This looks like a Kmart that closed early in my area. Everything that could be salvaged was packed up, and sent to another store everything else was trashed.
It's sad to see such an American institution die like this, especially when Sears used to be the largest company in the country. A hundred years ago, they had everything you could ever want; from thimbles to a house. Now, they are gone.....
My grandparents we're obsessed with Sears forever. During the 80's and 90's all the grandchildren got a $100 gift certificate every Christmas to Sears. We basically thought it was the coolest place ever. It was a chance to get whatever we wanted and I'll always cherish those memories of searching the store for ways to waste the money. The current news about Sears would for sure make them sad.
Sears is worse off then you think. My family just had someone come replace a filter on our fridge that we bought Sears . So we were waiting for the guy to show up. Weird thing is the guy showed up in a dish t.v. van an uniform. My mother said "sorry but we have cable." And he said "oh know" and flipped his badge over "I also work for Sears" how bad is business if you need to send a guy from a television provider to fix your appliances!
Its a Dish thing. They also have a lot of there tech's do warranty work for Samsung TV's, ovens and ranges. No different then Amazon using Uber to deliver there packages.
I'm amazed you did not get busted. It was like you had invisible powers. Much gratitude for taking such risks to bring us some classic Dan Bell content.
I’m gonna say that 2018 will be end of Sears, if they close up suddenly during a liquidation, that’s a bad sign. I have a feeling Sears will just announce a closure of all Sears stores at some point and that’ll be it.
Same here. They just announced they're closing 100 additional stores on top of like 250 from late last year. Sears is going under and it's going to take Kmart with it.
Abigail Carroll - Yup, I don’t think they have very long. It was a while ago the CEO of Sears put some money into Sears just to keep up day to day operations, but that’s just a maintenance dose to keep the company afloat. I have a feeling that sometime soon by the next annual report earnings for Sears if they don’t formally announce the closure and liquidation of Sears and it’s assets, if not as I said just suddenly close up all their stores at once without warning. Which I could see that, leaving their employees out in the cold.
Yes, Sears is near bankruptcy and Kmart maybe it's first victim - meaning they may have to close all remaining Kmarts. I can't see Sears Holding surviving to 2019. www.businessinsider.com/sears-kmart-bankruptcy-talk-resurfaces-as-year-ends-2017-12
@Jay Santos If you really want to go all in; 1. Get a clipboard 2. Get a nice shirt and a tie 3. Get a hardhat 4. Get a bright vest and wear it OVER your shirt and tie 5. Get in Character. If people ask your name, say: "I'm *FAKE NAME* , I'm an inspector from the *INSERT THREE-FIVE RANDOM LETTERS HERE AND PRETEND IT'S AN ACRONYM* and I'm just inspecting the building" Smile, nod, and walk away. I used to be able to do some serious exploration using this method. That's because I was convinced of who I was supposed to be and this allowed me to do a ton of post-recession Kmart tours. If you are fully convinced of who you are; if you don't fuck it up and go "Uh, um, I'm, uh, so and so from the, uh, A... uh...B, uh...C..." and just deliver your line comfortably, you'll find that you can explore tons of shit and people will kind of instinctively go "well, they've got a clipboard and a hard hat on, so they're probably supposed to be here." Clipboards and whatnot always sell it. Hook a GoPro on the rim of your helmet and you can actually film your journey. No one will bat an eye.
I’ll always have fond memories of going back to school shopping at Sears. My nana used to work in menswear when i was young and I’d go to visit her there. Thanks for the video! Quality as always
Dan Bell, I used to work at Sears holdings in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I was hired as security taking down shop lifters. What a fun job that was. The things people try to do are hilarious. Then after busting a manager stealing something. I was promoted to that managers job. (A little bit awkward). But still succeeded in my job. That was 2004. The store was just recovering from the Kmart buyout. We were doing good. Our store making profits. Then came Amazon and stocks took a nose dive and never recovered. Anyway its sad seeing the store of my youth(Kenmore products in every home) go out. Many memories here.
I still have a Sears and Kmart near me. The Kmart seems to be thriving more than the Sears at the mall, though it's interesting to see how much Kmart has hiked up their prices. You can definitely tell they are having some issues. Also I wish they took the Sears sign down so you could keep it 😂 somehow lug it home.
Kmart is hands down better than Wal-Mart. I totally agree with that! I'm in my mid-20s and I remember going to a Super K-Mart as a kid and really enjoying it. Though they closed the Super Kmart near me down first. All that's left is the Kmart that's closest to me and it's ridiculously pricey, but I actually still enjoy it. Finding that sign though, omg that's amazing!!! Haha. What a gem, especially since they unfortunately will be gone sooner than later.
I thought I read somewhere that when a liquidation sale starts, the merchandise and store fixtures at that point actually belong to a liquidation broker, not the original store chain anymore. But I'm no expert. I went into a local Sears last month when I was Christmas shopping. I didn't spend much time in there. It was not a liquidation sale, just business as usual. But the selection was poor, prices not that great, and didn't seem well organized. But the main thing I remembered is that it had the ambience of a hospital. Not sure exactly how else to describe it. Just seemed lifeless and sterile the way it was decorated, arranged and generally presented. No wonder they're going out of business.
would be interesting when you shoot a store closing to also see what's in the dumpster. It wouldn't be the first time a retailer sends everything left over to landfill because it wasn't worth it relocating or selling it.
I'm pretty sure the tape that was being used to section off the store was just packing tape. They put that on packages so that the buyer will report shipping damage or tampering.
Lee jeans at Walmart $25:00 the price at sears $44:00 this is s what happens when your to greedy to lower your prices to stay competitive with your competition 👽✌
Then again, the same Lee jeans you buy at Law-tram are made in China.. Crappy workmanship and don't last as long as one's you'd buy from Sears.. Imo. And why bother competing with them anyways? Sears has been over priced for years, especially on their tools..
It's all about how much you can buy, which in turn is how much you can afford to keep in storage and inevitably take a loss on. That is the biggest cost to these stores - too much inventory. It's a balancing act. But when you have buying power like Walmart does you can get things for cheaper than Sears, make $1 on each transaction and keep the ball rolling. That's what people don't get. Walmart isn't all that different from Amazon. There isn't a huge profit made on every transaction. They make money off the volume of transactions. And they get that basic concept from the American approach to trade. Overall the US comes out ahead because of volume but in a case by case basis the US runs deficits with even our direct neighbors like Canada who's economy is like 80% dependant on US companies doing business there. So that really trickles down and hurts the American worker despite it being great for the economy. Trump fed into that. And we know free trade is largley a wash. You can buy the widget for $1 from China instead of $5 made domestically but that job is gone. So you have to create new jobs and new industries.
The stop if carton tampered with return to carrier tape... it's probably some rolls of tape they had laying around in the back room and they just used it up to rope off sections. No more significant than the caution tape.
From the way things were roped off in there, it makes me think they might have found mold or something in there. At the same time, I thought I heard recently that one of these companies was increasing the number of locations closing this year, too, so that might have something to do with it as well.
4:56 that tape is just what is wrapped around pallets that come in on trucks. They just used it to keep people off the mattresses because they were too lazy to use actual caution tape lol
The Sears near me never got to the full 90% off and it closed two days ago. It was supposed to be open for another two weeks roughly but a man apparently came by with a transport and just said he would take everything that was left so the doors shut for good at about 5pm (the mall closes at 9).
This is weird for me to watch because i currently work at a sears and all our signing is the same as this, and the merchandise we have is all the same, really trippy to see
Sorry that your job could be taken without zero warning from we just watched they just closed the store with the merch everywhere..usually when it goes to 70% to 90% off you know the end is very near.
Well all the stores in our area closed except the one i work at, and we do pretty well with sales, so we will be getting all those customers from around the area....we'll see lol
I used to enjoy just walking through the tool section of Sears in the late 90's, such nostalgia. The smell of Kmart I'll never forget, sad to see them go.
Dan, the way you were walking around among the store staff made me think of a scene from the 1979 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in which Angela (?) Cartwright says to Donald Sutherland, "I've been walking around among them for hours".---Here in my town the Sears has been gone for quite a while, more recently K-Mart about a block away has closed and now on the other side of town the other K-Mart/Big K is to close in the springtime. Target seems to be going strong.
In my area we've had two Sears locations close in the last two years. It's so odd walking in and seeing almost nothing. Thanks for the great content Dan.
Neat footage. I agree with you Dan, something is odd about the way this store was closed down. Would be interesting to know what the circumstances were that led them to shut down early. There was still a lot of stuff in there and odd that it was so spread out still. We lost our Sears just a few months ago. Our Kmart is still hanging on though.
We used to have an old Sears catalogue from the VERY early 1900’s maybe even one of the first from the late 1890’s. It went underwater and was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, but I remember sitting at the kitchen counter as a child and just looking at all the stuff and being shocked at the prices lol
just went to the one in my town yesterday and it was 70-80% off and today there is 2 days left. Cosmetics are down to 2 counters (could be down to 1 now). still a fair amount of clothing and shoes and not a whole lot besides that. was able to grab 3- 10 packs of highlighters and 2 pairs of pants for $35 dollars.
Hey Dan! I've been watching you for almost 2 years now! Love your stuff so much and I'm so excited for 2018 and your plans for your channel and shows :) you truly paint Baltimore as the most interesting place! Can't wait to see what else you make for us :)
Kmart and Sears are in a "Do Not Resuscitate" status. They keep on getting money transfusions to no avail and are on their last breaths . It's sad because it was a company I grew up with and I saw its glory days in the early 2000's. It was the place to shop. --- Their closing sales are too high in price though. They mark up everything. I have to visit the Kmart in Cudahy before they close up shop because that's where my mom got us our clothes in a layaway plan. I still want that Home Alone talkboy cassette recorder.....ahhhh memories. RIP Sears Holdings.
Family dollar and Dollar General are big players in the retail game. They are like mini walmarts and much closer to neighborhoods and people. There are still people that like to buy things now and go home with it. Amazon will never monopolize retail.
The Sears down here started shutting down years ago, not quite sure when the last one shut down since I very rarely visit any of the malls in my area anymore. There is still a K-Mart in my area that's still seems to be hanging in there, it's kind of depressing to visit since there's always that feeling that it could be shut down at a moments notice.
The sears in my 100k person town is screwed too. It sucked anyways. Ace hardware stores are picking up the craftsman tools so no big loss. I scored a couple of nice torque wrenches for half off. Everything else was garbage.
It makes me sad seeing SEARS and Kmart shutting down. I'm almost 33 and these stores used to be THE place to get clothes in elem school. Love the video.
Up here in Northern Canada same thing happened. They still have lots of inventory and all of a sudden Monday they closed all the stores permanently. As a kid who grew up at Sears and on Sears Catalogs and have been a loyal customer for over 25 yrs. this is really sad to me. Also where on earth am i going to get filters for my kenmore vacs and parts for my sewing machines? Thanks for the video. I initially heard the american stores were staying open. I just don't understand this because the stores in our area were always doing really well and very busy.
This is so cool. A big supermarket in my town closed recently. Now we have a dead mall in town, with only the food court still operating, as well as some clothing stores, a driving school and a barbershop. Got some good clearance deal, though
I wonder if people were getting too rowdy ? I worked Walmart during a liquidation ( for a move) and people got so viscous with us and each other that we booted everyone out and locked the doors.
I used to work at Sears. In the fine jewelry department. They did have very nice jewelry and the security was top notch. (Maybe i just thought that because they were constantly watching us in our department) i didn't work there long due to my heath problems...one day i was in terrible pain, i thought i was doing an ok job of hiding the pain but guess not because security came down and was so nice asking me whats wrong and knowing that i should not have been at work. Thats one memory that always sticks out to me...very random....and yes i ended up going home early and seeing my dr. Most of my checks went to buying jewelry, watches etc...so its a good thing i didn't work there too long.
There is something weird going on with retail. I live in Dublin Ireland and a few years ago we opened a massive Forever 21, a European flag ship store (biggest in Europe). It's only been here 3 years I believe yet back in late October it was announced in the news that staff were told that it's closing in January (any day now). Everyone was shocked as it generates a huge amount of money and was always jammed with customers. It's absolutely bizarre. How is Forever 21 doing in the USA?
Love this Dan!! I remember the big Sears at Mondawmin where they had the beach ball blown in the air somehow by a vacuum cleaner (big attraction!) love the memories of Baltimore retail!!
Hey dan! Love watching your content! Im from the Baltimore area too, and having been employed at a store that filed bankrupcy, thats generally how all liquidations go, where stuff is condensed and empty sections of the store are closed off. It was the saddest 2 months i have ever had to live through.
Great video! I’m from Ontario, Canada and I checked out our local sears as it was closing and it was chaos just like the store you filmed in the video. You could also tell their computers were outdated and that they hadn’t really put any money out in a long time to update their stores. It’s the end of an era for sure! It will be missed here in Canada.
I wonder if my local Sears will go down this same road . In 2016 they reduced their store size by half and sold the other space to another store ( it's in a mall ) .
2 of the last 3 Big Kmarts have announced their final days here in the Kanawha Valley in WV. We've got one left after this month, and it's showing signs of slipping
It’s so sad. As a kid they had a candy and soda and ice cream fountain. You could buy candy by the lb and we were always excited to go there after church.
Sears Canada is totally gone now and I went to my local one when they were liquidating, it was actually quite sad because early in the year they had been trying to renovate some of the stores. That was one of them, and there were signs everywhere saying "Reinvention Sale" and talking about Sears' rejuvenation, yet these chaotic liquidation sales are going on. People can say what they want about Sears but I'll miss them, they were where my family got most of our stuff when I was a kid. These days in Canada, it's either super high-end retailers or Wal-Mart and Dollarama, there's no in-between anymore, and even Target couldn't make it here (granted their entry into Canada was handled really poorly).
themoley91 here where I am they renovated the store in a mall near me a few months later after a heavy rainstorm that sears got flooded and needed more repairs then about a year later the whole company dies
5:00 That tape is for shipping boxes. It means that if the box looks like it has been opened at any point ("tampered with"), the matter needs to be reported to the shipping company (the "carrier"). They're using it as caution tape around an area, which is why the message makes no sense.
If you want my opinion, Sears Holdings will end with the decade. They would end sooner if there weren't so many Kmarts and Sears stores to begin with. They're going to nickel and dime their way out of existence until one big final liquidation sale in 2020. Someone will probably buy the iconic Sears name, and what they do with it, who knows.
Like Pan-Am. But it has absolutely nothing to due with the old airline. Come to think of it like the other defunct companies too. RCA, Zenith, Motorola that are now just names slapped on to Chinese made goods.
There was a Sears that shut down about a year or so ago at one mall near me that I thought was doing okay. I mean, there always seemed to be a steady stream of people shopping there and yet it closed, but another Sears in a different mall (the mall itself shut down a good decade ago with only the anchors Sears and Bon Ton remaining) remains open even though every time I go there, there's nobody there. So strange.
The Sears here in Thunder Bay is closing too. Today, saturday the 13th is the last day for the public. Sunday doors closed and the store has 2 weeks to totally clear out everything. What's left over will go to auction. I bought almost all their redi-racks in the warehouse, including a pallet jack for my new garage. Sad to see Sears close - thanks to the greed of one man who threw them under the bus.
I entered my mall through Sears a couple weeks ago and it was so weird seeing it so empty, with the fixtures everywhere (not organized OR clean), trying to sell off the last few things. I wonder what the mall is going to do with the space. When Target pulled out of Canada, that space was empty for a long, long time (before Target it was Zellers ... RIP) until they chopped it up into smaller spots and moved on to renovate the whole mall. At least they haven't renovated Sears yet, I guess they're happy about that.
Very strange Dan...just saw on my local news show that the Sears at one of our popular malls in portland, OR, and they announced they are closing too!! I will see what the mess is like myself too. Very sad they just can't keep up with the modern customer.
So sad to see Sears closing stores but yet, it’s so beautiful and fascinating! Our Sears in San Bernardino Ca looks exactly like it does here except our Sears is still going strong or at least it appears to be. But it’s so dated looking. I love to go in there. It’s like stepping back in time. Love your vids Dan! And your voice. There’s something soothing about it. 😳😂😜
Our Sears Department Store here in the Southwestern portion of Utah finally closed their doors last year, I remember when I first moved here, it was a huge addition to the retail business, here......Goodbye Sears, it looks like you are going to the wayside of the likes of Montgomery Wards and Sprouss-Reitz.
Pretty sure that tape at 5:00 is just for sealing boxes but they were using any tape they had to mark off that section, rather than the message applying to the situation.
This is sad to see. Our family like most, shopped SEARS. Later on in 1992, I moved us to Arizona. Cashed out some of my Company stocks and moved my mom, brothers and to Arizona. Just tired of the Snow... My First job in Arizona was at SEARS in a Mall, worked there for seven years. Then the Company started to Fail. I was part of the closing of my store in Scottsdale. Closed it down in 1997. This so reminds me of how my store looked at the end. It is Sad to see an American Institution like SEARS Die. Great Job on this Dan, Thank You. 😊
Very strange situation indeed. I've gotta say, the Sears at my local mall, Rivertown Crossings, in Grandville, MI is still hanging on. No signs of it closing anytime soon.
Hi Dan, I also like to go to the final days of these stores closing. It is so sad that so many are going out of business. In Canada we had a chain of stores across Canada called Zeller, they closed in 2013, I was at the Zellers' in Kildonan Place on the final day, when that store suddenly closed as well. The liquidator said that it was closing immediately because the remaining merchandise had been bought out so we all had to leave the store. I wonder if that's what happened here! Just a thought :) Love, love your videos.
The 20-70% number is ubiquitous as that is usually the markup for Asian imports. It's a massive markup that these companies have been living off of and shows how poorly you have to do to run a company into the ground after the Chinese manufacturing revolution. It's only when they get to 90% that they take a loss because that would still be cheaper than the freight cost.
Today was Sears last day in Canada, my condolences to all the employee's that are laid off and to all those people who worked their entire lives there and don't get pensions.. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
All new polaroids on www.shopdanbell.com!
Good stuff as always Dan. Used to live in MD and have actually been to some of the abandoned malls you've been to (Owings Mills, Security Square, The Hilltop Hotel) and it is fascinating to see what these places look like after people forget about them. Hope to see more abandoned stuff in the future, I support you 100%
This looks like a Kmart that closed early in my area. Everything that could be salvaged was packed up, and sent to another store everything else was trashed.
Hey dan Suncoast store closing in White Marsh.😔
Is that a question or a statement?
virgil shanks fixed it
3:13 "I'm not a journalist" Dan Bell is more a journalist than most writers in my local newspaper
It's sad to see such an American institution die like this, especially when Sears used to be the largest company in the country. A hundred years ago, they had everything you could ever want; from thimbles to a house. Now, they are gone.....
ddoyle11 My dad is D Doyle too 😊
I stopped shopping at Sears when the security alarm at the entrance featured a warning in English and Spanish. Place went downhill.
ddoyle11 I know right
Herbert N With its mail-order catalog business, Sears was very much like today’s Amazon for a while, given the technology of the time.
+Herbert N Spanish is a language, not a race, you dumbfuck libtard.
My grandparents we're obsessed with Sears forever. During the 80's and 90's all the grandchildren got a $100 gift certificate every Christmas to Sears. We basically thought it was the coolest place ever. It was a chance to get whatever we wanted and I'll always cherish those memories of searching the store for ways to waste the money. The current news about Sears would for sure make them sad.
Went into a sears last week. They had everything for sale. My friend bought a manniquin.
MoonOnATuesday lol why?
Chastity Embick because she wanted to buy a manniquin
What a deal. I hope the one here closes so I can get a manniquin.
With or without arms?
J R with
Great shot very bold move..
Balls.
As long as you act like you belong somewhere 9/10 people will not question it.
Sears is worse off then you think. My family just had someone come replace a filter on our fridge that we bought Sears . So we were waiting for the guy to show up. Weird thing is the guy showed up in a dish t.v. van an uniform. My mother said "sorry but we have cable." And he said "oh know" and flipped his badge over "I also work for Sears" how bad is business if you need to send a guy from a television provider to fix your appliances!
Its a Dish thing. They also have a lot of there tech's do warranty work for Samsung TV's, ovens and ranges. No different then Amazon using Uber to deliver there packages.
I didn't know that thanks Eecaj Ledo. Yeah it's just that when you think Dish network you don't think refrigerators.
I'm amazed you did not get busted. It was like you had invisible powers. Much gratitude for taking such risks to bring us some classic Dan Bell content.
Sears got rid of their security too? theres always the eye in the sky watching trespassers.
I can't imagine anyone there would care at all.
Dan’s voice is so soothing and calming, I literally just listen to him talking without watching the video.
I’m gonna say that 2018 will be end of Sears, if they close up suddenly during a liquidation, that’s a bad sign. I have a feeling Sears will just announce a closure of all Sears stores at some point and that’ll be it.
Same here. They just announced they're closing 100 additional stores on top of like 250 from late last year. Sears is going under and it's going to take Kmart with it.
Abigail Carroll - Yup, I don’t think they have very long. It was a while ago the CEO of Sears put some money into Sears just to keep up day to day operations, but that’s just a maintenance dose to keep the company afloat.
I have a feeling that sometime soon by the next annual report earnings for Sears if they don’t formally announce the closure and liquidation of Sears and it’s assets, if not as I said just suddenly close up all their stores at once without warning. Which I could see that, leaving their employees out in the cold.
Dan did highlight a key point in the video. It is possible that there was possibly a leak of some sort in that building.
Look for sears stuff for sale in the job lot stores and online. Won’t be long now but so sad.
Yes, Sears is near bankruptcy and Kmart maybe it's first victim - meaning they may have to close all remaining Kmarts. I can't see Sears Holding surviving to 2019. www.businessinsider.com/sears-kmart-bankruptcy-talk-resurfaces-as-year-ends-2017-12
They probably thought you were somebody that needed to monitor them working. "Probably somebody from District..."
lolol!
@Jay Santos If you really want to go all in;
1. Get a clipboard
2. Get a nice shirt and a tie
3. Get a hardhat
4. Get a bright vest and wear it OVER your shirt and tie
5. Get in Character. If people ask your name, say:
"I'm *FAKE NAME* , I'm an inspector from the *INSERT THREE-FIVE RANDOM LETTERS HERE AND PRETEND IT'S AN ACRONYM* and I'm just inspecting the building" Smile, nod, and walk away. I used to be able to do some serious exploration using this method. That's because I was convinced of who I was supposed to be and this allowed me to do a ton of post-recession Kmart tours. If you are fully convinced of who you are; if you don't fuck it up and go "Uh, um, I'm, uh, so and so from the, uh, A... uh...B, uh...C..." and just deliver your line comfortably, you'll find that you can explore tons of shit and people will kind of instinctively go "well, they've got a clipboard and a hard hat on, so they're probably supposed to be here." Clipboards and whatnot always sell it. Hook a GoPro on the rim of your helmet and you can actually film your journey. No one will bat an eye.
I’ll always have fond memories of going back to school shopping at Sears. My nana used to work in menswear when i was young and I’d go to visit her there.
Thanks for the video! Quality as always
That's crazy, I can't believe you went in but I'm glad you did.
Dan Bell, I used to work at Sears holdings in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I was hired as security taking down shop lifters. What a fun job that was. The things people try to do are hilarious. Then after busting a manager stealing something. I was promoted to that managers job. (A little bit awkward). But still succeeded in my job. That was 2004. The store was just recovering from the Kmart buyout. We were doing good. Our store making profits. Then came Amazon and stocks took a nose dive and never recovered. Anyway its sad seeing the store of my youth(Kenmore products in every home) go out. Many memories here.
You are the Ninja of retail.
I still have a Sears and Kmart near me. The Kmart seems to be thriving more than the Sears at the mall, though it's interesting to see how much Kmart has hiked up their prices. You can definitely tell they are having some issues.
Also I wish they took the Sears sign down so you could keep it 😂 somehow lug it home.
gracefullyunaware Sears owns k Mart
Kmart sells a lot of the same stuff that you could only get at Sears like appliances and tools. Not a lot of difference since they merged.
Kmart is hands down better than Wal-Mart. I totally agree with that! I'm in my mid-20s and I remember going to a Super K-Mart as a kid and really enjoying it. Though they closed the Super Kmart near me down first. All that's left is the Kmart that's closest to me and it's ridiculously pricey, but I actually still enjoy it. Finding that sign though, omg that's amazing!!! Haha. What a gem, especially since they unfortunately will be gone sooner than later.
Where at in Ohio? Lol
Dan Bell needs to road trip there!!!
Based on the Hepa filter and everything else, they found some bad mold.
I thought I read somewhere that when a liquidation sale starts, the merchandise and store fixtures at that point actually belong to a liquidation broker, not the original store chain anymore. But I'm no expert.
I went into a local Sears last month when I was Christmas shopping. I didn't spend much time in there. It was not a liquidation sale, just business as usual. But the selection was poor, prices not that great, and didn't seem well organized. But the main thing I remembered is that it had the ambience of a hospital. Not sure exactly how else to describe it. Just seemed lifeless and sterile the way it was decorated, arranged and generally presented. No wonder they're going out of business.
would be interesting when you shoot a store closing to also see what's in the dumpster. It wouldn't be the first time a retailer sends everything left over to landfill because it wasn't worth it relocating or selling it.
I'm pretty sure the tape that was being used to section off the store was just packing tape. They put that on packages so that the buyer will report shipping damage or tampering.
Lee jeans at Walmart $25:00 the price at sears $44:00 this is s what happens when your to greedy to lower your prices to stay competitive with your competition 👽✌
Black Friday Walmart sells Wrangler Jeans for 10.00. They are just as good as the normal ones from my experience!
Then again, the same Lee jeans you buy at Law-tram are made in China..
Crappy workmanship and don't last as long as one's you'd buy from Sears.. Imo.
And why bother competing with them anyways? Sears has been over priced for years, especially on their tools..
Yea but to get that lower price you have to go to Walmart. I'd rather pay more and not go to Walmart.
It's all about how much you can buy, which in turn is how much you can afford to keep in storage and inevitably take a loss on. That is the biggest cost to these stores - too much inventory. It's a balancing act. But when you have buying power like Walmart does you can get things for cheaper than Sears, make $1 on each transaction and keep the ball rolling. That's what people don't get. Walmart isn't all that different from Amazon. There isn't a huge profit made on every transaction. They make money off the volume of transactions. And they get that basic concept from the American approach to trade. Overall the US comes out ahead because of volume but in a case by case basis the US runs deficits with even our direct neighbors like Canada who's economy is like 80% dependant on US companies doing business there. So that really trickles down and hurts the American worker despite it being great for the economy. Trump fed into that. And we know free trade is largley a wash. You can buy the widget for $1 from China instead of $5 made domestically but that job is gone. So you have to create new jobs and new industries.
*Come in today at Sears, Lee Jeans now just three straw pennies*
I hope all that stuff gets put to good use and doesn't end up in a landfill. 😯
The stop if carton tampered with return to carrier tape... it's probably some rolls of tape they had laying around in the back room and they just used it up to rope off sections. No more significant than the caution tape.
TBH, if I saw Dan taping something I'd let him continue.
Sears...brought to you by reminiscing about the 80s glory days while neglecting current trends.
From the way things were roped off in there, it makes me think they might have found mold or something in there. At the same time, I thought I heard recently that one of these companies was increasing the number of locations closing this year, too, so that might have something to do with it as well.
worked in the call center for the Canadian sears around 2000, a warehouse & distribution hub was there too. all closed now.
Interesting footage Dan. 👍 In case anyone was wondering, that Sears had been open since 1991.
4:56 that tape is just what is wrapped around pallets that come in on trucks. They just used it to keep people off the mattresses because they were too lazy to use actual caution tape lol
As long as you look like you know what you are doing and where you are going it is pretty amazing the places you can get into.
Two Dan videos in two days!! What did we do to deserve this greatness?!?
Courtney he finally learned to edit faster lol
The Sears near me never got to the full 90% off and it closed two days ago. It was supposed to be open for another two weeks roughly but a man apparently came by with a transport and just said he would take everything that was left so the doors shut for good at about 5pm (the mall closes at 9).
This is weird for me to watch because i currently work at a sears and all our signing is the same as this, and the merchandise we have is all the same, really trippy to see
Miranda Bella my first job was at Sears, I hated it, lol. 😁
Sorry that your job could be taken without zero warning from we just watched they just closed the store with the merch everywhere..usually when it goes to 70% to 90% off you know the end is very near.
That means, your store is next... Lol
Yeah it's the worst, i'm working on getting another job haha!
Well all the stores in our area closed except the one i work at, and we do pretty well with sales, so we will be getting all those customers from around the area....we'll see lol
Your voice is so soothing awwwww
I used to enjoy just walking through the tool section of Sears in the late 90's, such nostalgia. The smell of Kmart I'll never forget, sad to see them go.
Thank you for this footage. I plan on going into my sears and getting footage of what a sears is before it closes.
Sears was my first job as a teenager. Many fun memories. It will be sad when they shut them all down.
Mark Scapino that was the first place I worked as a teenager. I did not like it. Lol😁
Dan, the way you were walking around among the store staff made me think of a scene from the 1979 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in which Angela (?) Cartwright says to Donald Sutherland, "I've been walking around among them for hours".---Here in my town the Sears has been gone for quite a while, more recently K-Mart about a block away has closed and now on the other side of town the other K-Mart/Big K is to close in the springtime. Target seems to be going strong.
In my area we've had two Sears locations close in the last two years. It's so odd walking in and seeing almost nothing. Thanks for the great content Dan.
Neat footage. I agree with you Dan, something is odd about the way this store was closed down. Would be interesting to know what the circumstances were that led them to shut down early. There was still a lot of stuff in there and odd that it was so spread out still. We lost our Sears just a few months ago. Our Kmart is still hanging on though.
Maybe they had another tenant that wants to move in quickly. But I doubt it. Maybe it was still a lease issue.
Maybe they found a liquidation store willing to buy all their remaining stock.
Maybe they are moving the stuff to another closing store. It would be cheaper that way.
We used to have an old Sears catalogue from the VERY early 1900’s maybe even one of the first from the late 1890’s. It went underwater and was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, but I remember sitting at the kitchen counter as a child and just looking at all the stuff and being shocked at the prices lol
Dan your voice is so smooth and soothing. That’s as direct as I can put that...
just went to the one in my town yesterday and it was 70-80% off and today there is 2 days left. Cosmetics are down to 2 counters (could be down to 1 now). still a fair amount of clothing and shoes and not a whole lot besides that. was able to grab 3- 10 packs of highlighters and 2 pairs of pants for $35 dollars.
Hey Dan! I've been watching you for almost 2 years now! Love your stuff so much and I'm so excited for 2018 and your plans for your channel and shows :) you truly paint Baltimore as the most interesting place! Can't wait to see what else you make for us :)
Great job Dan! And no one bothered to ask why you were there..wow! Loved this one..
Kmart and Sears are in a "Do Not Resuscitate" status. They keep on getting money transfusions to no avail and are on their last breaths . It's sad because it was a company I grew up with and I saw its glory days in the early 2000's. It was the place to shop. --- Their closing sales are too high in price though. They mark up everything. I have to visit the Kmart in Cudahy before they close up shop because that's where my mom got us our clothes in a layaway plan. I still want that Home Alone talkboy cassette recorder.....ahhhh memories. RIP Sears Holdings.
Family dollar and Dollar General are big players in the retail game. They are like mini walmarts and much closer to neighborhoods and people. There are still people that like to buy things now and go home with it. Amazon will never monopolize retail.
The Sears down here started shutting down years ago, not quite sure when the last one shut down since I very rarely visit any of the malls in my area anymore. There is still a K-Mart in my area that's still seems to be hanging in there, it's kind of depressing to visit since there's always that feeling that it could be shut down at a moments notice.
The sears in my 100k person town is screwed too. It sucked anyways. Ace hardware stores are picking up the craftsman tools so no big loss. I scored a couple of nice torque wrenches for half off. Everything else was garbage.
They will send all the leftover inventory to other locations that they announced closing dates for earlier this week.
It makes me sad seeing SEARS and Kmart shutting down. I'm almost 33 and these stores used to be THE place to get clothes in elem school. Love the video.
Up here in Northern Canada same thing happened. They still have lots of inventory and all of a sudden Monday they closed all the stores permanently. As a kid who grew up at Sears and on Sears Catalogs and have been a loyal customer for over 25 yrs. this is really sad to me. Also where on earth am i going to get filters for my kenmore vacs and parts for my sewing machines? Thanks for the video. I initially heard the american stores were staying open. I just don't understand this because the stores in our area were always doing really well and very busy.
Love it 😂 you walked right behind those people at the end and they did nothing. I thought at first you were getting escorted out haha.
This is so cool. A big supermarket in my town closed recently. Now we have a dead mall in town, with only the food court still operating, as well as some clothing stores, a driving school and a barbershop. Got some good clearance deal, though
I wonder if people were getting too rowdy ? I worked Walmart during a liquidation ( for a move) and people got so viscous with us and each other that we booted everyone out and locked the doors.
I used to work at Sears. In the fine jewelry department. They did have very nice jewelry and the security was top notch. (Maybe i just thought that because they were constantly watching us in our department) i didn't work there long due to my heath problems...one day i was in terrible pain, i thought i was doing an ok job of hiding the pain but guess not because security came down and was so nice asking me whats wrong and knowing that i should not have been at work. Thats one memory that always sticks out to me...very random....and yes i ended up going home early and seeing my dr. Most of my checks went to buying jewelry, watches etc...so its a good thing i didn't work there too long.
There is something weird going on with retail. I live in Dublin Ireland and a few years ago we opened a massive Forever 21, a European flag ship store (biggest in Europe). It's only been here 3 years I believe yet back in late October it was announced in the news that staff were told that it's closing in January (any day now). Everyone was shocked as it generates a huge amount of money and was always jammed with customers. It's absolutely bizarre.
How is Forever 21 doing in the USA?
Hey Dan i enjoyed the video that was just bizarre how the just shut down so unexpectedly like that you are so good
Love this Dan!! I remember the big Sears at Mondawmin where they had the beach ball blown in the air somehow by a vacuum cleaner (big attraction!) love the memories of Baltimore retail!!
My local Sears condensed two floors into one about 2 years ago.
Hey dan! Love watching your content! Im from the Baltimore area too, and having been employed at a store that filed bankrupcy, thats generally how all liquidations go, where stuff is condensed and empty sections of the store are closed off. It was the saddest 2 months i have ever had to live through.
Great video! I’m from Ontario, Canada and I checked out our local sears as it was closing and it was chaos just like the store you filmed in the video. You could also tell their computers were outdated and that they hadn’t really put any money out in a long time to update their stores. It’s the end of an era for sure! It will be missed here in Canada.
I wonder if my local Sears will go down this same road . In 2016 they reduced their store size by half and sold the other space to another store ( it's in a mall ) .
Wow Dan Glad you didn't get nicked. Thanks for all you do.
Great job blending in with the crew, great video
2 of the last 3 Big Kmarts have announced their final days here in the Kanawha Valley in WV. We've got one left after this month, and it's showing signs of slipping
It’s so sad. As a kid they had a candy and soda and ice cream fountain. You could buy candy by the lb and we were always excited to go there after church.
Sears Canada is totally gone now and I went to my local one when they were liquidating, it was actually quite sad because early in the year they had been trying to renovate some of the stores. That was one of them, and there were signs everywhere saying "Reinvention Sale" and talking about Sears' rejuvenation, yet these chaotic liquidation sales are going on. People can say what they want about Sears but I'll miss them, they were where my family got most of our stuff when I was a kid. These days in Canada, it's either super high-end retailers or Wal-Mart and Dollarama, there's no in-between anymore, and even Target couldn't make it here (granted their entry into Canada was handled really poorly).
themoley91 here where I am they renovated the store in a mall near me a few months later after a heavy rainstorm that sears got flooded and needed more repairs then about a year later the whole company dies
5:00 That tape is for shipping boxes. It means that if the box looks like it has been opened at any point ("tampered with"), the matter needs to be reported to the shipping company (the "carrier"). They're using it as caution tape around an area, which is why the message makes no sense.
They're closing the Sears in Springfield Oregon too.
If you want my opinion, Sears Holdings will end with the decade. They would end sooner if there weren't so many Kmarts and Sears stores to begin with. They're going to nickel and dime their way out of existence until one big final liquidation sale in 2020. Someone will probably buy the iconic Sears name, and what they do with it, who knows.
Like Pan-Am. But it has absolutely nothing to due with the old airline. Come to think of it like the other defunct companies too. RCA, Zenith, Motorola that are now just names slapped on to Chinese made goods.
that was ballsy filming in there with the CCTV still operating and those removal guys milling around.
Wow Amazing
There was a Sears that shut down about a year or so ago at one mall near me that I thought was doing okay. I mean, there always seemed to be a steady stream of people shopping there and yet it closed, but another Sears in a different mall (the mall itself shut down a good decade ago with only the anchors Sears and Bon Ton remaining) remains open even though every time I go there, there's nobody there. So strange.
The Sears here in Thunder Bay is closing too. Today, saturday the 13th is the last day for the public. Sunday doors closed and the store has 2 weeks to totally clear out everything. What's left over will go to auction. I bought almost all their redi-racks in the warehouse, including a pallet jack for my new garage. Sad to see Sears close - thanks to the greed of one man who threw them under the bus.
I entered my mall through Sears a couple weeks ago and it was so weird seeing it so empty, with the fixtures everywhere (not organized OR clean), trying to sell off the last few things. I wonder what the mall is going to do with the space. When Target pulled out of Canada, that space was empty for a long, long time (before Target it was Zellers ... RIP) until they chopped it up into smaller spots and moved on to renovate the whole mall. At least they haven't renovated Sears yet, I guess they're happy about that.
Very strange Dan...just saw on my local news show that the Sears at one of our popular malls in portland, OR, and they announced they are closing too!! I will see what the mess is like myself too. Very sad they just can't keep up with the modern customer.
Hey Dan! I love all your content. You’re so amazing and I am inspired by you.
Any plans to do more Poconos videos? 😁
So sad to see Sears closing stores but yet, it’s so beautiful and fascinating! Our Sears in San Bernardino Ca looks exactly like it does here except our Sears is still going strong or at least it appears to be. But it’s so dated looking. I love to go in there. It’s like stepping back in time. Love your vids Dan! And your voice. There’s something soothing about it. 😳😂😜
That was Kool. Something different, like getting to see behind the scenes.👍
You never let us down, thank you Dan
It's crazy, I used to live in Armistead Gardens when I was younger. My mom used to take me to this mall all the time..... Really sad to see this go :/
Still holding onto my trusty old whirlpool made Kenmore washer from the 90s. Still runs good. Going to miss Sears.
Just yesterday, Sears announced they were closing 100+ stores immediately. Maybe that's what happened?
Katherine Fite No, those don't include any in Maryland. This store closing was announced in the fall to happen by January.
Hey Dan! Wish i could meet You man...i live a few blocks away from there.
Awesome that you were able to get in and get some great footage!
The Sears in my town (State College, PA) is also closing. Shocking. I know. Lol
Our Sears Department Store here in the Southwestern portion of Utah finally closed their doors last year, I remember when I first moved here, it was a huge addition to the retail business, here......Goodbye Sears, it looks like you are going to the wayside of the likes of Montgomery Wards and Sprouss-Reitz.
Pretty sure that tape at 5:00 is just for sealing boxes but they were using any tape they had to mark off that section, rather than the message applying to the situation.
This is sad to see. Our family like most, shopped SEARS. Later on in 1992, I moved us to Arizona. Cashed out some of my Company stocks and moved my mom, brothers and to Arizona. Just tired of the Snow... My First job in Arizona was at SEARS in a Mall, worked there for seven years. Then the Company started to Fail. I was part of the closing of my store in Scottsdale. Closed it down in 1997. This so reminds me of how my store looked at the end. It is Sad to see an American Institution like SEARS Die. Great Job on this Dan, Thank You. 😊
Very strange situation indeed. I've gotta say, the Sears at my local mall, Rivertown Crossings, in Grandville, MI is still hanging on. No signs of it closing anytime soon.
Confidence is key. Act like you own the place and no one will question it. Or theyll think youre crazy and not want to mess with you.
That machine is used for mold in the air.
Keep up the great work dan luv ur work
I used to manage the Ritz Camera in that mall, and bought many things from that Sears on my breaks. Still have the snow blower.
Hi Dan, I also like to go to the final days of these stores closing. It is so sad that so many are going out of business. In Canada we had a chain of stores across Canada called Zeller, they closed in 2013, I was at the Zellers' in Kildonan Place on the final day, when that store suddenly closed as well. The liquidator said that it was closing immediately because the remaining merchandise had been bought out so we all had to leave the store. I wonder if that's what happened here! Just a thought :) Love, love your videos.
I once spent a day dismantling shelves in a store that was closing. It was supposed to be a two day job but we finished it in one.
I wonder what they're going to do with all the stuff still inside; here's hoping it either ends up discounted at a TJMaxx or donated somewhere.
The 20-70% number is ubiquitous as that is usually the markup for Asian imports. It's a massive markup that these companies have been living off of and shows how poorly you have to do to run a company into the ground after the Chinese manufacturing revolution. It's only when they get to 90% that they take a loss because that would still be cheaper than the freight cost.
Today was Sears last day in Canada, my condolences to all the employee's that are laid off and to all those people who worked their entire lives there and don't get pensions.. My thoughts and prayers are with you.