Sears 'auto memories'?

[wings&wheels]

"I think it's a shame what has happened to Sears. I think a retailer could have turned around Sears but it was a financial guy making the decisions and he kept selling off parts and closing stores until there is pretty much nothing left."

There is certainly some truth to this, however by the time the 'financial guy' gets involved the business is typically already weak (due to mis management, slow/bad business decisions, changing business environment, etc.) and in a situation where selling off assets or business units, along w/ the usual drastic cost cutting, is the last option to raise the capital necessary to invest in remaking the business in an attempt at saving what is left. Sometimes it works and the business is saved or remade, sometimes it doesn't...either way the 'finance guy' usually gets paid well and that is not always right.

Seen both sides of this and it is never pretty.

I have fond memories of my Grandfather having his car serviced at Sears and wandering around the tool section while waiting. Sadly, Sears time appears to have come and gone; prices not competitive w/ Walmart, not premium enough to be upscale, home specialty stores ate the tool and homeowner business. Basically, there was very little reason left to go there and their web store wasn't great.

 

[ZebRuaj]

Used Sears over the summer to do alignments after installing new suspension on both the 4Runner and Rav4. Groupon deal to the rescue. In and out in under an hour. All the bays were pretty much empty both times I went in. Seems business is slow for them. Peeked at stuff they had on the shelves. Overpriced like most auto parts store goods.

Tech did try telling me I needed new coolant as its supposed to be green, not pink.

 

[wag123]

IMO the Sears slow slide to bankruptcy started when they began to remove the full time sales people and cash registers from each department. Back in the day these people knew a LOT about the products they were selling and what they had to offer, you could ask for help and get it from people who actually knew something. Years ago most all of their products were first rate and high quality, and they had the best warranties in the business including the "Satisfaction Guaranteed or your Money Back" promise. Many customers shopped there specifically for the quality of their products, service, and warranties even though they were more expensive than the discount department and other chain stores. When they decided to try and compete with Walmart they were doomed, and when they merged with (bought-out) K-Mart they were double-doomed.
Some of the big sellers in their automotive department were the Road Handler (exclusively Michelin in the old days) radial tires, Die-Hard batteries, Steady Rider (Monroe) shocks, Penske tune-up products, Spectrum oil & filters, and a LOT of mufflers and exhaust system parts manufactured by Walker. And, their shops actually had a few experienced and proficient mechanics working in them.
You can tell that the end is very near for Sears now that they have sold-off many of their biggest and best trademark names like Craftsman, Die-Hard, and Kenmore. It is a shame IMHO.

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted By: wag123
IMO the Sears slow slide to bankruptcy started when they began to remove the full time sales people and cash registers from each department. Back in the day these people knew a LOT about the products they were selling and what they had to offer, you could ask for help and get it from people who actually knew something.................


Yup! Different times though when Department Store retail could be a career instead of just a job.

 

[4WD]

Well said … never took a tool back … never needed too … and I’m still doing significant business with them …

 

[tbm3fan]

Started buying tires from Sears in 1972 along with batteries and tools. Don't have any of those tires or batteries but do have all the tools.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Not so much auto, but we had a Sears downtown, four stories, with at Christmas an enormous Santa Claus two stories high over the main doors. This was when department stores had actual departments, and sold everything from books to furniture and records. It's a hotel now, with a plaque that implies it's been a hotel since 1930 or something.

In the early Sixties, New Orleans East was going to be the next hot suburb, so the Gentilly Woods shopping center had everything, including a Sears with a model kits/toys section, a candy counter, and a garden section. I can recall a saddle on display there -- perhaps for future landed gentry breeding thoroughbreds on their land. (Unfortunately Hurricane Betsy made it clear that the entire area floods badly at the least provocation, and so everybody flocked west to Metairie. The NOE area is still inhabited, but it flooded again during Katrina and has never really come back.)

I don't recall my father having his cars serviced at Sears, though he might have when I was very small. Normally he took his Chevy to an independent garage in the Ninth Ward and had it serviced while we were grocery shopping across the street.