Craftsman tools being sold

[Andy69]

Sears lost the battle to Wal Mart a generation ago. There are new and better ways of running a department store and Sears was caught unaware, still sticking to the business model that made them a success 100 years ago. They got passed by in the age of the big box store and the internet.

Maybe SBD will make Craftsman back to what it was, but the problem is, people don't want to spend the money to buy well made American tools. They want cheap cheap cheap. Drove by a Harbor Freight yesterday. Packed.

[5851a]

I always thought the end of Sears started when they stopped making catalogs. Could just fill out the form and wait a few days to a week and get your order. The store here was great too, I always looked for one old gal in the tool dept. all you had to do was tell her what you needed and she would walk right to it no matter what it was. She would also tell you if something was going to be on sale next week ect. Don't know why anyone nowdays thinks that Amazon is any better. They all drive right to the same area to eat 3 times a day! Right where the Sears is located.

[40 Deluxe]

Notice how these new "business models" always eliminate more workers and replace them with computerized processes and robots to "cut costs"? But computers and robots don't buy the products and services offered by those overpaid executives! With most products and services provided thusly in an "efficient, cost-effective manner", who is left with a job and can afford to buy such products and services?

[blucar]

It is very easy to see why Amazon, and the other internet retailers have been so successful. "585ia" touched on it when he mentioned Sears catalogs. My wife and I bought the majority of out kids cloths and my everyday casual/work cloths from Sears, Penny's and Wards catalogs. We only had one car which I used for work. it was very handy to pick up the catalog, place the order by phone, sound familar, and wait for the USPS to deliver the packages.
When Sears, Pennys, etc., started to have their clothing made off shore, the sizes were so erratic almost everything we bought had to be returned, multiple times.
The last time I was in Pennys I was returning cloths that did not fit. I handed the clerk my Penny's charge card, telling her to keep the card, I would not be back..
Another "Henry Ford" one liner, "A business is built one customer at a time, a business is lost one customer at a time".

[Zeke...PA]

My Son works for Black & Decker/Stanley as a new product engineer. Primarily with new Stanley products, sorry to say he spends a lot of time in China. Nough said. Zeke

[LazarusLong]

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Guys,I think the whole concept of malls is what's failing,and the big retailers like Sears and Macy's are drawing the attention,not the malls themselves.

Let's face it,this isn't the America it used to be. Malls are now dangerous places for elderly people and women to shop because of all the teenage thugs and young adults that hang out there looking for people to rob.

Malls are also failing because this same crowd is breaking into cars in the parking lots,robbing customers in the parking lots,and shoplifting everything in sight. We can only imagine what hiring all the extra security and covering the expenses of the shoplifting and sometimes damage done while trying to steal something does to their bottom lines.

Why would most adults even want to go to a mall to buy something now,when you can buy it from the safety of your home cheaper,get it delivered right to your house,and not even have to put any wear and tear on your car,buy gas,or even dress up and leave home?

The truly ironic part is that Sears is going out of business,and they practically invented "at home shopping" for rural America. Hell,you could even buy your home AND your car from Sears at one time,and have both delivered.

I suspect the problem with Sears and the other major chains is that now no one in the family is involved in managing the businesses. Their parents or grandparents turned management over to management companies and they are all retired and living off of trust fund money while these soulless money managers squeeze the businesses dry. If you want to succeed in business,you have to invest and expand. You don't do it by cutting back and selling off assets.

What Sears SHOULD have done was gone back into the mail order business on line while also keeping their stores open. That way people who lived close to a store could shop online and have what they needed ready for them when they got there,already paid for and ready to go. Customers who live in shady neighborhoods could order online and have it delivered to them the next day.

Same thing with the big grocery store chains. I can't be the only one here old enough to remember placing a grocery order over the phone and having it delivered to your house that same day. Usually within a hour.