Our dear Paul's sluttish work ethic notwithstanding, I will truly miss both Sears and KMart if they go under. Not only are they superior stores to Wal-Mart and Macy's, they often have better prices.

Plus, as we have seen time and again, the less competition Wal-Mart has, the more anti-consumer they get.

I'm glad I'm old and really don't need to buy anything. Shopping is increasingly dismal.

Sears has been on a long, sad, downward spiral for some time now. I think if they could have weathered the bad times, consumer culture might have shifted in the next few years back to something that values name brands, service, repair, expertise, etc. Unfortunately where they're at now, I'd rather deal with the phone company than have another experience with Sears' customer service as fucked up as my last one.

That said, here's hoping that with this news, I've got another shot at a discounted Smeg floor model.

My friend Brian in Portland scored a gigantic refrigerator at Sears last year. It started off at $700, but he got a discount because it was a floor model. Then they had a $100 off sale, then he got back like $120 because of Portlands 'green energy' rebates, so actual cost was $400. And this is a mega fridge...we had to take the doors off to fit it through his front door!

There are still K-Marts around? Remember this little tidbit from years ago?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDKVLyRt0…

Crank it on your stero!!!

120 out of 4000 stores. That's hardly a doom and gloom story.

Foist is a word that one does not hear (or read)
often enough.

Sears is run more as an investment vehicle than a department store. Most of the free cash get diverted.

This is actually good news. There was an abnormal and out of whack explosion of retailers during the last 20 years, based on the false economy - people buying things they didn't need with money they didn't have in the form of credit they didn't deserve. We should not want to, and hopefully won't ever go back to that. And believing that, there must then be a downsizing of the retail sector. Let's hope.

I fail to see how you think this would reflect well on the quality of your workmanship, then or now.

Ah ha! I always wondered where Paul Constant honed his incisive business acumen, on display so much today when he tells Amazon all the mistakes they're making. Folding jeans at Sears! Of course. Jeff Bezos is a fool for ignoring this man. A fool.

Jesus Christ Paul, evolve already.

The thing about Sears is that they actually sell better-than-average appliances, which they deliver and subsequently service. Not to mention well-regarded stuff like Craftsman tools. I purchased my last mattress there (on-line). But its true, the rare times when I go into the Aurora Village store its like a ghost town, and inventory is spread way out to make it look fuller than it is. As mentioned above, there's some skanky financial machinations going on with its current owner which have zero to do with selling decent products in decent stores.

Retail stores need to keep up with the times. Kmart stores are disgusting, dingy and dirty places that are unpleasant to shop. (At least around here) Sears locations are at least clean, but seem to be holding on to a 1970's business model. Like the U.S. Post Office, retail needs to face, and adapt to the reality of the technology of the 21st century. Wishing things were like they were 40 years ago isn't going to help them survive.

We must FIGHT for the right of EVERY worker to be as lazy as Paul was when he worked for Sears!!

OCCUPY THE BREAK ROOM!! We are the 99% of people who don't give a shit about our jobs!