We Went Inside A Sears And Saw Why The Company Is Dying
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- čas přidán 12. 02. 2017
- Sears losses are mounting as the once iconic brand continues to struggle. The company announced it had a brutal holiday quarter and is planning to cut costs by $1 billion in 2017. Full year revenue is expected to fall 12% from last year to $22.1 billion. The company has been shutting stores and selling off assets to stem losses and repay debt.
We visited a Sears in Jersey City, New Jersey to see why the company is imploding. We were shocked by the dismal conditions on a Tuesday afternoon.
When asked for comment Sears spokesperson Howard Riefs responded with the following:
"Some areas of this particular Sears store are in seasonal transition and other areas are in the midst of project work. For example, we recently moved the men’s department to the lower level and are in the process of replacing the carpeting in the former denim section. Nevertheless, the described images from this store are not representative of the majority of our Sears locations and do not depict what we want our members and customers to experience. We take these matters seriously and this store’s team has already begun addressing the issues. We hope your video depicts a comprehensive look at this store, which includes our all-new Showcase area featuring top international apparel, footwear and accessory brands that are debuting in America exclusively at Sears."
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This is nonsense. You've got it backwards. The company isn't dying because of what you saw in that one store. What you saw in that store is BECAUSE the company is dying.
Exactly what I was thinking the entire time I watched it
Let's argue about which came first, the chicken or the egg.
It's a horrible chain. Sears has a bad day, so someone misplaces something. Customers think it looks bad and don't go there, so Sears can afford to clean it (pay employees). More mess is made. Fewer customers. I agree with you, Someone needs to step up and do something.
Bryan Williams haha, I just wrote the same thing before I saw your comment.
It's a vicious cycle. I worked for a Sears vendor for 18 years and we monitored it carefully. It has been a long and steady descent.
The problem here is Jersey City, not Sears.
Yea everything they said could very easily apply to the state of NJ. The Sears stores near me are great....
LOL
Cubing102 lol we're sure it is
Chip M I live in the suburbs of NJ and it's great, thank you very much.
It's not only Jersey City Sears. It's all over the USA. Sears management is obviously pitiful. Sears in Florida is horrible.
Your title is backwards. Sears is dying, and this is the result.
I worked. At seas. For 25 year’s or store never looked like that why is this being allowed
Make you’re people work harder and clean up the stores
@@scratch507 Can't if there's not enough of them. One problem with some companies is they think the way to save money is to cut hours and jobs. That only results in lost sales.
Using Jersey City as an example is like going underwater and complaining that you can't breathe
That's not why sales have dwindled, "Business Insider". That's the result of dwindled sales
Les Vegetables That's exactly what I was thinking! It's that profit margin sweet spot that many retailers haven't realized has changed since the 1980's. Everybody hates Walmart, but Sam Walton figured out a long time ago that if he profited a dime a widget and sold 100 of them ($10) he could make more than someone else profiting a quarter off the same widget if they are only selling 30 ($7.50) to his 100. He also figured out that the wider range of goods and services you sell, the more money you make.
Need your prescription filled, dip or cigarettes, groceries, paint, a new grill, a car battery, clothes and your oil changed?
You could run to the pharmacy, then the tobacco store, on to the super market, then the hardware store, then to a clothing retailer, then the auto parts store, then to a garage or an oil change specialty shop, or...
You could just go to Walmart.
Ya but Sam was about making that dime by selling American made goods. He would be absolutely pissed to see the state of Walmart now.
Shindinru NOPE! Watch the high cost of low price. If he could make 12 cents selling Taiwanese merchandise he would pass on that dime. MARKETING LIES! His track record when he was the active C.E.O. doesn't reflect the message in his commercials. No, if Sam were alive today, he would be proud of what his family has done, believe it or not!
P.S. After Trump's victory and all the rhetoric that came with it, I recently saw a Walmart commercial about buying American. I laughed! Not figuratively, I ACTUALLY chuckled. Really? Walmart?
They had a campaign a few years ago shortly before I left about buying American. The vests the slogan was printed on were made in China.
It kind of i an endlees loop.
Sell no merchandise
Have no money to repair store
People don't visit damaged store
People dont shop there
etc
"We went to a single run down store and this store is the root of the company's problems"
have you been to a Sears lately? I'm reading the comments and see many people reporting the same thing at their local Sears. My mom went to ours recently, just like this.
Sharp Shot EFX you don't see it, can't be true is pretty retarded, especially since their losing a billion, and closing stores.
exactly this is bullshit
Jessica M my sears is still perfectly maintained and stocked but one in the town over had a closing sale of 80%+ off and i can see some others are dying
Mine is completely different
I worked at Sears over the summer after working retail for 2 and half years and I have never been in a store with so much disorganization. I quit on the spot yesterday for being scolded publicly in the store by a manager who never comes out on the floor to work but sits in the back all day long. He had the audacity to tell me I couldn't confirm display issues with another associate. There is no "teamwork" at Sears apparently. Managers discouraging their employees does not create good work ethic.
Chloe Williamson Lol I work there 2 & I'm trying to leave as well
Same I used to work at sears for two months and I agree that their weakest point they have is that they put no effort into team work and keep harassing the employees to repeatedly ask people to get their store credit card .
Hopefully you were being paid by the hour and not illegally put on commission by this greedy bankrupt company...
Chloe Williamson you’re hot and smart. Still looking for a job? I’ll hire you babe.
Certified Finest how's that creeping working for ya? Get a lot of positive responses do ya?
Do you know why you're a creeper? Because the shit you say gives peeps the creeps.
Everything in Jersey city looks like that.
LMAO! Its funny cuz its true!
Matt Stevens what's with jersey?
Matt Stevens Yeah even the people.
I wonder why? No, I don't really cuzz I know why!
Matt Stevens looks like that in atl to
But in addition, customers are disgusting. Absolute savages who don't care about anything and will throw items around and leave their garbage anywhere. It doesn't help the look.
amen to that!😊
i bet you work at sears lol
Me? I don't work at Sears, but I do work in retail!
That's exactly what I thought throughout this vid - that the store was most likely understaffed and don't have the tools for upkeep. Also, they're probably being forced to sell the loyalty/credit card instead of quickly taking care of customers and moving on. When you cut staff and costs to the bone, it shows where you place your priority. My local Sears doesn't look this bad, but it's impossible to find customer service and the line ups are always so long.
Right. So many people will be complete slobs because they just think "it's their job to keep the store clean" so they think that means they can be as lazy and disgusting as they want. They do this in restaurants too. They even think that they don't have to parent or supervise their kids anymore once they step foot in the restaurant and will let their kids literally throw their food all over the floor or dump salt and pepper all over the table because "someone gets paid to clean it up".
You went to Jersey City and saw a dumpy store. That's like going to a library and seeing books
It's not just Jersey City, this is happening all across the country. I've seen it myself
Carter4240 Why doesn't the staff Clean and take care, like they are supposed to do?
Kiki Isabeast because there is not adequate staffing. All retailers run their stores with miniscule staff.
10,000 Sq ft store with 5 employees on duty. And those 5 employees are pushed like slaves to perform the work of 20 for minimum f*cking wage and less than 20 hrs a week. The least amount of money is invested into hiring quality employees and proper training of those associates. Meanwhile the share holders can pocket any profit available. Retail work is b*llsh*t !
(Previous Retail Manager)
Hell, I stock shelves in a grocery store and we still run with minimal staff. They never get above the bare minimum we can get by with so we're fucked every time someone quits because it takes weeks to replace them. Going bare bones on the third-shift stockers is just idiotic, the whole store looks like shit as a result and day shift sure as hell won't do the work, but they do it anyway.
Walmart is on the same path...
I used to work for Sears in the automotive building. We would never, not once, get our checks when we were supposed to. It was usually between a week to 2 late, sometimes longer and we were paid weekly, so we would always be a check behind. The store would get theirs no problem, but we always got screwed. I never understood why they would allow that to go on. They are getting what they deserve, for their business practices.
Crockagater every retail store i worked at kept a check behind
I've seen Goodwill's that look better.
Kenneth Southard Savers is doing a land office business compared to Sears.
Kenneth Southard shut ur rich ass up
Employees slacking off. Manager does not know how to run the store
petnzme01 that's because it cost more to live in New Zealand
petnzme01 First off, the U.S, Australian, and New Zealand dollars are different. Second, cashiers are doing jobs that require minimal skills so they deserve minimal wage.
The high minimum wages in those countries are also the reason for why they have much higher unemployment rates than America in general, especially among the younger adults. Go learn what economics is.
You're defending a broken system.
It is not necessarily the employees slacking off. The Kmart I worked at would have a floor person covering 3 departments, when 3+ people are needed for this. You can't clean up after customers leaving trash when you have more than one person needing your help, and 2 lines on hold. Oh, and the customer up front needs a carry out. And you just got another page for holding calls.
My Sears doesn't look anything like this.
AdaptiveReasoning mine does
I use to do inventory work, I've seen every Sears and Kmart in my region and then some, multiple times. Most had problems like this (old and damages store fixtures, merch in a disorganized mess, damaged floor displays, etc), but not to this extent. It's only this bad in a store that is nearing being closed.
In Cincinatti Sears looks almost as bad as this video.
AdaptiveReasoning same
AdaptiveReasoning My sears is in Austin texas
they SEARSiously need to get their act together...
seastar81 ✋🏻
I see what you did there.
dad? is that you??
yeah they seriously let them SELLves go
LOLOLOOOOL. Too funny hahahaaaa
I haven't seen Sears like this. I think that's just your basic jersey store look.
I goes right along with the profile of the people who work there and shop there. I don't think you need it spelled out. If you could somehow magically see the value of all of the merchandise lifted by store employees over the years and blamed on shoplifting, it would boggle the mind. If the U.S. needs an enema, New Jersey is where you want to stick the hose in first.
Driving there is going in circles, ramp after ramp. The have chris christie at the helm and you cant pump your own gas.
Chris Sauve the one in va.beach is identical
blacks
Chris Sauve It's in Jersey City.
I don't think this is WHY Sears is dying. It is a RESULT of Sears dying.
Tomaz downward spiral. i guess
this store is a symptom not necessarily a problem. the real problem with Sears is its financing and taxes. Sears owns all it's real estate so can't get tax breaks on its real estate taxes. meanwhile, its competitors like Amazon get free money from the government to open up new warehouses all the time.
Sears cannot compete with all that free money no matter what they do.
Shopping malls are leased from places like banks and other usury type of property developers.
Oh great, government ruining businesses once again. I guess that's all it's good at
If Sears owns its properties, then it pays property taxes, but not rent... so, how is that a bad thing financially? If you rent a house, your rent goes to pay the owner's property taxes, but if you own, then you deduct your property taxes from your profits. Quit trying to sound intelligent -- when you simply regurgitate Fox/Trump soundbites, you just sound like an idiot.
Fox/Trump soundbites?
Dean Champion thanks for asking, Dean. the reason is because when they do their taxes they can write off the interest on their loan, but with no loan, they cannot write off that interest.
I saw this and immediately spent 300$ I had in Sears Gift cards.
Bold One A loser
This is what my room looks like.
Cool
MarufTIM you have a clearance rack in your bedroom?
cat luva
the closet
MarufTIM ummm you mean the mess. 😖
Okay, yeah, that's bad, but, yknow, this isn't wholly representative of every Sears.
I agree. This is only Jersey City, NJ for God's Sake. I've been to other Sear's stores. Most are good.
Lady Ema Skye will I live in Canada and are sears is horrible😵
With a lot of former manufacturing towns and former mining towns falling into poverty because of Federal policy that encourages the export of jobs, how many SEARS are just reflecting the impoverished area they are located in?
***** She's just talking about her specific one, chil.
most of the sears are pretty clean in my area.The problem is that the store was not really taken care of
Sure the store is suffering financially but like what the Sears spokesman said "the store in Jersey City is not representative of all of the Sears stores still open nationwide"
Dislike right here XD
So customers not putting inventory back, throwing trash wherever convenient, and damaging goods is the problem.
Customers doing that, and employees not caring enough to keep their store tidy.
Manny Aguilar Jr. looks like the lack of employees actually doing anything including fixing displays and restocking also seem to be a pretty large factor in it...
Dang what Sears is this? the one close to me is 2 floors and organized.
1120go Me too. They're nothing like this at all.
Omar Garcia He's saying in general. I think you know that.
1120go same. I mean the lower level entrance still has a rock wall an is still stuck in the 70s but yea.
My sears is kind of messy, but it is pretty busy.
Same! It was all white from top to bottom. The only thing that sucked about our sears in the mall was that you had to take a shitty elevator up to the bathrooms which also locked people inside
What this gets right down to is poor management and workers who don't care. Six days ago SilentZombie commented that this mess is because of the race of the shoppers. Empty shelves is a management problem. I remember the first thing I learned when I got my first job is never let the shelves in your department sit empty. Empty shelves make the customers think that the store is going out of business. Amazon's Jeff Bezos said that you should treat your company like it is the first day every day. Sears has been open for over 100 years and is acting its age. Old and tired. By the looks of that store, it has not been straightened in days. Trash and work carts had not been removed from the sales floor. This store is a total safety hazard. Sure some of the customers are disgusting, but management is even more disgusting to allow the store to represent Sears in such a way.
It starts with management.
More often then not it's the managers fault when a store looks like this.
If you apply for the job and accept a job for those wages a company expects you to fulfill your employment agreement. You don't get paid to sit on your ass cause you feel underpaid, if that was a concern than get a education, training, certificate and seek better employment.
Bottom line, if you accept the employment offer you have zero room to complain about wages after the fact.
petnzme01 Unless they didn't know about the wage beforehand, it doesn't work in reverse.
petnzme01 Tell me what's the tax rate in your country. I don't believe healthcare should be free because health care is not a right.
It's a human right.
Matthew Brunette healthcare should be a right and given to everyone who wants it and not forced to have it,or fined for not having it! but doctors shouldn't make the kinda money they do just like politicians shouldn't make anything more the minimum wage, the healthcare system and every system in this country only care about the almighty dollar, they don't care about you!!!
looks more like the after math of black Friday after hours. I seriously doubt the manager of the store would let his store get that bad.
Well, the doors are open and it looks like that, sooo, the manger did in fact let it get like that. I understand the overheads of being closed for a day but this is the state of a store that should be shut down for a day and be cleaned up and sorted.
If you were at that store and then the next day your friend said they wanted to buy a new T.V, would you even contemplate telling to go there? No, cause the selection is shit and I wouldn't be surprised if the T.V was already broken and I will assume (my assumption, not laying this on anyone else or saying it is true) that they will not allow an easy return if I'm not happy with my purchase.
Obviously you haven't been to Jersey City. The manager of the store is just the person with the least amount of felonies on their record.
JustaGuyx91 nope, never have and never wanted to because of the bad rep it has. I'll stick to South Jersey.
Evette Champion Exactly my thoughts!! This video is a COMPLETE misrepresentation of Sears Stores, in general, in my opinion
It wasn't Black Friday that chipped up the display counters and made the floor all peeling and nasty and stained.
Jersey City? You want to make a bet about the "racial makeup" of the people who work at this store and "manage" it and shop there?
Sears is not failing because their stores are like this, their stores are like this because Sears is failing.
MDK22420 Exactly! They are failing so they no longer have the revenue to properly maintain their stores. This, of course, drives away even more customers and causes them to loose even more money. It’s a vicious cycle.
Time to get a job at Sears. Paid to do nothing lmao.
Nakian Damn good idea! Until you see the salary....
Broblejuice. It's gotta be minimum wage($10) and that's decent for a teenager plus it's better than flipping burgers at McDonalds which is an "average teenager job".
Nakian Someone I know left Sears because he worked for commission so he only made like 6.50 an hour plus sales commission and if you have no customers to sell to then you basically stand around making less than minimum wage.
As a current Sears employee, I can confirm this. I play on my phone most of the time or pace around waiting for my lunch break or for my shift to end. It's so boring.
Get paid $15. to sling burgers at In-n-Out.
That Sear is terrible
The ones around me are way better and have a stable income. I live Santa Ana and that telling something.
That one should close down
Yeah, the Sears in the photo looks like it's struggling; reducing stock and employee hours. But that's probably a reflection of the town it's in, not the chain as a whole. Export good manufacturing jobs and nobody has money to shop at Sears. The service sector assumes somebody is making real money and can buy their goods and services, and since Wall Street bought both the Republicans and the Democrats, nobody has been looking out for working people for several decades. As manufacturing collapses, the next domino to fall will be service sector jobs.
sears was failing in obamas time also....but it is not his fault right??
Rex Wort you'd be an idiot to buy a washing machine there.
100 trillion??? the national debt is around 20 trillion..get your facts right before going off on people. at least try to use some punctuation.
working shlub If you include unfunded liabilities it is around 100 trillion asswipe.
Probably because they started cheaping out on their tools, not honoring their lifetime stuff with them much anymore, and stopped carrying most tools in their stores anymore.
Sears doesn't own craftsman anymore. Stanley does.
A lot of their tools are now made in RED Communist China.
Lmao this is what my Sears looks like too
The Sears in my state is filled with clothes, toys, makeup, house hold items, -- you get the point. My Sears is lit. {Alaska}
+rapmonnys slave why do you say my country it's America
Our Sears was starting to look like this before they finally closed. Used to be, you could find a cashier in every department. Then they consolidated the cashiers into grouped kiosks (1 kiosk per ~4 departments) And finally, they were down to like 2 cashiers on each floor. Each time they consolidated, the departments became more & more neglected.
Then there was that whole weird "online Sears membership club thingy" that I never did understand (but then, i'm of the mind that no store should require a membership barcode keyring thing. I mean, I should get the BEST price possible BECAUSE i graced your store with my presence). So, i avoided purchasing from Sears online because i wasn't sure if the price i was being quoted was the best one available.
Oh well, our local Sears closed. I wish i could say it was a huge impact on our shopping habits, but it's not.
eeesuhhh same the only people y see there is the cashier
My Sears looks a little better but Kmart is a different story
Sears doesn't treat its employees right so people with a conscience avoid Sears. Costco treats it's employees better and it flourishes.
The store is in Jersey. The Sears in my area looks good.
Sears logistics is a real mess and reflects the corporate culture. A few years ago I was trucking sears and Kmart we were getting 3500$ a truck load to ship 2 pallets that should be 300$ so I called into Sears logistics to explain that this must be an error and didn't want hundreds of charge backs, the load planner told me to mind my own business. This is an on going management problem, don't get me wrong the over payments worked in my favour but we all felt like we were being totally dishonest. We moved hundreds of so called full truck loads all over the country with 1 or 2 pallets in the trailers. Last year I tried to call the logistics department and they wouldn't even return my call. I feel bad for the employees they lose everything and the upper management who are as bright as a 2 watt light bulb get buy outs and good pensions.
If you were upper management and spoke out against this unethical behavior, you would be as bright as a 2-watt light bulb. The fact that management is doing this is brilliant because their culture allows them to do this. If they start going against their norm, then they will be the ones without a job.
It's been dying for a while now, when I was a kid it was well into it's slow death according to my parents. It was still a nice store back then, I have many fond memories shopping at Sears when I was a child - buying video games, jeans, watching my dad pick out tools and waiting with the family to get the car battery replaced. The store used to be huge, offered everything and that "everything" was chipped away by places like Walmart, Home Depot, etc. What you see today is just a corpse, what you saw 10 years ago was a corpse with less decay and 20+ years ago a corpse that could pass off as living.
I do wish Sears could reorganize into something which can survive in today's economy. I had always thought if they marketed solely to men that they might fair better, or die faster I guess.
you have to take in to account that the stores look like this because they are dying. This is not the cause of death. When a store is dying both the employees and the customers take on the attitude of well the store it dying so why should I work hard to keep it nice. Not to mentioned most of the experienced regular staff has already quit so they are short handed and the people currently working there are inexperienced and don't care because they got hired to close the store.
I've seen pictures of Sears like this before. I've personally never seen one that wasn't well stocked. My problem with them has been relatively poor service and high prices, particularly in the tools and appliance departments. Even their outlet stores are overpriced. If they had great service then the higher prices would be warranted but they don't. If they they continue to refuse to provide subpar service then they need to lower their prices Walmart style.
"if they continue to refuse to provide subpar service" Wut? Are you serious?
StuOnTwo She's saying they're so shit that subpar service would be a step up for them
Wrong. Good service never warrents and/or justifies a company charging high prices for "garbage" products. The two just don't go hand in hand.
They will always provide subpar customer service because there is no push from corporate to drive top leading service. It is all based on sales.
funny, I'm from Michigan and this looks exactly like local Sears. I went Xmas shopping there last year in the first time in a long while and remember thinking, wow what a dump.
Pikwhip I live in Michigan too but my local sears is not like this one.
im in michigan and never seen a sears like this...... i take it you live in a shit hole like detroit or flint
CUZC0M The sears in Flint looks nothing like this...
Pikwhip Which city is the Sears you are talking about in?
My experience in retail is that the second you clean and organize the displays in the store, the customers will have already destroyed them all over again. It never ends and it gets annoying, so people don't bother cleaning any of it till night time and even then sometimes they still don't because it will just get messed up as soon as the store opens. It's stressful .
What do you expect! Kmart files for bankruptcy and then buys Sears!! Kmart closed here a few months ago and our Sears looks like it is faltering. Looks like poor management at the top. Now the Craftsman brand has been sold to Stanley. Glad I don't have any stock in Kmart or Sears but will look into Stanley stock because they will make Craftsman tools great again!!!!
Wtf was that jizz on the couch 0:59
Grenzenlos You haven't truly experienced the thrill of a j/o sesh if you've never jerked it in public on a Sears display couch. Dying businesses are my fetish.
Grenzenlos retail stores can be shockingly disgusting. Once had to throw out a bunch of new clothes in a dressing room because they had feces on them. 🤢
Someone was so excited over the sale going on!
Somebody was probably sitting there holding a baby that spat up.
Pigeon poop
The sears where I am is sorted and fully in stock... It's just New Jersey's sears dying.
Also, a lot of the problems are the customer's faults
Bro whenever I go here I feel like i’m living in another year, the shop feels so old, and empty. And gives me a weird feeling too
Much of this is attributable to them hiring less and less people to do more and more work. My workload at Mervyn's was doubled and tripled over the years, and I was often scheduled by myself in the entire department. We couldn't properly stock the floor and keep it looking good under those conditions while also helping customers and working frieght. Yet we were expected to do all that and more, and if we didn't it was our fault. That store is no longer there.
Sears still exists? Lol
Nerdatron twentytwentyfive ikr
Nerdatron twentytwentyfive dumbfuck
sears was founded in 1893 u idiot
Big Tom *1983
1893*
Why would you go into an "almost bankrupt" store and expect things to be in order?
I have a friend of mine that work at a Sears store before they closed and she said that the owners wouldn't let them spend any money in the store for upkeep and that they were told to take half the light bulbs out to save energy.
When I was a kid in the 80s/90s, I loved going to Sears. When was the last time someone said that?
One of my local walmarts looks like this and Walmart isnt on the verge of bankruptcy
Iron Beezus that's really weird ! mine dont
Maybe they should pay their workers a decent wage. Then they may start to "give a shit".
Rebecca Stone How can they pay their workers a "decent wage" when theyre making no money
You need to have money, to make money, in the art of doing business.
The art of making money, with little or no money, is called deception.
can't pay workers if no one is buying products
Why do people argue about raising wages for jobs like that? This will as a result raise other wages, causing higher product costs and inflation will damage the US's economy.
When I worked in store security, I was paid around $15 hourly and worked full time. Many of my co-workers didnt give a shit and just sat on their phone the majority of the shift.
That's what happened to a Kmart I worked at a couple years ago. When only 2 employees are running the floor each night, there just isn't enough time to put every item back in its correct spot. With zero department training and lousy managers, we just didn't know what to do with the place. The store is closed now :)
My family always shopped at Sears. At one time they had good quality products for decent prices. Then they seemed to want to go upscale and trimmed down much of what they carried. Their service all went down the tubes too. A few years back my 78 year old father bought a large refrigerator that was to be installed. When it was brought they were going to leave it still in the box in the kitchen saying they didn't do installations anymore. My dad had them take it back and that was the last he ever shopped there. I went in to the one in Waterford, MI a couple of years before they finally closed and walked around for fifteen minutes before I even found a sales clerk. It felt like a mausoleum. I went again some months later and the same thing happened, No one was around in the clothing department. They killed themselves.
I've never been in a Sears that was in this bad of shape. My boyfriend worked at one for 2 years and it was always more organized than this. The main problem that they seem to have is using outdated computers and forcing their employees to check customers out with ipads that rarely work and just frustrate customers. They also push employees to get credit applications, but turn almost everyone down.
Emily Stepp Illustration omg the credit applications drive me crazy at sears.
“Teens”
It's the original phishing scam. They just want to get your credit info. They lie and tell you that it costs you nothing to have the card even if you don't use it, but they charge an annual fee. I know this because I was tricked into getting a card. I say "tricked" because the cashier asked me if I wanted a Sears card, but she had a thick accent which made me think she said "sales card" which I thought was just some kind of loyalty card. When I found out I had applied for a credit card, I cancelled it. I don't even know what the fee would have been because the paperwork that came with it said that the fee was specified on another enclosed document which was, conveniently, missing. These guys are no better than your average street criminals.
rperlberg 1. No loyalty card is going to ask for your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER and annual income! Obviously you should have known better.
2. The sears Mastercard and store card do not charge an annual fee.
3. TONS of shoppers have a sears credit card (I worked there). It is no more a scam than any other credit company trying to get you to spend more money and pay interest on it.
As for the original comment, most people with good credit are not going to say YES to another credit card, just to save $10-20 on one transaction. So yes, most people who apply for the card get declined because their credit history is not great or nonexistent.
My dad loved sears especially the tool department when it was still in it's heyday. He'd be shocked and maybe even in tears if he was still around.
Sears is dying because it does not offer VALUE to its customers. The current CEO came along with no experience in retail business. He was a stock broker. There are many good officers and managers in Sears headquarters in Hoffman States in Illinois, but the CEO does not listen to them. His agenda is not to improve Sears retail business but to sell Sears real estate for his own profits. He has over 50% of Sears stocks and Board of Directors cannot do anything. Only the Wall Street can create the environment in which he will be fired. My dad was a Sears buyer and contributed to Sears becoming the world`s largest retailer years ago. Due to his contribution to Sears` profit growth, he was awarded Sears Symbol of Excellence Award 7 years in a row. Sears took care of its employees those days. Not any more. Too sad!!!
when I worked at sears they told us to refer everyone to cataloge sales even if we had the product right there in front of us
I used to be a Asm at sears until they laid me off last month. Best thing to happen to me. Another point. From my xp traveling to other stores for trips. This IS what you find in Most stores. Its contricted hours and poor upper management that lead to this.
Be aware if you shop at sears you will be pushed 4-5 questions by cashiers to sign up for promotions. They are pinned against the wall to do so, or else.
What a shame another American icon on its way out. Won't last until 2018. Rest in peace
Kerwin Napoles After liquidation.... rest in pieces.
I am looking for New job
Maybe 2019 will kill it. Bon Ton going bankrupt just dealt a death blow to north east malls and many of them have a sears.
Like so many others have said, the Sears near where I live doesn't look like that at all. It's neat, clean, well maintained, and well staffed. Before passing judgment on the company, get a fair sample of their stores, not just one location in what is known to be not the poshest place in the country.
I worked as a merchandiser for a company that would contract out to many department stores. Sears used to be the most strict, but with the best quality, with just enough back stock to keep displays full and neat. Suddenly, materials arrived already broken or missing parts. Cheap plastic took the place of stainless steel and real leather. Right about the same time, you could find displays of "gourmet" junk food by the registers. It quickly melted into bedlam, and our services were too "expensive". What is really more expensive? Quality merchandise, polite service, and accessibility? Or cheap plastic, rude, unavailable salespersons, and empty, disorganized displays?
Yet low end Ross and Marshalls look cleaner than ever. Just like Tiffany, my local Ross even has a doorman greeting me as I come in. His name is Loss Prevention, nice guy.
Looks better than my local Walmart and yet people will still shop in the crap hole. Kids running around, screaming, teens walking around the store and playing around for fun, gross dirty customers and cussing. I'll take Sears over Walmart
Oh no, cussing? I bet they like tobacco too. How horid
There's nothing wrong with cussing but if you yell out cuss words in front of lots of other people and kids it goes to show a certain amount of class that comes with it. I smoke, what's your point? I could have found a more clever way to be sarcastic, try harder next time!
Fun fact this store is STILL OPEN and NOT CLOSING.
Much of this reminds me of my time working for Hechinger, a hardware store chain that existed in the mid atlantic before going out of business in the 90s. The filth, the disorganization, the lack of inventory of even essential items like drill bits. As an employee there, it was sort of surreal, one employee scheduled per department per shift, maybe 2 during really busy times. They started cutting hours even more and I told my supervisor to give my hours to one of the men that worked there to support their family and I moved on.
Sears looked like that in 2005
Seasonal transition? Damaged display furniture and food left out on them is seasonal transitioning?
I have been buying Sears tires for about 50 years; last time I went the service writer told me there was a tear in the axel shart rubber, and that I had a bad bearing; $1,000.00 for the repair. Declined. I had recently had a safety inspection that said everything was ok.
Turns out the wheel bearing was OK. It looked to me that the cut in the axelshaft was caused by a knife. Cost me $200.00 to have that repaired. I am pissed at Sears.
As a vendor, I can say that garbage on the displays, stuff not hung up properly, damaged items, etc. is generally done by customers who cannot be bothered to put things back where they belong. I see people letting their kids play with display items and ride bikes, etc. all around the store. I see people decide they don't want something after all, and instead of putting it back where they got it (which is often less than 20 feet away), they just put it wherever. I see people leaving empty snack bags, cups, etc, on shelves when the trash bin is just a few steps away in plain sight.
When I find things on the floor, I pick them up -- even if I'm not working at that store. If I see trash, I put it in the trash bin. It takes just a few seconds to do these things, and it makes a big difference. My mom taught me to respect other people's property, and this includes store items. If I had even thought about asking to ride a display bike, I woulda got a whuppin' right there in front of everyone.
I was a sales lead at sears and I can without a doubt say it was the worst job I have ever had. There is hardly any training. They never have people on the sales floor so in a shift I would be the sales associate, fitting room attendant, cashier, jewelry associate and the manager on duty and this can be all at the same time. The company doesn't give a shit about the employees they only care about credit and shop your way rewards. It was so frustrating all of the time. I hated going into work because I knew that I would be run ragged. On top of all that I found out that they short changed me pay wise. I was making damn near $4 less then people I'm supposed to be supervising. It's a thankless job. Don't get me started on the managers they don't do a damn thing and expect the leads to run the store while they do absolutely nothing. Our operations manager was the only one that actually helped. All in all I will never go back and work for them. And if you value your sanity you will steer clear from that god awful place.
I've had a similar experience.
Wow! I can relate to this so hard. And I wasn't even a lead! We went months without a CAC lead or an MCA lead, before they ultimately did away with those positions anyway. I was a regular minimum wage employee, yet I was essentially the one training new hires. Sometimes I was the only employee in the store covering all cashiering AND mca work. Which boils down to literally RUNNING around the store like a mad man. Then you're the one getting yelled at by customers that you're the only help in the store! So glad I no longer work there.
Pfft. My Sears I work at looks nothing like that. I started working 3 months ago. I do the mens clothing department. I actually care. My department looks awesome and I'm proud of the work I do.
I went into a Sears super hot mid summer to buy a window AC. They display them in metal racks. Half the floor models were gone, obviously sold when they ran out of boxed units. Me: "I'll take this one." Clerk: "Can't sell a floor model." Me: "You already sold half the floor models." He: "Can't sell a floor model." I went to store manager. She: "Can't sell a floor model." I explained they already sold half the floor models. She: "Can't sell a floor model." Me: "If you won't sell me an AC, I'll never set foot in a Sears again." I haven't.
To be fair, Sears takes a loss on selling floor models, and if it is a item that also had to be built, they lose the cost of paying someone to build the item too, although I doubt ACs need to be built. Also, customers threaten Sears employees all the time. and probably does so no matter what the company. They probably had no reason to believe your threat over that of a hundred other customers before you that use threats to get their own way.
I grew up going to the local Sears store in St. Louis on South Grand St. Many people such as myself visited if not weekly, then several times monthly. It was a terrific multi-storie building owned by Sears. It was a bee hive during holidays and weekends. There were several Sears stores in St. Louis County but this was my Sears. Then Sears decided to close it. Once they did the area became a blighted neighborhood. The massive building was demolished and what was once a terrific place to shop was forever gone. This was the fate of the Famous Barr on South Kingshighway as well. E ventually the Sears and Famous Barrs in MANY malls in the county collapsed in the 2008-10 economic debacle. It seems to me that MANY, MANY, corporations bet on downsizing staff numbers (staff), failed to make sales positions (associates) salaries competitive (with the result being low wage, inexperienced workers, which in and of itself developed a poor customer service ala "couldn't give a shit attitude" hence delapidating conditions and service. Someone a long time ago developed a formula for maximizing profits by means of the least effort and capital applied. Once the meat has been eaten away, the fat, and the bones, nothing is left but the memories. And unemployed low wage teenagers.
this is what happens when you offer minimum wage a high turn over understaffed work force with employees who dont care. you get what you pay for.
My sears is very busy in Sacramento. its not messy either except for maybe some clothes being in the wrong spots.
So is mine in Pembroke Pines, FL, one of the 4 remaining Sears stores in Broward county, Florida
I really do think it's a regional thing... I just traveled to Portland, Maine and the Sears there was fully stocked and staffed. The one where I live in Pennsylvania subdivided it's building at now only sells appliances, exercise and lawn equipment, mattresses, and tools. They now only occupy the first floor of what was a three floor store. Primark and a Lands End now occupying the second and third floors of the old Sears building. The local Mall has been really successful in making sure all their retail space is rented out.
About 30 years ago, I was denied for a Sears credit card even though I had a steady job and a Visa card and little debt. Strike 1. They only accepted their store card and wouldn't accept Visa. Strike 2. About 20 years ago, I went into a Sears looking for a fitted shirt. The sleeve sizes varied by 4 inches, so I could either have cuffs above my wrists or below my fingers. Strike 3. Strike 4 is, there are too many other good options.
lol you shoupd see the Canadian sears', they are fully stocked and have like 2 floors
What do you expect? Kmart went bankrupt, then came out of bankruptcy and bought Sears, only to rename the company "Sears Holding Company". Look at how many Kmarts have closed in the last year or so. Kmart cannibalized Sears, and now they're both going down.
So, quick note. I worked for a sears store for some time and i can say that not all stores are this bad but they are not all good. While working at the store i was in we were understaffed, under paid, and had lack of direction or help from corporate. When i say we were under staffed we had about 50 Total employee's with only 6 full timers (including managers) When i worked there my positions was "Electronics Associate" But i ened up covering Electronics, sporting goods, toys, diy ,furniture, pantry and Layaway. When i say covering i mean doing all the responsibilities for these areas while working including Stocking, customer service, Cleaning, price adjustments and end caps/displays. Since starting there when i did the company had a pay pay freeze for over 10 years at that point and everyone in the store Minus the 6 or so full timers/managers made minimum wage (someone that was there for 5 years was still at minimum wage). The company did not care about there employees at all and did not provide the tools we needed in our store to get the jobs done.
The Sears in the Santa Maria Town Center Mall in Santa Maria, CA is in PERFECT condition, I mean it, no merchandise is missing or damaged, and the store is full of customers and employees all the time, lucky for me I get to go to a good Sears
THANKS A LOT FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!
Now the remaining 8 employes is going to lose their job and the store is going to get close.
Nice job.
Super Woman is it sarcasm
Super Woman but just look at that mess, it should be their job to clean all that mess. If they get fired it's their fault
Super Woman RIGHTFULLY SO. They're obviously not "working!"
If incompetency is their business model, they might as well close the store.
Yeah, shoot the messenger!
And stop taking naps in English class.
people who say their sears doesn't look like this, probably work there in some fashion. They are circling the toilet so they best get out while they can.
If you're going to be in business, you have to pay people. When you stop, so does their enthusiasm.
Sears literally stole a return from us a few years back in Green Bay, WI. We returned an item and they gave us a gift card for it instead of cash or credit card refund and we found out a week later after trying to use the gift card they zeroed out the balance and called it a fraudulent return!!!! A fraudulent return?! Then call the cops on us!!!! We were without the item and the refund. I have never shopped at Sears since and share this story with EVERYONE!
You don't polish the brass on the Titanic.
Damn looks like the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.
This is what happens to a chain store that is allowed to be purchased by a company that's in bankruptcy. You didn't think that K-Mart purchasing Sears was going to be a good thing did you?
I shopped Sears for years. What drove me nuts was that if I wanted clothing that was in my size, it had to be ordered and I was charged freight to get it to the store. Other stores, placed orders and called later in the week that the item was in, and to come to will call.
Both Sears and Montgomery Wards were staples in the catalog store trade as well as Western Auto. Now they're just memories.
From what Ive seen, this is based on location/management. Retail store in higher end communities and towns have cleaner stores, and the opposite in lower income communities. The big part is employee morale and management. If the employees feel proud to work for their company, they'll take care of it (going the extra mile to clean, organize, etc.). Employees who feel under appreciated wont car about the company or image.
They haven't protected their brand name. What does Sears stand for? They've forgotten why they've existed and so have we.
It was like that at my local Kmart. It shut down.
I used to do merchandise audit and product training for a television manufacturer and there were a couple of Sears stores on my circuit. A couple of years after the contract ended, I stopped at the one nearest to where I live and their electronics department was gone. Sears has not updated its looks since the 1980s and their holding company CEO is treating each section as more of a feudalistic kingdom where each vassal state is in at war against each other.
I worked at sears a couple years ago our store didn't look that bad, but wasn't much better. There wasn't a way around it we were so understaffed; they expected us to do the work of 3 people. We were expected to clean the store, help unload trucks, help customers, stock, reset merchandise, and ring people out of there was a line. Made minimum wage with no opportunity for raises. Never had a second to sit down; on average I walked about 5 miles a day around the store. Not sure how they have stuck around as long as they have; we would have like 3 customers all day, and it would be regulars. Cheap crappy out dated stuff no one wanted.
The Sears I work at looks nothing like this
It will
This one is in Jersey City. All stores in Jersey city look like this.
I want 1 week as manager of that store.
Why, what do you think you could do simply as a store manager?
Back when I was in college about a decade ago, I filled out a job application at a Sears for a part-time cashier job. I was a poor student, so I really needed the money. They jerked me around, having me do multiple interviews. All for a crappy minimum wage job. At the end, they told me they weren't going to hire me, because they didn't have any open positions. Before they toyed with me with the job interviews, I had been a customer. But I've never been back to Sears since.
In the mid 90's, they discontinued the catalog. They could have been pioneers in on-line sales, but they chose to really push the local store. Once they went on-line, it was too late.
*Only in New Jersey*
@kingofallcrypto no, lots of greed and cynicism at the top.
They should have called this video 'The making of Ross'
One of my sons worked at a Sears when he was in High School and he described something like Chloe said below. The manager(s) NEVER came on the floor and the only thing they were concerned about was signing people up for Sears Charge Cards. Any attempts by employees to "help" or improve the store by action or voice were ignored. Again the only measure of employee performance was the number of Sears Charge Cards issued. I remember two occasion in which I was a customer and teen/young adult employees tried to get me sign up for the card by proclaiming financial nonsense. I tried to point out the mathematical errors in their sales pitch, but neither was educated enough to understand. It was a long time ago, but if I recall correctly, my son only saw the manager once at cashier training.
this is exactly how the Sears I used to work at looked like and I'm not surprised that they're closing some stores down