There was a time when Sears was the go-to department store for Americans. It was the place to find everything from appliances to clothing to tools. However, in recent years, Sears has fallen on hard times. The company has closed hundreds of stores and laid off thousands of employees. So, what went wrong? In this article, we will look at Sears and try to answer that question. We will explore its history, its products, and its marketing strategies. We will also discuss the company's current state and offer our thoughts on its future.
Sears was founded in 1886 by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck. It started as a mail-order company selling watches and jewelry. In the early 1900s, Sears began selling other products, including clothing, appliances, and cars. By the mid-1900s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. It was also one of the most innovative companies in America. For example, it was one of the first retailers to offer a money-back satisfaction guarantee and one to offer customer credit.
Sears' success continued into the 1970s and 1980s. However, in the 1990s, things started to change. The rise of discount stores like Wal-Mart began to eat into Sears' market share. At the same time, Sears made a series of poor strategic decisions. It sold its profitable credit card business and invested heavily in failing businesses like the 1970s-era Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower).
As a result of these missteps, Sears has declined for more than two decades. The company has closed hundreds of stores and laid off thousands of employees. In 2018, it was bought by Eddie Lampert, a hedge fund manager who had been its largest shareholder. Lampert has promised to turn Sears around, but he has not been successful so far.
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
14283 Fenton Road Fenton, Michigan 48430Good store. Sad that it's going out of business. Good sales now tho.
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
320 West Rancho Vista Boulevard Palmdale, California 93551Tori was great. Awesome service. Great product.
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
1701 Soscol Ave Napa, California 94559Very user friendly!
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Appliance Store
669 Mall Drive Portage, Michigan 49024Jake was super helpful and we got our dream fridge for an awesome price!
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
810 S Waverly Road Lansing, Michigan 48917after 2 months delay on mattress delivery to the store and getting the run around, I was very impatient at this point. spoke with jess about it and she handled the situat ... more
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
1908 2nd Ave. E. Oneonta, Alabama 35121Very handy location when it was open. Sad to see it go.
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
322 North Lincoln Road Escanaba, Michigan 49829Working on a winter home I purchased all my appliances from here and from Ed the owner to the other staff members I couldnt have been more satisfied with the pricing and ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
49 University Plaza Newark, Delaware 19702Great prices staff really helpful. Ed was my sales person and he was great. He helped me out with what I needed.
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
411 W. Madison Street Starke, Florida 32091We love Miss Jo!
Sears Hometown Store
Furniture Store
224 US-12 Litchfield, Minnesota 55355Great store, great service!
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
9860 Telegraph Road Taylor, Michigan 48180I worked with Ali, and he is a nice person good sales man
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
1140 West Three Mile Road Sault Ste Marie, Michigan 49783Friendly, clean little pricey.
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
2706 Vine St Hays, Kansas 67601Just took over 2 months to get parts. The staff is great and pleasant
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Distribution Service
656A North DuPont Hwy Milford, Delaware 19963Store closing everything onsale
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
1937 South Range Ave, Suite # 1 Colby, Kansas 67701Great Service and had exactly what I needed for a great price!
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
505 N. Poplar Newton, Kansas 67114Rachel was very helpful with finding parts numbers and ordering parts for a Kenmore washing machine that I had brought parts in for reference and I have bought numerous ... more
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
912 Main Street Winfield, Kansas 67156Boy does this lady Know everything! Very service oriented. Been working here for decades. Knows all the features of every appliances....will work with you to deliver and ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
1000 Boston Turnpike Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545We've had an awesome experience from shopping to loading! Highly recommended!
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
3535 N Rock Road, Ste #100 Wichita, Kansas 67226Great shopping experience at American Freight today! Lisa was extremely helpful, friendly and accommodating. Will definitely go back with any other furniture needs.
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
857 N Val Vista Drive Gilbert, Arizona 85234We were given the best help by Brandyn at the val vista store. Would recommend them to any one
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
105 West 24th Street Connersville, Indiana 47331We live in Ohio and our refrigerator we bought from sears 4 years ago died. After months of dealing with Sears customer service with no end in sight, I reached out to thi ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
6022 Crawfordsville Road Speedway, Indiana 46224American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
8090 NW 77th Court Medley, Florida 33166Excellent service !!
ANGOLA APPLIANCE
Furniture Store
1221 N Wayne St Angola, Indiana 46703Great information on buying water filter for my refrigerator.
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
2338 Overland Ave. Burley, Idaho 83318Love this place. We brought all our appliances from this store. They gave up a very good deal & we had great conversation. Super friendly staff.
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
2301-A Mt Industrial Boulevard Tucker, Georgia 30084Great customer service from my initial contact throughout our purchase of a new range.
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
7627 Michigan Rd Plymouth, Indiana 46563Ordered a new dishwasher. Paid in full for it. Was told it would be delivered to the store from the warehouse in one week. Didn't get a call that it was in. So we called ... more
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
1704 S. Heaton Knox, Indiana 46534Sandy is always ready to help you.
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
350 Glendale Avenue, Suite 100 Sparks, Nevada 89431Dennis was great
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
3703 Harrison Ave suite g Butte, Montana 59701Store is closing. Very limited selection but the staff member was friendly.
Sears Hometown Store - CLOSED
Appliance Store
5011 2nd Ave, Suite 043 Kearney, Nebraska 68847Wonderful service, nice, and knowledgeable
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
1690 East 23rd Ave N Fremont, Nebraska 68025Rude and unhelpful customer service. Personnel just wanted to say I was wrong, after I showed he was in error, he turned around and walked away. I went to Omaha and bou ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
51 Spiral Drive Florence, Kentucky 41042Great price
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
804 South 4th Street Danville, Kentucky 40422Personal Help, is Appreciated, Wonderful Owner, Can't say enough!!!
Sears Hometown Store - CLOSED
Appliance Store
2580 Hwy 95, Suite 114 Bullhead City, Arizona 86442We ordered a new dishwasher and Cathy was excellent in helping choose the right one for us. When it was time to have it delivered and put in Justin was awesome, very poli ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
4854 West Lone Mountain Road Las Vegas, Nevada 89130Demorrio is very pleasant, knowledgeable, caring, willing to help, knows his business at Amercian Freight, When we asked questions he was right on point and willing to go ... more
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
3207 S U.S. 1 Ft. Pierce, Florida 34982It was awesome the gentleman was very helpful I went in for a vacuum cleaner and I got a very awesome vacuum cleaner he was very knowledgeable about all the questions my ... more
Sears Hometown Store - CLOSED
Appliance Store
743 Gaines Drive Clinton, Missouri 64735Very nice people. We bought a riding lawnmower and they got in quickly.
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
3155 Stockton Hill Rd Kingman, Arizona 86401went into the store looking for a part and the staff went above and beyond to help me find the part. i would recommend them to everyone.
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
3632 E Front Street Kansas City, Missouri 64120Great help and service
The UPS Store
Shipping And Mailing Service
300 Center Dr, Ste G Superior, Colorado 80027Today I needed to have a funeral contract and agreement notarized. The situation is timely and difficult enough. I arrived during open business hours and was turned away ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
1415 S Nova Road Daytona Beach, Florida 32114Jim was excellent & provided great service!!
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
325 Northside Dr E Suite #36 Statesboro, Georgia 30458DO NOT purchase appliances from Sears. When your appliance breaks (and it will at under 2 years old) they refer you to Sears parts direct where everything shows available ... more
American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, Mattress
Furniture Store
133 Mariano S Bishop Boulevard Fall River, Massachusetts 02721I visited American Freight to purchase a dishwasher. Upon entering a very nice gentlemen helped my fiance and I natrow down which dishwasher to purchase. He then took the ... more
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
220 South Main Street Ottawa, Kansas 66067Going out of business
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
507 Iowa Avenue West Marshalltown, Iowa 50158Good selection on needed items that are in store or able to obtain items within a day or two.
Sears Hometown Store - CLOSED
Distribution Service
215 South Grant Street Fitzgerald, Georgia 31750Never will I ever buy another appliance from them again. Bought an LG washer in July 2017 it broke down. They acted like it was no big deal to them. Not even an I'm sorry ... more
American Freight Furniture, Mattress, Appliance (formerly Sears Outlet) CLOSED
Furniture Store
1915 Mount Zion Road Morrow, Georgia 30260I am at the location by the amc movie theatre. Do not I repeat do not interact with this person. There is a young lady with corn rolls(braids going to the back) who does ... more
Sears Hometown Store
Appliance Store
4435 College Ave Jackson, Alabama 36545I love their appliances and the service guy is very nice
Sears Hometown Store - Closed
Appliance Store
2395 Harrison St. Batesville, Arkansas 72501We were looking for a washer. Had shopped other stores in town also. Sears had a good selection but only had a couple different ones that they could sell. They do not sel ... more
