Dear Sears,
I know I don’t know you super well, but I always liked bumping into you. You were kind of like a staple. I want to say you had a mint green sign with block letters, but I could be wrong. Mint green just seems to fit. Not because it’s cheap, I didn’t mean that. It’s fresh. Like something new and today.
Maybe it wasn’t green. You were more like a “basics” store, but not like “basic” basic. You were the one moms went to when their kids needed a portable basketball hoop. I think you also sold lawnmowers?
When I heard you were closing, all I could think about were those catalogues with the points so that the more you bought, the more you saved. I think there was a point system for Marlboros too, but that definitely wasn’t as wholesome.
In the early days, back before flat screens, did you sell Betamax? Most people don’t like videos anymore, I sell them as vintage collectors items. They aren’t actually showcased. People have to know about them to buy one.
It’s a shame we didn’t connect. I remember the deluxe patio set with the grill and spatula sold together. You had the cardboard cutouts of two women grilling in fake grass. I think there was a beach ball behind them and a set of melmac. That was so you. Am I right?
- Belk
Object Relations 
I’m glad you have fond memories. There at the end, they had so many problems, they drove me nuts. Our stove, one year old, still under warranty, leaked gas. Sears couldn’t fix it, but they kept sending technicians out to look at it. They would arrive and say ‘this stove is already slated for replacement’ and then leave. I was fortunate not to have a stroke during my phone conversations to get the stove replaced. My 11 year old son said ‘dad, why do you keep buying stuff from them, none of it works.’ It’s sad when these old stalwarts go out of business, but usually, they deserve it too.
Ahhh Sears…tons of memories, what a store. Do you actually sell vintage VHS tapes? Because that is incredible if you do.
I think you’re on to something with your odes to the way things were. I like your use of language and your fond memories as if speaking with a dear friend! Don’t. Stop. Writing.
The land of memories, indeed. Good times, good times. 🙂
I am sad to hear that Sears has fallen to the new age of shopping too. Used to shop there when I was an undergrad for stationery and t shirts.
Soooo much history for my family tjere. Great post!
This is droll. I’m old enough to remember Sears and their fine tools with lifetime warranty. Last time I went I went there it took me twenty minutes to find the spotty 18 year old clerk to question, a ghost town. Funny post. Thanks for liking my blog post.
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