Business Insider has a a video that goes along with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Sears, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, We Went Inside A Sears And Saw Why The Company Is Dying.
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.”
Yikes! That’s worse than anything Retail Archeology showed!
Excerpted from Business Insider on stores closing in the Retail Apocalypse at Crazy Eddie’s Motie News.
Since the diary is about Sears, I’m posting another Sears gin recipe: SEARS Drinks – Edged Negroni.
I’m going to take a break from the Retail Apocalypse for the rest of this month and likely the next. Instead, I’ll be focusing on the Emmy Awards. There are a lot of nominees about politics and government that would be on topic here.
Not directly related, but I’m seeing similar, albeit lesser, shabbiness at my local Barnes and Noble. They keep taking out shelving as the inventory shrinks, leaving obvious markings or even major damage on the carpet. The gaps are starting to get painfully large in the upstairs back areas. I’m also seeing more books mis-shelved or still for sale with significant damage. The inventory shrinkage means that for most book series they carry only the most recent books – so if I want to get in on a series that strikes my interest, I can’t start at the beginning, which I usually want to do for something serialized.
Their long-running sense for missing markets continues as well. They are trying to get some of the boardgame boom with boardgame nights. But, they’ve restricted them to children and teens, missing that the boom is in adult players – boardgames for younger players are still down. Their boardgame selection is not that bad given its size, but if I shell out some extra to support a local store, I spend it on one that’s providing space and support for gamers.
At least the Sears in my location was in much better shape during its last year. It was well kept up (albeit largely abandoned), and only became a shambles once the store had to liquidate. Now that was pure chaos.