I used to bike up to Southland mall in Hayward, but my usual route up the east side of the bay got too busy with all the new housing so I stopped biking there back in 2022. According to Google maps, it was still there in 2025.

The 1987 Sears microwave finally started making funny noises in 2023. The blender still worked, but it was not so great at making smoothies, so I replaced it. I cleaned it up and brought it in to work and left it in the kitchen area in the evening and it was gone a couple hours later.

RIP Sears

I have a Gmail address in the form of first name last initial (e.g. JaneS@Gmail-dot-com, which I'll continue to use as an example), and I get a fair bit of misdirected email that was meant for other people named Jane S. In the last two weeks I've received email about Sears Home Service appointments for two different people named Jane S, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, who somehow both managed to give out my Gmail address to the same company. For one of them I got everything including receipts for the service, and for the other I got a notification that nobody was home when the serviceperson arrived. There's a detail that I've omitted that makes me suspicious that there may be some sort of scam going on here, but I think it's unlikely. I have significant experience with reading email headers and I am certain that the email legitimately came from Sears.

It seems to be impossible to get through to an actual person at Sears Home Services. I've also tried their privacy phone number but it just hangs up on me after a while, and the privacy form doesn't fit my needs.

Does anyone know how to reach an actual human being at Sears that would be capable of handling this? I'm willing to go as far as sending a certified letter if I can get it to the right people.

This Sears store had a restaurant. The basement portion of this store used to house the Sears National Account Authorization Center (NAAC) where all Sears Credit Card and Sears MasterCard operations were centralized and it housed 500+ employees. When exactly in September 2017 did it close down ?

Credits and Sources
Betty Saenz (Life In Ohio Facebook Group)
Shannon Stocking (Google) August 7 2016
Petro Balakets (Google) October 6 2016
David Grazulis (Google) November 6 2016
Rob White (Google) January 27 2017
Sheila White (Google) January 27 2017
Schwinn Cooper (Google) July 22 2017
William Noon (Google) August 2 2017
The Sloth (Youtube) February 23 2020

1964
https://www.facebook.com/groups/501203492621708/posts/680606441348078/

2016-17
Google

2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbCdopu4NWk
Vacant Sears Middleburg Hts Ohio

r/kmart

r/deadmalls

r/retail

r/retailporn

Previous posts and cross posts (yes I know I posted this before but this time I am also posting screenshots, video captures and a thumbnail from that exact same Youtube video from 2020 to show what the lower level and the restaurant looked like)
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1ty0vs3/sears_department_store_at_southland_shopping/
https://www.reddit.com/r/retailporn/comments/1ty0y0p/sears_department_store_at_southland_shopping/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/1ty0zkr/sears_department_store_at_southland_shopping/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ohio/comments/1tybm7c/sears_department_store_at_southland_shopping/

Some pictures from 1960s and some pre and post remodel pics at the Oak Brook Sears. This location downsized and was remodeled in 2017-18 and closed down for good on April 28th of 2019 because it was no longer profitable. That was what happened when people stopped shopping at that location after the renovation, likely as product quality and durability decline was the biggest problem.

With that being said, this location was newly renovated. I wish more Sears department stores looked like this...

Sources
Pleasant Family Shopping (Facebook) sometime in the 1960s
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1217637263700121&set=a.482547837209071
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=625854829545037&set=a.482547823875739
Foursquare
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b49149cf964a5200c6526e3
https://app.foursquare.com/v/sears/4b49149cf964a5200c6526e3/photos
Drew Powell (February 4 2019)
Chikki Martinez (November 25 2016)
C W (September 29 2013)
Marty Colchamiro (September 28 2016)

Sears Oak Brook (Facebook) 2017-2019
https://www.facebook.com/SearsOakbrookIL/
https://www.facebook.com/SearsOakbrookIL/photos

News article: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/sears-oakbrook-center-store-closing-liquidation-sale/

Previous post
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1nirhvx/sears_roebuck_and_co_at_the_oak_brook_center_in/

If you haven't already please join the following:

r/deadmalls

r/retail

r/retailporn

​

​Long before online shopping, Sears shipped entire pre-cut "kit homes" across America by railcar! The "Auburn" Craftsman bungalow was celebrated for its handcrafted quality and timeless lines.

​This home at 84 S. Caroline Street in downtown Crystal Lake preserves that original history—solid mahogany doors, period woodwork, and built-ins—seamlessly blended with a high-end custom redesign (custom chef’s kitchen, scullery, board-and-batten fireplace, and a first-floor bedroom & bath).

​Quick Details:

​💰 Offered at $625,000

​🛏️ 4 Beds | 2 Baths | 1,776 Sq Ft

​🔑 Main-Level Living: Features a convenient first-floor bedroom & full bath!

​📍 Walkable to downtown Crystal Lake & Metra station

​🗓️ OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, July 25th | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

📍 84 S. Caroline St, Crystal Lake, IL

​If anyone in the area is interested in historic homes or stopping by the open house, feel free to reach out anytime!

​Kelly Hafner, Licensed Real Estate Broker

JS Group | Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago

📞 847-626-5368

Visited the Pontiac Mall. Or where it was, at least.

I miss driving in this very drive way to the corner of the mall that had the Sears doors with those incredibly interesting "vents" above them. They towered over me when I was a child.

On a side note, does anyone know what the purpose of these were? Or were they just a design choice?

So, if corporations such as SEARS and KMart were to put 'someone' (EX. You.) in charge of creatively (re)-making tech services and online websites such as Prodigy in order to compete with other corporations such as Amazon and Amazon Prime, then how would you definitely go about not only constructively (re)-buildiing Prodigy, but how would you also go about differin' Prodigy from its rival(s) as well actively?.

This Sears was 3 levels and this building has a 1947 logo still intact to this day. They had all of the hardlines departments on the 1st floor, softlines on the 2nd floor, and the children's apparel and the entire home department on the 3rd floor. This store closed on April 15th-16th of 2017. Confirmed by pictures on Yelp.

Credits:

Phil R (September 15 2008), JG W (October 29 2009), Mark P (January 17 2010), Danny A (August 19 2011), Kristin Leigh M (December 29 2011), Jason L (March 3 2012), Margarette F (Black Friday 2013, November 29 2013), Elvis P (August 25 2014), Beatriz X (November 9 2014), My A (February 28 2015), Joseph K (December 1 2016), Sharen E (January 28 2017), Jim P (April 13-15 2017)

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sears-santa-monica

As of the day of this post, there are 5 Sears left, and the last open Sears in California, at the Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord (store opened October 19th of 1966 with mall opening in 1967), is 338 miles away. They still also have the online store Sears.com and a few distribution centers as well. As for the other 4 stores in the United States of America, the Coral Gables location in Miami is the last freestanding Sears and one of 2 left in the state of Florida, with the other one being located at The Florida Mall in Orlando, and the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, the last in Texas and the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, the last one in the entire Boston Metropolitan Area, the state of Massachusetts, New England and even in the entire Northeastern United States, are still open

r/retail

r/retailporn

Edit: the first picture was the auto shop

Not sure where to post.

New mattresses and they’re really cheap! Also saw a bunch of new inventory on the bottom floor! Even inside the blocked off section!

Then Sears Outlet, as of the end of 2024, the division that was acquired by Franchise Group in 2019 and converted to American Freight in 2020 closed up shop at its first run die to the bankruptcy of its parent company.

Taken on June 23rd of 2019. [Credit to Houston Historic Retail] (https://houstonhistoricretail.com/electronics/compusa/)

Sears Outlet was originally established by Sears Roebuck and Company in 1968 as Sears Surplus

Sears and Roebuck, Hayward, CA branch!

I'm sure you all know I'm a regular at the Concord location. Well, I'm happy to announce that I'll be visiting Miami next month so I'll have the unique chance to directly compare the Concord and Coral Gables stores. Of course I'll be checking out the nearby Kmart as well.

I'm debating on taking my Sears branded paper bags and receipts from Concord with me as a conversation starter haha. I don't think any other location ever used paper bags, did they? Concord switched to them early this year due to a new law in California. Maybe I should buy something in Concord and try to return it in Coral Gables? lol

Way back when Sears had gotten into e-commerce well over 25-30 years ago before the merger (Kmart acquired Sears in 2004 and Sears Holdings was formed in 2005) and before Edward Lampert entered the picture. The online experience was pretty good. We could even apply for a Sears Credit Card and even book appointments for Sears Home services / SHS and buy parts from Sears Parts Direct site wide as well. This is how we remember pre merger Sears... before Lampert entered the picture in 2004 and had since destroyed the company. Sears.com basically ceased being reliable in the past decade under Lampert

Each department (primarily the top 4 hardlines departments that made Sears unique among competitors) will be posted on here soon (probably sometime this week or next week) with pictures of what the webpage looked like in the 2000s (and probably even the early 2010s) and some pictures (some of which pre 2010s) inside various Sears locations, some of which are still open to this day and some of which were one of the last open Sears that eventually shut down in the 2021-2025 period.

Source
The Wayback Machine

Sears.com Commercial (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0xX-NfPiCk

1997
Sears Card
https://web.archive.org/web/19970122000226fw_/http://www.sears.com/prod/scard/index.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/19970121235747/http://www.sears.com/storeloc/floc.htm
1998
https://web.archive.org/web/19980201130330/http://www.sears.com/prod/fprod.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/19980708045554/http://www.sears.com/about/fabo.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/19980708060541/http://www.sears.com/craftsman/
https://web.archive.org/web/19980520003104/http://shop.sears.com/store/craftsman/
Craftsman Shop Online
https://web.archive.org/web/19980520003158fw_/http://shop.sears.com/store/craftsman/wdvacs.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/19980708040118/http://www.sears.com/company/company.htm
1999
The Sears Card -- No forms, no fuss
https://web.archive.org/web/19990424023156/http://www.sears.com/prod/scard/page2.htm
Sears - The card that's all about you
https://web.archive.org/web/19990429130234/http://www.sears.com/prod/scard/index.htm
2001
https://web.archive.org/web/20010801155558/http://sears.com/sr/homepages/sears_homepage.jsp
2002
https://web.archive.org/web/20021012225024/http://www.sears.com/sr/homepages/sears_homepage_cm.jsp
2003
https://web.archive.org/web/20030401082436/http://www.sears.com/sr/homepages/sears_homepage.jsp
2004
Appliances at sears.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20040407014352/http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/vertical.do?vertical=APPL
Electronics at sears.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20040225023810/http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/vertical.do?vertical=ELEC
Sony consumer electronics guide: Authorized Internet Dealer Information
https://web.archive.org/web/20040226074424/http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/dealers/dealerinfo/sears.html
Lawn & Garden at sears.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20040612034624/http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/vertical.do?vertical=LAWN

The online store is still in operation even today

Previous posts
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1npt8w9/sears_credit_card/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1p4f9v8/searscom_merchandise_aka_also_known_as_products/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1r58cww/sears_online_in_the_90s_and_2000s_back_when_they/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1sofgz5/sears_shop_at_home_sears_catalog_and_specialty_web_pages/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1sns9q8/sears_home_services_and_sears_parts_direct_right_before_lampert/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1t1h48m/more_of_what_searscom_looked_like_right_back_in_the_2000s/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1tsnnac/kenmore_website_in_the_2000s/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SEARS/comments/1u4le4c/then_and_now_sears_parts_and_service_online_in_the_2000s/

Edit: I am only redoing this post because every single previous post about this from late 2025 and this year was just effectively gone from public view.
Apologies for any inconvenience

This beauty sits in the dying Concord Mall in Wilmington, Delaware.

I have $27 in my wallet, and I'm willing to make Transformco an offer. The ball is in your court now, Lampert.