OBIT FOR SEARS

Yii, our Sears Kenmore dishwasher, washing machine, vacuum--the fix-it booklets, where to phone for help and new parts, are now out of date.  

As of Aug. 4, the company still had 506 Sears locations including 482 full-line department stores and 360 Kmart stores. Sears is closing 78 right now, but soon all will be closed.

Farewell Sears/Kmart.


I didn't know Kmart purchased Sears--the two chains had a total of 3,500 US stores between them when they merged in 2005. We just happily continue to use stuff we bought from Sears in 1966, after my actor husband, John Cullum, finished playing a part in "Hawaii"--washcloths, towels, sheets, and a blue electric blanket that works better than the new blanket we bought at Bed & Bath.

Golly, I used "Sears" in my plays--in one, the antagonist referred to the heroine's fella as "A Sears Roebuck Buck of a lover." In my play that John directed in Seattle, the hero, heroine, and their cat and dog lived in a building like the Sears Tower in Chicago, that contained everything--they never left the building.

Of course I looked up the how and when of Sears. Young Richard Sears started a small mail-order catalog in 1888 with Alvah Roebuck, and sold watches and Jewelry. Six years later the catalog was 322 pages including sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods; then autos, dolls, stoves, and groceries were added. New owners joined the corporation, with clothing, drugs, hardware, furniture;  a house you could build yourself was featured in Sears famous Christmas catalog that I used in the mid nineties to furnish our Malibu log cabin home for about $900.

Sears Chapter 11 bankruptcy hit me like the death of a favorite film stars. That brief article on Time's obit page is yelling, telling me...

"Pat that blue electric blanket! Use/enjoy/ your Sears appliances."

Googling around just now,
Wow!

I found Kenmore Repair Stores galore!

Why cry? 
It's Bye Bye To A Store--Nothing More!