Sears to sell Craftsman to Stanley/B&D

On 1/7/2017 7:33 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 17:53:37 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>
>> On 1/7/2017 4:18 PM, John McCoy wrote:
>>> Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:x9mdneNfKupBnuzFnZ2dnUU7-
>>> [email protected]:
>>>
>>>> LOL.... I remember about 20 years ago wondering why FAX was still being
>>>> used over e-mail. Only now is Fax falling to e-mail and PDF's.
>>>
>>> Mostly because of Asians. Ideographic languages like Chinese,
>>> Japanese, and Korean, with thousands of characters, don't
>>> lend themselves to being typed into emails. So "hand written
>>> then faxed" messages remained the norm there until quite recently.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>
>>
>> An attorney friend mentioned to me, about 18 years ago, that FAX was the
>> only form of electronic document transfer that was recognized as
>> acceptable in the American Law system.
>>
> A FAX is considered a "remote original document" - it cannot be
> altered in transmission.

Well "cannot" be altered is relative. We got FAX, at work, that were
indistinguishable. If you do not have a clean line or a good fax
machine to send, the receiver gets altered documents. ;~)

But I understand what you are saying, a FAX cannot be hacked and changed
so to speak.





> A locked PDF is as close as you can get digitally, and is still not
> generally accepted as an "original" legally.
>

On 1/6/2017 11:21 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On 06 Jan 2017 03:41:11 GMT, Puckdropper
> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
>> news:[email protected]:
>>
>>>
>>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is
>>> over.
>>>
>>> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>>> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has
>>> been 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I
>>> made a purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according
>>> to NBC news.
>>>
>>> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon
>>> it.
>>
>> Malls are now all about the shallow side of the human: cell phones,
>> clothes, etc. The stores that capture and captivate your attention are
>> rare. There used to be a Radioshack in every mall (you've got questions,
>> we've got cell phones!), as well as a KB Toys. Some still have
>> bookstores, but even they are going to standalone stores.

In Houston we still have a few malls that you would dare step foot into
but the enclosed shopping concept is loosing favor to the large strip
centers. The problem with malls is that you don't know where to park
and you cannot walk directly into the store you want to go to. A mall
is like going to Ikea.

On Jan 5, 2017, Ed Pawlowski wrote
(in article <[email protected]>):

> On 1/5/2017 4:14 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> > On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> > > Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
> > > And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
> > >
> > > http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black
> > > -decker-140907321--finance.html
> >
> > I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
> > Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.
> >
> > I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
> > begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.
>
> They missed the boat a long time ago. Sers had a thriving catalog
> business. They should have turned that into something like Amazon
> before Amazon started up.

My recollection from the newspapers of the day is that the Catalog was losing
money, so after much agonizing, Sears closed its catalog, and laid 50,000
people off. I was stunned. The defense contractor I worked for at the time
had 20,000 employees, and produced far more paper than Sears Catalog ever
did. So, I can kinda guess what 20,000 of those Sears Catalog employees did,
which left the other 30,000 unaccounted for. With that kind of overstaffing,
no wonder they were losing money, with a bit of house cleaning, they could
have made money.


In the 1970s, I bought thousands of dollars worth of hand tools for working
on cars. Good stuff - still have and use it. The big debate of the day was if
Snap-On was worth their premium over Craftsman. Most of my friends did what I
did - Craftsman by default, Snap-On only if necessary.
The last technical thing I bought from Sears was an ordinary hose for
compressed air, probably 10 or 15 years ago. It was well made, but I
could’t get the hose to attach securely to threaded compressed air
connectors, like the Universal and IR and the like. It turned out that the
hose was equipped with oxygen fittings. My guess was that Sears had laid off
all the expensive grumpy old men who knew the difference, and who knew how to
use every tool Sears sold, and the newly-hired bright-eyed young thing
didn’t realize that air and oxygen are not quite the same thing.

I’d hazard that the self-defeating layoffs may have been a part of the
closing of the Catalog division.

Returned the hose, bought a Goodyear air hose from Home Depot. This hose
worked right from the box.

My guess that the Craftsman line will do better under Stanley/B&D, for all
their sins. At least Stanley/B&D know what an air hose is for. I wonder how
those bright-eyed young things will do under the new management.


Joe Gwinn

Interesting I got a letter from Sears - been a craftsman club member for
(have a card) almost 40 years. Maybe more.

They stated they will be continuing the line in the stores and add new
ones as they come out and have B&D there as well. They were paid for
the sale and will get more after a big cash payment. Then in 5 years or
so Sears will be paying percentage of sales. (3%) All sorts of details...

Time will tell. Don't forget Diehard and other trade names....
Silvertone is long gone.

Martin

On 1/8/2017 11:53 AM, Leon wrote:
> On 1/8/2017 10:35 AM, J. Clarke wrote:
>> In article <e53f370e-286c-47b5-96b8-4750c73cc302
>> @googlegroups.com>, [email protected]
>> says...
>>>
>>> On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:33:36 PM UTC-6, woodchucker wrote:
>>>> On 1/5/2017 1:40 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>>>>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yep, not sure how selling off the better selling lines will save Sears.
>>>> If you sell them, you get quick cash, but then what?
>>>>
>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly. Been 2 years that I have
>>>> been waiting for them to give up. Last Christmas, no one was in the
>>>> store I went to, while all the other stores were packed.
>>>>
>>>> The craftsman line is not what it once was. Too bad. But don't look to
>>>> Stanley, B&D to bring it back. They are horrendous at managing the tool
>>>> lines..
>>>>
>>>> Dewalt, B&D, Milwaukee, Stanley, are all former shells of what they
>>>> once
>>>> were. The latest one to drop was Milwaukee, with people lamenting that
>>>> the quality has dropped.
>>>>
>>>> Even B&D coffee maker sucks now.
>>>>
>>>> I don't see this as a bad thing, nor a good thing.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jeff
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>>>> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>>>
>>> Does not bode well for quality but I've got a few Craftsman tools and
>>> for parts and service I'm glad a company without a foot in the grave
>>> will take over.
>>
>> I'm kind of tempted to drop the bucks for one of
>> their big mechanic tool sets before they're
>> gone. OTOH, I've been taking the Jeep apart for
>> years now with a 50 buck Harbor Freight set so
>> maybe not.
>>
>
>
> Craftsman will still be around, it is Sears that might disappear. You
> can get craftsman at 6 other brand stores too.
>
> https://www.craftsman.com/where-to-buy?location=77407
>
> You might also consider Northern Tool for tools too. We have a few of
> their stores in the Houston area and they, compared to HF, are much
> nicer and do carry brand name tools.
>
> BUT they have their own brand of sockets and wrenches that resemble the
> slick chrome that SnapOn sells/used to sell.
> The wrenches are pretty darn inexpensive and have a life time warranty.
> I have a few of their wrenches for special use and am impressed for the
> money.
>
>
> I bought this particular wrench to replace the wrench that came with the
> router. Like Craftsman you can buy individual wrenches.
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/lcb11211/32151724796/in/dateposted-public/
>
>
>
>

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 12:01:23 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> On 1/13/2017 9:41 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> > On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 10:33:14 AM UTC-5, Jack wrote:
> >> On 1/12/2017 5:59 PM, Leon wrote:
> >>> On 1/12/2017 10:53 AM, -MIKE- wrote:
> >>>> On 1/12/17 9:48 AM, Leon wrote:
> >>>>> On 1/12/2017 9:37 AM, Jack wrote:
> >>>>>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> >>>>>>> On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 10:17:14 AM UTC-6, Jack wrote:
> >>>>>>>> Sears should be where Amazon is today, based on their long
> >>>>>>>> history of
> >>>>>>>> catalog and mail order sales.>
> >>>>>>>> --
> >>>>>>>> Jack
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
> >>>>>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
> >>>>>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
> >>>>>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
> >>>>>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
> >>>>>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
> >>>>>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
> >>>>>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
> >>>>>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
> >>>>>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
> >>>>>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> It's not hindsight, it is now. Sears could have easily shifted to
> >>>>>> online sales at any time, but my guess is management had their
> >>>>>> collective heads where the sun don't shine.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Sears has had on line sales for most of this millennium.
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> But like Walmart, for most stuff they are simply redirecting to "partner
> >>>> vendors."
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I see that as an increasing trend. Best Buy too.
> >>
> >> Amazon as well, and if buying enough stuff for free shipping, you have
> >> to be very careful the "partner" isn't gouging you on shipping which
> >> isn't included in the free shipping part. Amazon can make it a bit
> >> confusing to say the least, and thus, more diligence required, the less
> >> trust they get.
> >>
> >
> > I recently had a situation where I bought a $42 item and got a message
> > saying that if I added a $7 item I could get free shipping. I found a
> > blade for my oscillating tool that was labeled as an "add-on" item,
> > one that Amazon describes as:
> >
> > "The Add-on program allows Amazon to offer thousands of low-priced items
> > that would be cost-prohibitive to ship on their own."
> >
> > I put it in my cart and my shipping cost was reduced to $0.
> >
> > I then received 2 different emails, one for each item, with different
> > tracking numbers and different delivery dates. The $42 item arrived last
> > Friday, the $7 item arrived yesterday. So much for their "cost-prohibitive
> > to ship on their own" criteria.
> >
>
>
> I have noticed that too but to be fair, I see it happen on all prime
> orders regardless of cost too.
> You have to think that Amazon is loosing money on items that sell for $5
> and have free second day delivery.
>
> They cannot look at each individual sale and determine the logistics for
> each. They had to come up with a happy medium. Some times it works out
> better for them, sometimes it does not. If they analyze each order and
> make each order work in their favor customers will get tired of the math.

Just FYI...

If you need to pad an order to get free shipping, you can search for
low priced items by using generic search terms such as:

filler items under 20
or
add on under 15

You can even be more specific by using terms like "tools under 7"

It's not perfect in that you may get some higher priced items, but it
narrows the selection to make padding the order much easier.

On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>
> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html

I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.

I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 10:21:54 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 1/7/2017 9:40 AM, Leon wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 10:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 18:55:28 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 1/6/2017 4:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>>>
>>>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>>>
>>>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found
>>>>> them
>>>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don't think so. I have a peeve with Amazon. Originally free shipping
>>>> over $25.. then they moved it to $35, and quickly thereafter to $49... I
>>>> understand the $35, but the $49 was not necessary. It was to make you
>>>> buy into PRIME.. and that's where my disdain lies. I understood when
>>>> they said in order for them to remain profitable they had to move to
>>>> $35.. That I got..
>>>
>>> I just keep adding stuff to my cart until it gets to the $49
>>> threshold. It's really not that much money.
>>>
>>
>>
>> LOL, that strategy payed off for them in your case. ;~) I have been
>> tempted to do that on occasion and think to my self, am I really saving,
>> money and or time, by buying from Amazon if I spend more than I intended?
>>
>> With Prime I buy only what I need at the time. If I make 3 separate
>> orders in one day they still ship for free.
>>
>
>Are you really saving when you spend over $100 to join prime?
>In my case I don't watch much TV, so I wouldn't benefit by the TV shows.

Most TV shows are available online, anyway. Our DVR often screws up
so we just go to the network's on demand site and watch. The only
down side is that fast-forward doesn't work.

>I prefer to spend it in the shop. I guess my wife would watch, but my
>high speed is limited to 6mb as I live out in the boonies.

We just got AT&T Uverse this year. Before that we had AT&T DSL
(*maybe* 6Mb but usually no more than 3Mb), so I feel your pain. BTW,
Uverse is far from perfect. It just stops for a few seconds, fairly
often. TV stuff is buffered enough that it isn't affected much but
streaming on the computer or audio has real problems.
>
>I have noticed that with my son's Prime there are a lot of items that
>are ineligible to add to your cart on prime.. meaning you have to add
>more items before they will ship that on prime.. I would have to look
>back on my purchases to around april last year, but I had to pad an
>order for them to ship cerain things even through prime. Even though I
>had spent enough, those items did not add to the total b4 shipping. WTF!!!
>
>I do think the 2 day is nice, he ordered a bunch of stuff for Christmas
>and had it shipped here. Often it came before 8:30 in the morn.
>Sometimes b4 8.

On Mon, 9 Jan 2017 09:19:59 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/9/2017 8:48 AM, notbob wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Martin Eastburn <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Time will tell. Don't forget Diehard and other trade names....
>>
>> Hard to forget brand names I avoid like the plague. My boss bought a
>> Diehard marine battery. We hadda replace it within the week.
>
>FWIW, most all batteries are manufactured by just a few manufacturers.
>No batteries are exempt from being DOA. Personally I have had good luck
>with DieHard and what ever brand Toyota sells.

Sure but, just like appliances, they are made to the seller's
specifications and they are treated differently by the retailers
before installation.

On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 16:01:39 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 3:13 PM, Jack wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 2:28 PM, Leon wrote:
>>> On 1/6/2017 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
>>>> On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>>> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.
>>>>
>>>> This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
>>>> are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
>>>> adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.
>>>
>>> KMart needed extra funds, more money than their spectacular profits
>>> could provide back in the early 90's. They needed funds to offset the
>>> extremely high pension payments that retiring family owners were
>>> collecting. As profitable as it was KMart could not sustain payments to
>>> the owners that were collecting pensions. So you look for a profitable
>>> company to help pay costs that the family members pensions would not
>>> affect. Enter Sears.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
>>>> pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
>>>> traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
>>>> did not. They're done for.
>>>>
>>>> Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
>>>> mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
>>>> but good for the marketplace overall.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> While all of what you have said plays a factor, the problem started 25
>>> years ago and it was not related to pricing, competition, or product
>>> quality.
>>
>> I recall buying a sandblaster at a relatively new Sears store about
>> 25/30 years ago. I looked for a salesman to sell me the thing for over
>> a half our. Finally I somehow found a manager bouncing around and
>> raised hell with him, asked him how long he thought they would be in
>> business if no one could find a salesman. Place closed about 3 years
>> later.
>
>Not every store has a good location or a smart manager. One store does
>not reflect the sum of the stores. Remember Woolco? The Woolco store
>in Corpus Christi, TX would still be open today if it could have
>continued to operate. I worked there when I was going to school. It
>was not unusual at all for an ambulance to show up every weekend to haul
>some one away. The store was so crowded that people passed out, no
>kidding. Woolco was one of the first big stores to close.

Store anagers have very limited power, these days. Their weekly (even
hourly) payrol is often fixed by corporate. Inventory and shelf space
is also often dictated by corporate, even though the store manager may
understand his customers better.
>
>
>
>>
>> Also, about 2 years ago I needed some shelf brackets. Sears had them
>> for .79 cents apiece. I asked if they were mis-priced, as they should
>> be about a nickel each. Found them on line, 25 for $1.49.
>
>You can always find a better deal but there is a price to pay for
>getting the product right now vs. tomorrow or later.
>
>I was reading that ACE hardware and Aldi were a couple of brand stores
>that are doing well and growing. I went to ACE hardware a month ago to
>buy 8 magnetic cabinet door catches. 8 would have cost me $26. I drove
>4 miles north and got the 8 catches at HD for $3.

There is one ACE store locally. It's OK but their inventory is often
lacking. They seem to want to sell Green Eggs and accessories, Yeti
coolers, and such, rather than hardware. They do have some _way_
overpriced tools. BTW, the local HD and Lowes hardware sections
aren't any better.

>>
>> When you have fools running a business, competition will kill you
>> eventually.
>>
>
>True but there are many more factors the will sink you.

Jack <[email protected]> writes:

>Every time I went into Radio shack I had to give them my name, address,
>phone number, wife's maiden name, first born's name, favorite dogs name
>and other assorted stupid crap. I once tried to buy without giving them
>the info and they wouldn't sell to me until I did.

I'd tell them no[*], and they'd still sell to me. Your experience seems
unusual, I frequented radioshack in several states throughout the
70's and 80's.

In any case, you could certainly have lied.

[*] "My name is cash".

On 1/5/2017 4:14 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>>
>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>
> I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
> Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.
>
> I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
> begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.
>

They missed the boat a long time ago. Sers had a thriving catalog
business. They should have turned that into something like Amazon
before Amazon started up.

On 1/6/2017 4:13 PM, Jack wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 2:28 PM, Leon wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
>>> On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.
>>>
>>> This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
>>> are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
>>> adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.
>>
>> KMart needed extra funds, more money than their spectacular profits
>> could provide back in the early 90's. They needed funds to offset the
>> extremely high pension payments that retiring family owners were
>> collecting. As profitable as it was KMart could not sustain payments to
>> the owners that were collecting pensions. So you look for a profitable
>> company to help pay costs that the family members pensions would not
>> affect. Enter Sears.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
>>> pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
>>> traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
>>> did not. They're done for.
>>>
>>> Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
>>> mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
>>> but good for the marketplace overall.
>>>
>>>
>> While all of what you have said plays a factor, the problem started 25
>> years ago and it was not related to pricing, competition, or product
>> quality.
>
> I recall buying a sandblaster at a relatively new Sears store about
> 25/30 years ago. I looked for a salesman to sell me the thing for over
> a half our. Finally I somehow found a manager bouncing around and
> raised hell with him, asked him how long he thought they would be in
> business if no one could find a salesman. Place closed about 3 years
> later.
>
> Also, about 2 years ago I needed some shelf brackets. Sears had them
> for .79 cents apiece. I asked if they were mis-priced, as they should
> be about a nickel each. Found them on line, 25 for $1.49.
>
> When you have fools running a business, competition will kill you
> eventually.
>
Shelf brackets for a nickel apiece 2 years ago??? Maybe 50 years ago

--
Jeff

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 17:53:37 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/7/2017 4:18 PM, John McCoy wrote:
>> Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:x9mdneNfKupBnuzFnZ2dnUU7-
>> [email protected]:
>>
>>> LOL.... I remember about 20 years ago wondering why FAX was still being
>>> used over e-mail. Only now is Fax falling to e-mail and PDF's.
>>
>> Mostly because of Asians. Ideographic languages like Chinese,
>> Japanese, and Korean, with thousands of characters, don't
>> lend themselves to being typed into emails. So "hand written
>> then faxed" messages remained the norm there until quite recently.
>>
>> John
>>
>
>
>An attorney friend mentioned to me, about 18 years ago, that FAX was the
>only form of electronic document transfer that was recognized as
>acceptable in the American Law system.
>
Exactly. PDF/Internet may be acceptable now but it wasn't five years
ago.

On Friday, January 6, 2017 at 10:15:58 AM UTC-6, John McCoy wrote:
> Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:=20
>=20
> > They missed the boat a long time ago. Sers had a thriving catalog=20
> > business. They should have turned that into something like Amazon=20
> > before Amazon started up.
>=20
> Hah, I just posted a long post saying the same thing before
> reading this one. You're quite correct in that thought.
>=20
> John

Not to disparage you guys, but you are basically saying Sears should have b=
een able to predict the future. Everything would be better if we could all=
do that. Sears did not predict the future so they did not use their catal=
og business to become the major retail seller of the future. If that is th=
e logic you are using then we are all idiots because we did not invent Appl=
e before Jobs and Wozniak did in 1976. Why didn't you know computers and m=
obile phones and online was the future? Are you stupid? Who sitting here =
today knew that buying stuff from home using a computer was the future? Sh=
opping in stores was out?

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> writes:
>On 1/12/2017 5:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
>>>
>>
>> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
>> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
>> while others were selling them for 30% less.
>>
>> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for equipment.
>
>
>Exactly, IIRC theiy assembled equipment was terrible.

The Tandy and Realistic brands were actually reasonably good
in quality and performance. Particularly their radio
gear. I still use three Radio Shack scanners on a daily
basis, and the oldest is about thirty years on at this point.

We have a lot of Fry's electronics superstores in the area
which still carry components and sell computers. They've
been significantly undercut by Amazon and NewEgg for computers,
so they've cut way back on computer stuff (although they still
support the build-it-yourself crowd reasonably well); they've
expanded into home appliances, but still the stores aren't
what they used to be.

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 9:48:36 AM UTC-5, notbob wrote:
> > Martin Eastburn <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> Time will tell. Don't forget Diehard and other trade names....
>
> Hard to forget brand names I avoid like the plague. My boss bought a
> Diehard marine battery. We hadda replace it within the week.
>
> >> Silvertone is long gone.
>
> Thank goodness fer small favors! I once had a Silvertone bass
> amplifier. Brand new, it was already crap and I returned it to Sears
> the next day.
>
> Their guitars/basses were made by Dan Electro and they were also junk.
> I hadda buddy who bragged he'd scored a DE Long-Horn bass. He paid
> $600 for it and thought he's scored some kinda hot deal. I played it
> and told him, "This cost about $75USD, new, and it certainly isn't
> worth that much, now". I found another DE guitar at my jammin'
> buddy's house. I'm not sure, but I think the high-end strings I gave
> him ($10 set), to re-string that guitar, were worth more than the
> guitar.
>
> You see a lotta Dan Electro's in use, these days. The "lipstick"
> pick-up is held in high esteem by many of today's hipsters. The
> guitar, itself, is still essentially junk. ;)
>
> nb

They're not Dan Electro guitars, they're Danelectro guitars.

You lose a little credibility when you call them Dan Electro guitars.
Almost makes one think that you don't know what you are talking about.

On 1/5/2017 8:25 PM, [email protected] wrote:

>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is over.
>>
>
> I did say "I don't think malls are the gathering place they used to be." To me that means exactly the same thing as "the era of the mall is over." The value, or maybe old value, of Sears is its real estate value. I am aware malls are not really the shopping centers they used to be. But all that real estate in every state in retail locations has value. Despite the prevalence of online shopping, the way I do a lot of shopping too, actual real estate space is still needed and valuable. There is still far more in person retail space shopping than all online shopping combined. Believe it or not. Add up all the grocery store, gas station, hardware store, Wal-Mart shopping I do in a year, and it is a lot more than all online shopping I do. Suspect that is identical for everyone else. Everyone talks about online shopping, but it will never ever replace in person shopping.
>

I don't know how much real estate Sears owns, but mall space is usually
leased. They may have more liability to the end of the lease that what
the space is worth.

I agree that retail will never disappear, but look around at how much
empty space is available. how many malls have empty spots? I know of
three stip malls built about 8 or 9 years ago. One is 100% empty, the
other two are 75% empty.

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 12:13:22 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/7/2017 10:44 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 09:27:34 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/6/2017 11:21 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>> On 06 Jan 2017 03:41:11 GMT, Puckdropper
>>>> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>> news:[email protected]:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is
>>>>>> over.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>>>>>> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has
>>>>>> been 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I
>>>>>> made a purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according
>>>>>> to NBC news.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon
>>>>>> it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Malls are now all about the shallow side of the human: cell phones,
>>>>> clothes, etc. The stores that capture and captivate your attention are
>>>>> rare. There used to be a Radioshack in every mall (you've got questions,
>>>>> we've got cell phones!), as well as a KB Toys. Some still have
>>>>> bookstores, but even they are going to standalone stores.
>>>
>>> In Houston we still have a few malls that you would dare step foot into
>>> but the enclosed shopping concept is loosing favor to the large strip
>>> centers. The problem with malls is that you don't know where to park
>>> and you cannot walk directly into the store you want to go to. A mall
>>> is like going to Ikea.
>>
>> Again, I think the difference is weather. In the North, mega-malls
>> are still popular because one can get out and walk in the Winter
>> without freezing. In the South, this isn't a problem even in the
>> Summer.
>
>You think? LOL In the south we do not relish going from from store in
>100 degree heat. I really don't like to park anywhere except in front
>of the store I want to go into.

I've lived both places. I'd *much* rather 100F than -30F. There is a
reason I don't live in Vermont anymore. Well, there are a lot of
reasons but that's on the list. ;-)

>I do see the mall as being a benefit when there is snow on the ground.
>FWIW it was 19 degrees here this morning, while a norm for you northern
>folks, you probably were not at 84 degrees earlier in the week or
>expecting to be back near 80 on Wednesday. That is about a 120 degree
>temp swing in a week.

That wasn't even rare in Vermont, though startin 50F colder. ;-)
I remember a 100F swing, one year.

It was cold here, too, and a fair amount of ice. It was mostly gone
(roads clear) by noon. I doubt that out heat pump will keep up
tonight.
>>
>> Don't understand your Ikea reference. We have a store but parking is
>> trivial. It's all in the basement levels of the store (two levels of
>> parking and two of store). We've only been there twice in the five
>> years we've been here (don't like driving on the streets in large
>> cities) but we just happened to be there a couple of weeks ago.
>
>Ikwa is not designed for the customer to walk in, go straight to what he
>wants, and straight to the registers. Ikea's here pretty much force you
>to walk through the whole store, a very convoluted path to get out.

Ah, right. The grand tour. We count steps, so that's not all bad.
;-)

On 1/6/2017 9:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
> woodchucker <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> Yep, not sure how selling off the better selling lines will save
>> Sears. If you sell them, you get quick cash, but then what?
>
> Sears management beleives (or has deluded themselves into
> beleiving, or more likely is trying to delude the share-
> holders into beleiving) that with a little time and investment
> they can recover the business. With current costs exceeding
> revenues, they have neither time nor funds to invest. Hence
> the idea that selling assets will give them time & money to
> fix the problem.
>
>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>
> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
> (and, of course, Amazon).
>
> John
>


FWIW and this may have changed, in the early 90's KMart acquired/teamed
up/became partners with Sears. According to the money
managers/investment strategists, that was handling the retirement funds
for the company that I worked for at that time, KMart was in dire
straights at that point. It was explained that their business plan,
KMart, and sales were doing very well.
The problem, as it was explained to us, is that KMart was a lot like
Walmart, a number of family members that ran KMart were retiring with
spectacular pensions. KMart was bleeding to death, even back then, from
the pension plans the the family members were collecting. Supposedly
the pension plans were literally draining all net profits and then some.

On Sun, 8 Jan 2017 13:18:42 -0500, "J. Clarke"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>>
>> On 1/7/17 3:43 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> > On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 23:22:41 -0600, -MIKE- <[email protected]>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> On 1/6/17 10:45 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> >>> On Fri, 06 Jan 2017 19:34:58 -0500, [email protected] wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 15:52:47 -0600, Leon
>> >>>> <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>> On 1/6/2017 3:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>> >>>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>> >>>>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure
>> >>>>>>> out "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has
>> >>>>>>> moved on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar
>> >>>>>>> General (and, of course, Amazon).
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony
>> >>>>>> earphones. Amazon doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus
>> >>>>>> shipping. I finally found them online at Walmart for $14
>> >>>>>> and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up, and if Amazon
>> >>>>>> isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Not everything purchased through Amazon is supplied or sold
>> >>>>> by Amazon. There are thousands of retailers selling their
>> >>>>> goods on Amazon and they ship direct from their stores, and
>> >>>>> they have all different prices and many are not even in the
>> >>>>> ball park of being competitively priced.
>> >>>> But being aligned with Amazon, the (sheeple) public are
>> >>>> convinced they are getting the deal of the century - just
>> >>>> because they bought it online from Amazon - - - - - - .
>> >>>
>> >>> Sure. Sometimes paying the $13 is less painful than spending a
>> >>> day finding the cheapest price.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> Not only that, but many times you do indeed get the best price. If
>> >> you happen to be within a certain distance of a warehouse you can
>> >> get same day delivery. I had a friend who ordered a printer and had
>> >> it delivered to his door two hours later. He went on Amazon and
>> >> spent about 15 minutes finding the printer he needed at the best
>> >> price, hit a button and had it on his door step 2 hours later. He
>> >> could've spent two hours driving around town, from store to store,
>> >> wasting gas, wasting time, getting pissed off in traffic, and
>> >> gotten the same printer, maybe at the same price. But no, he was
>> >> sitting at home, in his studio, making money, no gas, no driving,
>> >> no frustration, and the printer was at his front door in two
>> >> hours.
>> >>
>> >> In a way Amazon is merging new school and old school. There was a
>> >> time when groceries and drug stores, and appliance stores delivered
>> >> things to your home and it was considered normal. Amazon is
>> >> bringing that back along with everything that is new in technology
>> >> and consumerism.
>> > That only works if you are just down the road from an Amazon
>> > warehouse. They'd need a cruise missile to get a printer to me in 2
>> > hours. I can usually count on 3 days for a "fast" delivery if it is
>> > coming from Canada - a week if it has to cross the border.
>> >
>>
>> Correct, it's different for different areas.
>> Keep in mind, though, that the way Amazon is expanding, a year or two
>> from now you might have the same experience that we do.
>
>Which suggests to me that Amazon is engaging in
>exactly the kind of overexpansion that killed a
>lot of brick-and-mortar stores. Their prices
>have risen to a level where I don't use them
>anymore unless I need something I can't get
>locally.
That is my situation too - not using Amazon, but any internet
source. There is a lot of stuff I can't buy for any price locally -
that I end up odering "on line" - but if it is avaialble near by I
choose to support my local businesses unless they are WAY out of line
price-wise. The convenience of being able to see it and pick it up NOW
is worth something. Not getting what you asked for can be bad enough
buying locally - when ordering across country and getting the wrong
stuff it is a TOTAL PAIN.

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 10:33:14 AM UTC-5, Jack wrote:
> On 1/12/2017 5:59 PM, Leon wrote:
> > On 1/12/2017 10:53 AM, -MIKE- wrote:
> >> On 1/12/17 9:48 AM, Leon wrote:
> >>> On 1/12/2017 9:37 AM, Jack wrote:
> >>>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> >>>>> On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 10:17:14 AM UTC-6, Jack wrote:
> >>>>>> Sears should be where Amazon is today, based on their long
> >>>>>> history of
> >>>>>> catalog and mail order sales.>
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Jack
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
> >>>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
> >>>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
> >>>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
> >>>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
> >>>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
> >>>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
> >>>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
> >>>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
> >>>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
> >>>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
> >>>>
> >>>> It's not hindsight, it is now. Sears could have easily shifted to
> >>>> online sales at any time, but my guess is management had their
> >>>> collective heads where the sun don't shine.
> >>>
> >>> Sears has had on line sales for most of this millennium.
> >>>
> >>
> >> But like Walmart, for most stuff they are simply redirecting to "partner
> >> vendors."
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > I see that as an increasing trend. Best Buy too.
>
> Amazon as well, and if buying enough stuff for free shipping, you have
> to be very careful the "partner" isn't gouging you on shipping which
> isn't included in the free shipping part. Amazon can make it a bit
> confusing to say the least, and thus, more diligence required, the less
> trust they get.
>

I recently had a situation where I bought a $42 item and got a message
saying that if I added a $7 item I could get free shipping. I found a
blade for my oscillating tool that was labeled as an "add-on" item,
one that Amazon describes as:

"The Add-on program allows Amazon to offer thousands of low-priced items
that would be cost-prohibitive to ship on their own."

I put it in my cart and my shipping cost was reduced to $0.

I then received 2 different emails, one for each item, with different
tracking numbers and different delivery dates. The $42 item arrived last
Friday, the $7 item arrived yesterday. So much for their "cost-prohibitive
to ship on their own" criteria.

On 1/12/2017 9:37 AM, Jack wrote:
> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 10:17:14 AM UTC-6, Jack wrote:
>>> Sears should be where Amazon is today, based on their long history of
>>> catalog and mail order sales.>
>>> --
>>> Jack
>>>
>>
>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
>
> It's not hindsight, it is now. Sears could have easily shifted to
> online sales at any time, but my guess is management had their
> collective heads where the sun don't shine.

Sears has had on line sales for most of this millennium.

>
> Amazon started from scratch, Sears had a long history of catalog sales.
> They blew it big time by ignoring the CURRENT trends. How on earth could
> a retail store with a history of catalog sales IGNORE Amazon? Brain
> dead is what I think.
>

You have always been able to order from Sears whether by catalog or
later on line.

On 1/12/2017 9:17 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> writes:
>> On 1/12/2017 5:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
>>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
>>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
>>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
>>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
>>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
>>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
>>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
>>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
>>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
>>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
>>> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
>>> while others were selling them for 30% less.
>>>
>>> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for equipment.
>>
>>
>> Exactly, IIRC theiy assembled equipment was terrible.
>
> The Tandy and Realistic brands were actually reasonably good
> in quality and performance. Particularly their radio
> gear. I still use three Radio Shack scanners on a daily
> basis, and the oldest is about thirty years on at this point.

IIRC my Recorder was a Realistic but the meters were pretty decent.



>
> We have a lot of Fry's electronics superstores in the area
> which still carry components and sell computers. They've
> been significantly undercut by Amazon and NewEgg for computers,
> so they've cut way back on computer stuff (although they still
> support the build-it-yourself crowd reasonably well); they've
> expanded into home appliances, but still the stores aren't
> what they used to be.
>
How is Fry's holding up there? About 10 years ago a Fry's was built
near wher I used to live in SW Houston. That store was great for
several years but in the last 3 or so years it appears to be turning
into a "dollar store". Software selection is way down, isles have very
few choices, and there appears to be a big push toward Chinese made kids
toys.

On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 19:11:06 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>I disagree. Sears had a big hand in it. And yes the public did too.
>But they did it because Sears was not servicing their needs. I grew up
>on Long Island they had a store in Hicksville. Their largest from what I
>understand. My dad and I were there 2 - 3 times a week. They had
>hardware and tools. Then the hardware disappeared. Then the tool area
>got really small. They were more interested in soft goods. Well
>without the hardware we were now going every couple of weeks. You see
>to us, that was their loss leader to get us in the store. My dad often
>bought tools he didn't need because they were caught his interest while
>he was there for hardware.
>
>When I was in my 20's and now in NJ I needed to replace a broken breaker
>bar, and some ratchets that didn't work. The salesman gave me a hard
>time and told me that I should buy a 1/2 breaker bar since the 3/8
>failed. I had to argue to get my just deserved warranty.. He said if it
>broke I was miss using it, and it was too undersized. I had decided
>that was too much work to get what was promised.
>
>I also fell prey to the Die Hard battery scam. My short lived very
>expensive car battery, that died hard and the pro rating wound up
>costing me heavily for another battery that lasted a short time. I
>replaced that with an Exide and was happy (1980s). I remember reading a
>few years later that there was a scam of used or dead batteries being
>given as new.. it's so long ago, I am sketchy on the details. But they
>were charged and did face the charges. They admitted nothing, but would
>offer something to people who were affected... Guilty as far as I am
>concerned.

My remembrance of Sears from childhood was walk into the Golf Mill
anchor and getting warm roasted cashews.

On 1/7/2017 5:55 PM, [email protected] wrote:

>> There may be a fix. ;~)
>> When we moved into the home we had build 6 years ago we switched to
>> Uverse TV, phone and internet.
>> Service was so unreliable that many on our block dropped Uverse when it
>> went out for the 3rd time for 4 straight days. We dropped the TV and
>> eventually the phone. The Uverse DVR does not work like most DVR's,
>> when the service goes down you loose use of recordings in addition to
>> the internet and phone.
>
> The Comcast DVR I had for the short time I was in an appartment was
> the same.
>>
>> Anyway I had a problem with our internet service through Uverse and the
>> repair guy come out to fix their problem. I mentioned that the TV often
>> stopped and he said it was the box on the outside of out house that was
>> the problem but they would not repair that. The box was only 5 years
>> old at the time. He did say that I could have the box replaced for free
>> if I simply upgraded my internet speed to above 24 gig IIRC. The faster
>> speeds required the latest versions of the "box". He indicated that I
>> could upgrade the speed for a month and change back to my previous
>> speed. He stressed that your contract dies not dictate the speed only
>> that you continue service. I was out of contract anyway but it was good
>> to know.
>
> All of our hardware is new. They just installed the fiber a couple of
> years ago and just allowed us to connect in '16. All of our hardware
> has been replaced (some of it, twice) since then, too.


>
>> I did upgrade my speed to what they now call Fiber at 300 gig and the
>> box was replaced at no extra charge. Very fast and no more TV stopping
>> for a few seconds.
>> Unfortunately for us the internet being 20 times faster than our
>> previous speed is pretty much wasted unless checking my internet speed
>> on a speed test. If we download a TV show through DirecTV it takes a
>> long time still. You still have to wait a little while so that it
>> does not buffer. An On Demand movie might be faster.
>>
>> Down loading large software updates or programs happens in a snap
>> however. And for a whole my up load was 300gig also they have throttled
>> that back to about 75. I don't see the difference between 300 and 75.
>> It is like trying to distinguish the difference between 1 second and a
>> quarter second.
>>
>>
>> Any way........ If you can get the newer box your hesitation may stop.
>>
> They've been in the house at least six times in the eight months, or
> so, that we've had the service. Most of the problems didn't relate to
> the Internet but everything was new and has been replaced at least
> once.
>>
Well Uverse was never great for us and one of the reasons we dumped it.
From what I understand Uverse is on the chopping block since ATT
acquired DirecTV.

My TV hesitation was with streaming through the internet and through my
DirecTV DVR. The new box cured the problem. I might add that the fiber
comes up to my house but was not being used to it's full potential until
the faster internet speeds were offered with the new boxes.

On Sun, 8 Jan 2017 11:26:35 -0500, "J. Clarke"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>[email protected] says...
>>
>> On 1/5/2017 6:17 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> > Sears today supposedly has value because of all the real estate it owns-occupies in malls across the country. Not because it has retail sales. The sales side started dying awhile ago. And likely will continue. K-Mart never upped its game to compete with Wal-Mart. So it is gone now. The Craftsman, Kenmore, Diehard brands are all good. But now days its easy to buy the same quality or better easily. No need to go to a Sears store.
>> >
>> > And I do not know if the real estate value of Sears is good anymore either. I don't think malls are the gathering place they used to be. Several of the older malls in my half million people town have slowly withered. There is a NEW mall that is a happening place. But older malls, no. New, yes. Times have changed and Sears did not change with them.
>> >
>>
>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is over.
>>
>> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has been
>> 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I made a
>> purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according to NBC
>> news.
>>
>> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon it.
>
>How do they know? Hint--you can order online at
>Macys, and the online store has some stuff (Big
>& Tall sizes for example) that the brick and
>mortar stores have to special order.
Sears Canada just recently got their S--t together on their website
too - electronic version of catalog shopping looks half decent. Take a
look at sears.ca

On 1/5/2017 3:14 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>>
>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>
> I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
> Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.

Wow, Kenmore has had a good reputation and is exclusive to Sears. If
they get rid of that brand there really will be no reason for me to go
to their stores. But really Kenmore is simply a rebadged Whirlpool,
Amana, GE, or Bosch appliance.


>
> I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
> begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.
>

IIRC they have had 20 straight loosing quarters, they have to reduce
their fixed expenses to a manageable level and get rid of the
non-profitable stores.

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 08:29:22 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 6:34 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 15:52:47 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/6/2017 3:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>>
>>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>>
>>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Not everything purchased through Amazon is supplied or sold by Amazon.
>>> There are thousands of retailers selling their goods on Amazon and they
>>> ship direct from their stores, and they have all different prices and
>>> many are not even in the ball park of being competitively priced.
>> But being aligned with Amazon, the (sheeple) public are convinced
>> they are getting the deal of the century - just because they bought it
>> online from Amazon - - - - - - .
>>
>
>
>This is true but it is staring you in the face most of the time. Often
>you see the words, may be at a lower price by others. Click the link
>and the pricing goes all over the spectrum.

The thing that's pissing me off about Amazon is their search engine is
awful. It often pulls up similar but completely useless stuff. You
have to be _very_ careful that what you select is what you really
want.

On 1/5/2017 12:40 PM, Leon wrote:
> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>
> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>


Sears is selling Craftsman, most all of us assume just the tools. I
wonder what will become of the Craftsman lawn mowers/lawn power tools,
and Craftsman Garage door openers.

The article says that Sears will pay Stanley 3% royalty after 15 years.
That sounded odd to me as I sure they will continue to sell Craftsman
products so paying back 3% did not make sense if they are buying the
product from Stanley. Stanly could simply increase the cost to Sears by
3% BUT if they continue to use the Craftsman name on the items that
Stanley will not be buying, like the Chamberlain and Genie made
Craftsman Garage door openers, and or who ever manufactures the
Craftsman yard equipment, that may be where the 3% royalty kicks in.

notbob <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 2017-01-09, Spalted Walt <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I'll just leave these here for you to scoff at:
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Danelectro_players
>
> Yes, well is it as many ppl as those who voted for the Drumpf-kin or eat
> at McDonalds?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/grD_IINiH9c?autoplay=1

> *****MAJOR NEWS HEADLINE!*****
>
> Zombies Call Off Zombie Apocalypse When It's Discovered America Has No
> Brains!

http://i.imgur.com/h16JZhV.jpg

> *****

HAND

On 1/15/2017 12:23 PM, J. Clarke wrote:

>
> It can. At the other end, Walmart sometimes has
> products with the same SKU as the ones you buy
> elsewhere but the product has been cheapened in
> some way, which is something I really wish the
> FTC would start stepping on.

Do you have evidence of that? I've heard the rumor a hundred times but
no one has ever given a specific.

My DeWalt miter saw came from Home Depot with a free sander for $20 less
than the local hardware store for the saw alone. The hardware store
told me it was made cheaper in spite of the same model number. When
asked what was different, they did not know.

Just like the signs:
Our gas has no water
Our wood has no termites

I've never seen a side be side comparison done.

HP used to have different model printers, ie 850 vs. 855 vs 855I but
they were all the same printer but different software for different
sellers at different prices.

On 1/5/2017 4:32 PM, Markem wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 13:14:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>>>
>>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>>
>> I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
>> Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.
>>
>> I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
>> begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.
>
> Kenmore is just other appliance manufacturers relabeled, guess some
> one will buy, P T Barnum is right again. DieHard the same thing.
>

It's interesting but this announcement and several posts here on the rec
with regard to the history of Craftsman Tools caused me to Google it a
bit. If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's a pretty good
Wiki at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftsman_(tools)

There are several other discussions out there that provide interesting
insight to the brand as well.

Takeaways?

1) Marion-Craftsman Tools, from whom Sears bought the trade name,
doesn't appear to have been a major player. They may have had a product
line involving "Ford Wrench(s)" but they seem to be fairly obscure.

2) Sears has NEVER manufactured any of its own tools (hand or powered).
Most are contract pieces from other manufacturer's, sometimes nearly
identical to their other products or with some added feature exclusive
to the Craftsman brand.

3) Same thing goes for Kenmore, DieHard and that old second line of
Sears hand and power tools, Dunlap followed by Companion.

End of an era, I suppose. Sad to see them go this way.

Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is
> over.
>
> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has
> been 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I
> made a purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according
> to NBC news.
>
> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon
> it.

Malls are now all about the shallow side of the human: cell phones,
clothes, etc. The stores that capture and captivate your attention are
rare. There used to be a Radioshack in every mall (you've got questions,
we've got cell phones!), as well as a KB Toys. Some still have
bookstores, but even they are going to standalone stores.

I bet Macy's would let you place orders without underwear on. Never seen
"no shoes, no shirt, no underwear, no service." (I have seen "no shoes,
no shirt, no pants, no service.") :-)

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

[email protected] wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
>
>>Closing a bunch on stores too, it will not belong till it goes under.
>>
>>http://fortune.com/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-closings/
>
>
>
> I heard that they were considering groceries ...
> " stick a fork in that one - I think it's done .. "
> John T.
>

Sears struck me as a company that didn't realize who their competition
was. Prices/quality just aren't competitive with other stores,
especially on common hand tools like levels.

Puckdropper
--
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[email protected] wrote in news:ij7u6ctqak1ll96a1qjl9p96drgn4pj8jq@
4ax.com:

> On 06 Jan 2017 04:03:05 GMT, Puckdropper
> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>>Sears struck me as a company that didn't realize who their competition
>>was. Prices/quality just aren't competitive with other stores,
>>especially on common hand tools like levels.
>>
>>Puckdropper
> You mean they didn't play the "compete on price only" game???
> Sears didn't kill sears. Nor did Walmart. Nor did the Internet. The
> North American Public killed Sears. And are the poorer for it, when
> you get right down to brass tacks.
>

Sears killed Sears. They might have gotten the North American Public to
do the actual work, but they got themselves into this mess.

Here's the thing: If you set yourself up just like the others playing the
compete on price game, people will respond like you're playing that game.
If your prices are higher for the same quality item, your value is lower
and people will go where the value is higher. How does Sears make up the
missing value? Well, it used to be momentum and reputation... but that's
good for only a decade or two. "Guaranteed Forever" sold a ton of
Craftsman tools, but they've been shying away from that as well.

Are we poorer for it? Perhaps for a while, but if there's a demand
someone will fill the "Walmart/Lowe's" crossover store segment. Thing
is, I just don't see it with the way that Walmart & Lowe's are all over
the place.

Puckdropper
--
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A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

John McCoy <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> Probably worth noting (since we're all dudes here) that this
> is something women have suffered with for years. No two makers
> of ladieswear use quite the same set of sizes - my girlfriend
> can be a 4, 6, or 8, a XS, S, or M, and never knows until she
> starts trying stuff on.
>
> John
>

It's the same way with shoes. People keep insisting shoe sizes are the
same, but that just doesn't match my reality. I just sent back a size 9
boot to trade for an 8.5, but I have a 9.5 shoe that fits perfectly. The
boots I'm wearing now are 10's.

If I had my way about it, the foot would be measured and the shoe would
be specified to fit the measurements of the foot. The dimensions would
be inches or centimeters, not whatever measurement the manufacturer
decided to use today. Now you know your 25.5cm by 7.76cm (length by max
width across the ball of the foot) foot will likely match a 26cmx8cm
shoe.

Puckdropper

--
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[email protected] wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On 06 Jan 2017 23:54:16 GMT, Puckdropper
> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:

>>
>>It's the same way with shoes. People keep insisting shoe sizes are
>>the same, but that just doesn't match my reality. I just sent back a
>>size 9 boot to trade for an 8.5, but I have a 9.5 shoe that fits
>>perfectly. The boots I'm wearing now are 10's.
>>
>>If I had my way about it, the foot would be measured and the shoe
>>would be specified to fit the measurements of the foot. The
>>dimensions would be inches or centimeters, not whatever measurement
>>the manufacturer decided to use today. Now you know your 25.5cm by
>>7.76cm (length by max width across the ball of the foot) foot will
>>likely match a 26cmx8cm shoe.
>
> That really doesn't work either. Width matters and even that doesn't
> tell everything. I wear 6E shoes, not because my foot is
> exceptionally wide, rather because my instep is very high. There are
> very few shoe brands that leave enough material to get around my foot.

So we'll have to add a few numbers to the shoe designation. No matter
the system, there will always be people who have difficult feet to fit.
My intention is to be able to measure the foot using standardized units
rather than some number and a width code that means "doesn't not fit bad
enough to do something about it."

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Markem <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> There is an Irish shoe maker who will take a mold of your foot, make a
> last and make your shoes. Cost though...

Yeah, designing a pair of shoes from scratch is hard. (Designing anything
from scratch is hard.) However, once you make a design and learn how to do
variations of it, it shouldn't be that hard to customize the fit. It was
$100 well spent to have Graf customize my skates so they fit my feet.

Sometimes, I don't care about the price. Just give me a thing that's top
quality and fits! (While I don't care about the price, I do care about not
throwing money away.)

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

woodchucker <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> Are you really saving when you spend over $100 to join prime?
> In my case I don't watch much TV, so I wouldn't benefit by the TV
> shows. I prefer to spend it in the shop. I guess my wife would watch,
> but my high speed is limited to 6mb as I live out in the boonies.
>
> I have noticed that with my son's Prime there are a lot of items that
> are ineligible to add to your cart on prime.. meaning you have to add
> more items before they will ship that on prime.. I would have to look
> back on my purchases to around april last year, but I had to pad an
> order for them to ship cerain things even through prime. Even though
> I had spent enough, those items did not add to the total b4 shipping.
> WTF!!!
>
> I do think the 2 day is nice, he ordered a bunch of stuff for
> Christmas and had it shipped here. Often it came before 8:30 in the
> morn. Sometimes b4 8.
>

It's a fair question, and if it wasn't for the Instant Video (works just
fine on 6 mbps, it was usually decent on 3.) and maybe the music it
wouldn't be worth it. I love the free shipping and use it quite often,
but can wait another couple days for stuff to arrive.

The problem with the Instant Video and Music is that they're subscription
services. That means you can watch something until they take it away
from you. They might add it back later, but you'll never know because
you removed it from your watch/play lists because you couldn't use it any
more. It happens rather frequently.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> You CAN have your foot measured and a boot or shoe made to fit but I
> don't think you would want to pay the price, at least $500, add
> another thousand for boots.
>


I have a tape measure. Tell me how long and how wide your shoes are at key
points and I'll measure my own foot. Use inches or centimeters, at least
they're standardized the world over.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
>
> I find that to be true most of the time but it is often worth checking
> things out. I recently bought a Citizen watch and checked Amazon but
> found it at others. You can also see why I don't go to the mall any
> more to shop at Zales and the like.
>
> Jonashop $187
> Amazon $278
> Jet.com $218
> Zales, on line or in store $375
>

Copy and paste the Amazon URL into camelcamelcamel.com

You'll get a price history (they don't track everything) and you can see
where the average price is and whether or not you're in a sudden uptick
in price.

Puckdropper
--
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A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:7vadnaEfj94o6O_FnZ2dnUU7-
[email protected]:

>
> Well actually taking clothes off makes you cooler but adding more
> clothes restricts mobility. This is an assumption that you are working
> outside all day in the extreme cold or heat. It's a b___h working out
> side in the cold and not being able to move freely.
>

Decent clothes and gloves do not restrict mobility that much. Most
people like these big heavy coat-shaped objects, thinking more mass=more
heat. It ain't so. It just makes winter worse because of restricted
mobility.

When it's really cold (and it hasn't been THAT cold), you can add long
underwear which won't restrict mobility that much either. Snow pants
don't restrict movement all that much either. Yeah, you know you've got
them on but they let me move just as fast as I want.

If you've got a stocky build, finding a decent fitting coat is a problem.
They're always tight across the shoulders. Let alone finding a decent
coat that's not going to tear up your hands because of zippers on the
pockets or snaps that get in the way.

It's a HUGE task to find something built for moving in Winter! It took
forever to find a replacement for my winter coat, and it got so bad I was
asking people to check their closets before one crept up on eBay. (Btw,
fellows, I'm looking for XL sweatpants made by "Simply for Sports" sold
by JC Penny's. Check your closets, I'll make an offer! $15 shipped for
new, used depends on condition. Yeah, I'm watching eBay.)

Puckdropper
--
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A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:c5qdncSWVZWYC-_FnZ2dnUU7-T-
[email protected]:

>
>
> I do not put much faith in ratings that are from a customer that has had
> the product for a couple of days.
>

I've seen a few of these:
5 Stars
I bought this for my cousin, and he was very happy to receive it!

When I can be bothered, I click the "unhelpful" button.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

notbob <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On 2017-01-12, Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for
>> equipment.
>
> After they bombed on computers, they switched to phones and RC toys.
> Cell phones, land line peripherals, RC helicopters, etc. They still
> failed. Those "diodes and resitors" were not enough to sustain the
> brick n' mortar crowd, specially after the industry switched to
> surface-mount-technology (SMT).
>
> We still have a single RS (privately owned) store between two towns.
> They keep having a "sale". ;)
>
> nb
>

Digikey beat Radio Shack out on diodes and resistors. It was cheaper to
order 100 of them from Digikey and pay shipping than it was to get a
couple from Radio Shack.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
>
> WOW! They must have been picking on you in particular, I never
> experienced that.
>
> In Houston RS opened a super store IIRC it was called Incredible
> Universe. It was a very nice store that scratched all itches with
> product selection. The problem was you had to have an ID card to get
> in, not just to buy. They wanted all your personal info to give you a
> card. They were very intrusive and there was always a line of people
> at 4 spots re registering because they for got their cards.
>
> The store failed miserably and I would probably blame the PIA
> procedure to get inside the store. Talk about idiots.
>

They probably read about how important knowing your customer was in some
trade rag and interpreted it wrong. You don't get to know your customer
by forcing them to give you their personal information, you just talk to
them:
"Did you see this was an N scale part?"
"Oh yes, I've got both HO and N at home."

Hey, you just learned something about your customer! Your customer just
learned something about you, too.

Guess who you'll see next week because he happened to be in the area?
Not the guy you forced to give his address, social security number,
mother's maiden name, car history, license number, and the names of his
first three girlfriends.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Jack <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

>
> Amazon as well, and if buying enough stuff for free shipping, you have
> to be very careful the "partner" isn't gouging you on shipping which
> isn't included in the free shipping part. Amazon can make it a bit
> confusing to say the least, and thus, more diligence required, the
> less trust they get.
>

I've never been confused as to what was included or not included with
shipping. The big Prime logo or fulfilled by Amazon means it's free
shipping if you qualify, and if it's not the shipping price is stated
clearly on the page.

Add On items are clearly indicated as well, as annoying as they can be
sometimes. (They're not included with Prime Shipping benefits, you still
have to have that minimum purchase amount.)

Puckdropper
--
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A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

-MIKE- <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

>
> This may also be attributed to old links and out-dated ads. Some
> prices on Amazon change daily for various reasons. If one of there
> vendors gets a huge delivery of widgets which he got at a great
> wholesale price, he lists them for cheaper than they were yesterday
> and that all of a sudden becomes Amazon's lowest price. Another
> vendor had widgets for sale at a super low price and he sold out.
> Well, today the price for widgets on Amazon suddenly goes up because
> said vendor sold out.
>
>

Another game some vendors play is to set their price slightly higher than
the base price. What happens sometimes is the guy setting the base price
sells out, then the automated price setting tools set their price to be
slightly higher than the other one and fight their way to the top.

They want to be slightly higher because some people look to see what an
extra penny will get them. It might be something like two identical
products ship from Washington and Rhode Island and you're in Maine. An
extra penny or nickel could mean cutting several days off the transit
time. (It also lets you avoid being charged for sales tax automatically
in some states. You're still supposed to submit it anyway, but who
does?)

Puckdropper

--
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A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> was heard to mutter:
>What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is over.
>Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has been
>3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I made a
>purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according to NBC
>news.

Depends on the mall. We've got too many malls in a small radius but
the success scale is all over the map. One enourmous mall is empty
(for several years now) except for an Outdoor World, which is already
slated to move this year. Another mall is so busy it's almost
impossible to get a parking space, especially on weekends. The
difference? Sears and the like are old and dead. Apple, Microsoft and
similar stores are now the huge business draw. On weekends you're
lucky to get a seat in the food court.

>Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon it.
ROFLMAO! Interesting priorities. As a long time shopper of NYC Macy's,
I thank you for not sharing that habit there. ;)

On Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 9:37:06 AM UTC-6, Jack wrote:
>
> It's not hindsight, it is now. Sears could have easily shifted to=20
> online sales at any time, but my guess is management had their=20
> collective heads where the sun don't shine.
>=20
> Amazon started from scratch, Sears had a long history of catalog sales.=
=20
> They blew it big time by ignoring the CURRENT trends. How on earth could=
=20
> a retail store with a history of catalog sales IGNORE Amazon? Brain=20
> dead is what I think.
>=20
> --=20
> Jack

You seem to believe everything is so easy. Back in August Wal-Mart paid $3=
BILLION for Jet.com online sales company. After spending years trying to =
increase online sales at Wal-Mart. Did all the fools at Wal-Mart have thei=
r head up their behinds? Why couldn't they just make online sales magicall=
y? Why? Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. How could they no=
t know how to sell online?

As for comparing catalog sales to online sales. Maybe they are similar, ma=
ybe not. Catalog sales for Sears started dying out in the 50s, 60s. They =
had physical stores so no need for catalog sales. And the US became far mo=
re urban, not rural, in the second half of the century. Today everyone alm=
ost lives in a city or near a city. So today almost everyone is close to a=
physical Sears store. Why would they use a catalog? Online sales you hav=
e 50 choices and prices. Catalog you have 5. Are they the same? I have a=
tool catalog from Acme Tools on the shelf. I doubt I would order anything=
from it. I'd go to the store in town or use the internet. Is a catalog t=
he same as online ordering, even in philosophy?

On 1/9/2017 1:59 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 9:48:36 AM UTC-5, notbob wrote:
>>> Martin Eastburn <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Time will tell. Don't forget Diehard and other trade names....
>>
>> Hard to forget brand names I avoid like the plague. My boss bought a
>> Diehard marine battery. We hadda replace it within the week.
>>
>>>> Silvertone is long gone.
>>
>> Thank goodness fer small favors! I once had a Silvertone bass
>> amplifier. Brand new, it was already crap and I returned it to Sears
>> the next day.
>>
>> Their guitars/basses were made by Dan Electro and they were also junk.
>> I hadda buddy who bragged he'd scored a DE Long-Horn bass. He paid
>> $600 for it and thought he's scored some kinda hot deal. I played it
>> and told him, "This cost about $75USD, new, and it certainly isn't
>> worth that much, now". I found another DE guitar at my jammin'
>> buddy's house. I'm not sure, but I think the high-end strings I gave
>> him ($10 set), to re-string that guitar, were worth more than the
>> guitar.
>>
>> You see a lotta Dan Electro's in use, these days. The "lipstick"
>> pick-up is held in high esteem by many of today's hipsters. The
>> guitar, itself, is still essentially junk. ;)
>>
>> nb
>
> They're not Dan Electro guitars, they're Danelectro guitars.
>
> You lose a little credibility when you call them Dan Electro guitars.
> Almost makes one think that you don't know what you are talking about.
>


Not just almost... ;~)

On 1/6/2017 9:44 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 7:33 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> From past experience, B&D could be the death knell for Craftsman. The
>> only thing B&D does well is marketing.
>>
>
> According to the news they paid $900million for it


And while that might sound like a lot, I think 3 or 4 quarterly losses
out of the past 20 quarterly losses would eat that 900 million up.

Every town does not need multiple stores, get rid of the overages.
I'm sure Sears will still profit from Craftsman sales and probably not
as much but a store that is loosing money tends to stay that way and
mostly because of over saturation. I go to stores farther away as the
same brand that are closer stores very often.

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 09:13:21 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 9:44 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 7:33 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> From past experience, B&D could be the death knell for Craftsman. The
>>> only thing B&D does well is marketing.
>>>
>>
>> According to the news they paid $900million for it
>
>
>And while that might sound like a lot, I think 3 or 4 quarterly losses
>out of the past 20 quarterly losses would eat that 900 million up.
>
>Every town does not need multiple stores, get rid of the overages.
>I'm sure Sears will still profit from Craftsman sales and probably not
>as much but a store that is loosing money tends to stay that way and
>mostly because of over saturation. I go to stores farther away as the
>same brand that are closer stores very often.

Sears certainly isn't over-saturated in Atlanta. I think there are
only seven stores in the entire metro area (none in this area). Hell,
there are three HomeDepots and two Lowes within 15 miles of me. The
Lowes are all right across the street from the HDs, too. Oh, there
are two HFs in the same area. ;-)

On 06 Jan 2017 23:54:16 GMT, Puckdropper
<puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:

>John McCoy <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> Probably worth noting (since we're all dudes here) that this
>> is something women have suffered with for years. No two makers
>> of ladieswear use quite the same set of sizes - my girlfriend
>> can be a 4, 6, or 8, a XS, S, or M, and never knows until she
>> starts trying stuff on.
>>
>> John
>>
>
>It's the same way with shoes. People keep insisting shoe sizes are the
>same, but that just doesn't match my reality. I just sent back a size 9
>boot to trade for an 8.5, but I have a 9.5 shoe that fits perfectly. The
>boots I'm wearing now are 10's.
>
>If I had my way about it, the foot would be measured and the shoe would
>be specified to fit the measurements of the foot. The dimensions would
>be inches or centimeters, not whatever measurement the manufacturer
>decided to use today. Now you know your 25.5cm by 7.76cm (length by max
>width across the ball of the foot) foot will likely match a 26cmx8cm
>shoe.
>
There is an Irish shoe maker who will take a mold of your foot, make a
last and make your shoes. Cost though...

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 08:40:41 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 10:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 18:55:28 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/6/2017 4:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>>
>>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>>
>>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I don't think so. I have a peeve with Amazon. Originally free shipping
>>> over $25.. then they moved it to $35, and quickly thereafter to $49... I
>>> understand the $35, but the $49 was not necessary. It was to make you
>>> buy into PRIME.. and that's where my disdain lies. I understood when
>>> they said in order for them to remain profitable they had to move to
>>> $35.. That I got..
>>
>> I just keep adding stuff to my cart until it gets to the $49
>> threshold. It's really not that much money.
>>
>
>
>LOL, that strategy payed off for them in your case. ;~) I have been
>tempted to do that on occasion and think to my self, am I really saving,
>money and or time, by buying from Amazon if I spend more than I intended?

Not at all. It may take two weeks to fill the shopping cart. I also
put stuff I may want but don't need immediately on my lists. If I
need something quickly (very rarely), I'll add something from one of
the lists.
>
>With Prime I buy only what I need at the time. If I make 3 separate
>orders in one day they still ship for free.

No different, except that I may wait longer. Again, $49 isn't a lot
of money. Prime isn't free, either.

On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 23:30:46 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/5/2017 10:37 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On 06 Jan 2017 04:03:05 GMT, Puckdropper
>> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
>>
>>> [email protected] wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Closing a bunch on stores too, it will not belong till it goes under.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://fortune.com/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-closings/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I heard that they were considering groceries ...
>>>> " stick a fork in that one - I think it's done .. "
>>>> John T.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Sears struck me as a company that didn't realize who their competition
>>> was. Prices/quality just aren't competitive with other stores,
>>> especially on common hand tools like levels.
>>>
>>> Puckdropper
>> You mean they didn't play the "compete on price only" game???
>> Sears didn't kill sears. Nor did Walmart. Nor did the Internet. The
>> North American Public killed Sears. And are the poorer for it, when
>> you get right down to brass tacks.
>>
>
>
>I believe it was merging with KMart that killed Sears. KMart had bad
>deals going back in the early 90's.
Sears was dying bit by bit before the K-Mart merger. It may be the
merger is the only thing that kept it from dying right there. There
was not a long line of suitors lined up to buy it, was there???

On 1/6/2017 3:13 PM, Jack wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 2:28 PM, Leon wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
>>> On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.
>>>
>>> This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
>>> are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
>>> adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.
>>
>> KMart needed extra funds, more money than their spectacular profits
>> could provide back in the early 90's. They needed funds to offset the
>> extremely high pension payments that retiring family owners were
>> collecting. As profitable as it was KMart could not sustain payments to
>> the owners that were collecting pensions. So you look for a profitable
>> company to help pay costs that the family members pensions would not
>> affect. Enter Sears.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
>>> pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
>>> traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
>>> did not. They're done for.
>>>
>>> Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
>>> mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
>>> but good for the marketplace overall.
>>>
>>>
>> While all of what you have said plays a factor, the problem started 25
>> years ago and it was not related to pricing, competition, or product
>> quality.
>
> I recall buying a sandblaster at a relatively new Sears store about
> 25/30 years ago. I looked for a salesman to sell me the thing for over
> a half our. Finally I somehow found a manager bouncing around and
> raised hell with him, asked him how long he thought they would be in
> business if no one could find a salesman. Place closed about 3 years
> later.

Not every store has a good location or a smart manager. One store does
not reflect the sum of the stores. Remember Woolco? The Woolco store
in Corpus Christi, TX would still be open today if it could have
continued to operate. I worked there when I was going to school. It
was not unusual at all for an ambulance to show up every weekend to haul
some one away. The store was so crowded that people passed out, no
kidding. Woolco was one of the first big stores to close.



>
> Also, about 2 years ago I needed some shelf brackets. Sears had them
> for .79 cents apiece. I asked if they were mis-priced, as they should
> be about a nickel each. Found them on line, 25 for $1.49.

You can always find a better deal but there is a price to pay for
getting the product right now vs. tomorrow or later.

I was reading that ACE hardware and Aldi were a couple of brand stores
that are doing well and growing. I went to ACE hardware a month ago to
buy 8 magnetic cabinet door catches. 8 would have cost me $26. I drove
4 miles north and got the 8 catches at HD for $3.

>
> When you have fools running a business, competition will kill you
> eventually.
>

True but there are many more factors the will sink you.

On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 18:55:28 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 4:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>
>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>
>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>
>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>
>>
>
>I don't think so. I have a peeve with Amazon. Originally free shipping
>over $25.. then they moved it to $35, and quickly thereafter to $49... I
>understand the $35, but the $49 was not necessary. It was to make you
>buy into PRIME.. and that's where my disdain lies. I understood when
>they said in order for them to remain profitable they had to move to
>$35.. That I got..

I just keep adding stuff to my cart until it gets to the $49
threshold. It's really not that much money.

On 1/7/2017 10:32 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 21:19:41 -0500, woodchucker <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> SNIPP
>>
>> I melt in the heat.. Would rather it be cold... Although the back
>> suffers in the cold. But I do more work in the shop in the winter and
>> fall. In the summer I am out as much as possible, but I can't take the
>> high humidity with heat..
>> I have played volleyball outside when it's 100 during the day but only
>> about 2 hours.. after that i'm done.
>
>
> You can put on clothes until you are warm. Can't take off untill you
> are cool.

Well actually taking clothes off makes you cooler but adding more
clothes restricts mobility. This is an assumption that you are working
outside all day in the extreme cold or heat. It's a b___h working out
side in the cold and not being able to move freely.





> I put up with 115F and 90+% RH for 2 hot seasons down at the Victoria
> Falls - when I came back December 1975 the cold almost killed me -
> I've never really "enjoyed" the cold since - used to like
> snowmobiling, tobogganing and skating, but no more.
>

On 1/7/2017 8:19 PM, woodchucker wrote:
> On 1/7/2017 7:13 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 12:13:22 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/7/2017 10:44 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 09:27:34 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 1/6/2017 11:21 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>>>> On 06 Jan 2017 03:41:11 GMT, Puckdropper
>>>>>> <puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>> news:[email protected]:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the
>>>>>>>> mall is
>>>>>>>> over.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>>>>>>>> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has
>>>>>>>> been 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week
>>>>>>>> since I
>>>>>>>> made a purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year
>>>>>>>> according
>>>>>>>> to NBC news.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns
>>>>>>>> upon
>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Malls are now all about the shallow side of the human: cell phones,
>>>>>>> clothes, etc. The stores that capture and captivate your
>>>>>>> attention are
>>>>>>> rare. There used to be a Radioshack in every mall (you've got
>>>>>>> questions,
>>>>>>> we've got cell phones!), as well as a KB Toys. Some still have
>>>>>>> bookstores, but even they are going to standalone stores.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Houston we still have a few malls that you would dare step foot
>>>>> into
>>>>> but the enclosed shopping concept is loosing favor to the large strip
>>>>> centers. The problem with malls is that you don't know where to park
>>>>> and you cannot walk directly into the store you want to go to. A mall
>>>>> is like going to Ikea.
>>>>
>>>> Again, I think the difference is weather. In the North, mega-malls
>>>> are still popular because one can get out and walk in the Winter
>>>> without freezing. In the South, this isn't a problem even in the
>>>> Summer.
>>>
>>> You think? LOL In the south we do not relish going from from store in
>>> 100 degree heat. I really don't like to park anywhere except in front
>>> of the store I want to go into.
>>
>> I've lived both places. I'd *much* rather 100F than -30F. There is a
>> reason I don't live in Vermont anymore. Well, there are a lot of
>> reasons but that's on the list. ;-)
>>
>>> I do see the mall as being a benefit when there is snow on the ground.
>>> FWIW it was 19 degrees here this morning, while a norm for you northern
>>> folks, you probably were not at 84 degrees earlier in the week or
>>> expecting to be back near 80 on Wednesday. That is about a 120 degree
>>> temp swing in a week.
>>
>> That wasn't even rare in Vermont, though startin 50F colder. ;-)
>> I remember a 100F swing, one year.
>>
>> It was cold here, too, and a fair amount of ice. It was mostly gone
>> (roads clear) by noon. I doubt that out heat pump will keep up
>> tonight.
>>>>
>>>> Don't understand your Ikea reference. We have a store but parking is
>>>> trivial. It's all in the basement levels of the store (two levels of
>>>> parking and two of store). We've only been there twice in the five
>>>> years we've been here (don't like driving on the streets in large
>>>> cities) but we just happened to be there a couple of weeks ago.
>>>
>>> Ikwa is not designed for the customer to walk in, go straight to what he
>>> wants, and straight to the registers. Ikea's here pretty much force you
>>> to walk through the whole store, a very convoluted path to get out.
>>
>> Ah, right. The grand tour. We count steps, so that's not all bad.
>> ;-)
>>
>
> I melt in the heat.. Would rather it be cold... Although the back
> suffers in the cold. But I do more work in the shop in the winter and
> fall. In the summer I am out as much as possible, but I can't take the
> high humidity with heat..
> I have played volleyball outside when it's 100 during the day but only
> about 2 hours.. after that i'm done.
>
Stay away from the Houston area in the summer. LOL

With heat you can shed clothes. With cold adding more clothes restricts
mobility. LOL

Swingman and I were working together on a new home installing kitchen
cabinets that we had built. IIRC this was 2008 or 2009. This was near
Austin TX out in the country. The house was a straw bale house with
great insulation. Because the build was out in the country we closed
the house up at the end of the day to keep critters out. The next
morning the inside of the house was as hot as when we left it the
previous day. I recall stopping for the day around 5 pm and the temp
being 106. Remember, the inside of the house the next mornings were
about that hot too. We had a couple of fans to keep us slightly cooler
but one fan got so hot that it quit working. I thought it was toast but
it started up the next morning and has worked fine ever since.

On Friday, January 13, 2017 at 9:36:28 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> On 1/12/2017 9:56 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> > On Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 10:57:42 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> >> On 1/12/2017 9:44 AM, Jack wrote:
> >>> On 1/12/2017 6:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >>>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
> >>>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
> >>>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
> >>>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
> >>>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
> >>>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should've
> >>>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
> >>>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
> >>>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
> >>>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
> >>>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
> >>>> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
> >>>> while others were selling them for 30% less.
> >>>>
> >>>> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for
> >>>> equipment.
> >>>
> >>> Every time I went into Radio shack I had to give them my name, address,
> >>> phone number, wife's maiden name, first born's name, favorite dogs name
> >>> and other assorted stupid crap. I once tried to buy without giving them
> >>> the info and they wouldn't sell to me until I did. There's a great
> >>> marketing strategy, piss off your customers. I believe they have a
> >>> pretty good online presence, in which they probably found even better
> >>> ways to piss off customers.
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> WOW! They must have been picking on you in particular, I never
> >> experienced that.
> >>
> >
> > They weren't just picking on him, they picked on me too. I hated answering the same
> > questions over and over again. It's a frigging electronics store. Shouldn't just a phone
> > number bring up everything they needed? Even Harbor Freight can do that.
> >
> > I used to make stuff up just to screw with them.
> >
>
>
> I never had any issue, just gave them my telephone number. If you were
> making stuff up they probably got several extra hits on your reference
> and then had to narrow it down to which one you were going to pick for
> that day.

I didn't start making stuff up until they annoyed me by constantly asking
for the same info. I even mentioned (more then once) that they already had
my info.

"Why do you ask me all the same questions every time I come in?"

"That's how the system works, sir. May I have your name please?"

Eventually, I figured that if my real info wasn't being retained, I
might as well just give them whatever I wanted.

On Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 8:46:04 PM UTC-5, woodchucker wrote:
> On 1/12/2017 6:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> > On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
> >> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
> >> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
> >> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
> >> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
> >> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
> >> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
> >> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
> >> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
> >> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
> >> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
> >>
> >
> > Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
> > to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
> > while others were selling them for 30% less.
> >
> > RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for equipment.
>
> RS spun off computer city. Which was a lot like a big box store.
> The problem was price. They offered rebates on their own branded stuff
> to lower the price. The problem was they didn't pay out the rebates w/o
> hunting them down. Repeatedly we found that to be a problem and they
> offered all types of excuses. But we knew it was BS because we even used
> my father inlaws name and address for a few items when we bought more
> than 1. Same issue. So in my mind, The offered high price, low service,
> and low trust. The perfect reason to stop buying from them. Which we did.
>

Let me see if I understand this...

You cheated their system by using other people's names on the rebate forms
and then stopped shopping there because *they* were untrustworthy?

Interesting.

On 06 Jan 2017 03:41:11 GMT, Puckdropper
<puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com> wrote:

>Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> What value? Liability for rent I can see but the era of the mall is
>> over.
>>
>> Going back some years we used to go to the mall a couple of times a
>> month to shop, maybe have lunch or at least a snack. I bet it has
>> been 3 years since I set foot in a mall, but less than a week since I
>> made a purchase on line. Sales on line are up 17% last year according
>> to NBC news.
>>
>> Amazon also lets me place orders in my underwear. Macy's frowns upon
>> it.
>
>Malls are now all about the shallow side of the human: cell phones,
>clothes, etc. The stores that capture and captivate your attention are
>rare. There used to be a Radioshack in every mall (you've got questions,
>we've got cell phones!), as well as a KB Toys. Some still have
>bookstores, but even they are going to standalone stores.
>
>I bet Macy's would let you place orders without underwear on. Never seen
>"no shoes, no shirt, no underwear, no service." (I have seen "no shoes,
>no shirt, no pants, no service.") :-)

I recall the mall, it was every other store was a woman's shoe store.

On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 19:06:06 -0500, Ed Pawlowski <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 1/6/2017 3:46 PM, Leon wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Not to disparage you guys, but you are basically saying Sears should
>>> have been able to predict the future. Everything would be better if
>>> we could all do that. Sears did not predict the future so they did
>>> not use their catalog business to become the major retail seller of
>>> the future. If that is the logic you are using then we are all idiots
>>> because we did not invent Apple before Jobs and Wozniak did in 1976.
>>> Why didn't you know computers and mobile phones and online was the
>>> future? Are you stupid? Who sitting here today knew that buying
>>> stuff from home using a computer was the future? Shopping in stores
>>> was out?
>>>
>>
>> I think you hit the nail on the head.
>>
>> Monday morning quarter backing is easy but non provable.
>
>No, this is not Monday morning, it is 16 years too late. Amazon stated
>in 1994. Sears let many Mondays pass and is still not an internet
>presence. They (and many others) ignored what was going on around them.
>
>Auto dealers were losing ground and finally caught on a few years back.
>My last car was bought at a dealer in 15 minutes after using on line
>sources to get the best price. I sat down with the salesman he made an
>offer. I told him what the numbers had to be and he said "no". I
>showed him the numbers on my phone and in two minutes he met the deal.
>The horseless carriage was just a novelty, as was the telephone,
>television and most every advance and new technology.
>
>I'm going to check out them new fax machines. I understand you can send
>copies of things in minutes to another machine.
Hang on - 3dfax is coming - -

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 18:33:03 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/7/2017 6:17 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 1/7/2017 6:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 11:38:40 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 1/7/2017 10:54 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>>> Jack <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I once bought a lathe chuck from Amazon, when it came, it was in a
>>>>>> Harbor Freight box and had the Harbor Freight number on it. I stuck
>>>>>> the number in at HF site and up popped the exact same item for 30%
>>>>>> less. Made me chuckle as it was still cheap, but smart dude figured
>>>>>> out to list the item on Amazon and buy them at HF.
>>>>>
>>>>> This happens on Ebay all the time - people buy HF stuff and
>>>>> sell it at a higher price. Apparently there's a big enough
>>>>> market of people who've never been in a HF store or seen one
>>>>> of their advertisements to make it profitable.
>>>>>
>>>>> John
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Precisely and some people will pay extra just to avoid the HF store
>>>> smell.. ;~)
>>>
>>> Nah, once they open the box their house will have the same smell.
>>>
>>
>> What do a pizza delivery man and a gynecologist have in common?
>> /
>> /
>> /
>> /
>> They both have something that smells good but they can't eat it.
>
>
>I'm betting sometimes they both smell the same "smell/odor" when the
>pizza has anchovies. ;~0

<moan>

On 1/6/2017 10:40 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 6:55 PM, woodchucker wrote:
>
>> I don't think so. I have a peeve with Amazon. Originally free shipping
>> over $25.. then they moved it to $35, and quickly thereafter to $49... I
>> understand the $35, but the $49 was not necessary. It was to make you
>> buy into PRIME.. and that's where my disdain lies. I understood when
>> they said in order for them to remain profitable they had to move to
>> $35.. That I got..
>>
>
> I'm surprised Bezos let you see the books to determine that. How much
> profit do they make on a $35 order so they can give you free shipping?
>
> I placed 56 order in 2016 so Prime works for me. Listen to Prime music
> too.
>
>
That was their own PR piece on their website explaining the $35 minimum.

--
Jeff

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 1/12/2017 9:44 AM, Jack wrote:
> On 1/12/2017 6:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
>>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
>>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
>>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
>>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
>>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
>>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
>>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
>>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
>>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
>>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
>>>
>>
>> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
>> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
>> while others were selling them for 30% less.
>>
>> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for
>> equipment.
>
> Every time I went into Radio shack I had to give them my name, address,
> phone number, wife's maiden name, first born's name, favorite dogs name
> and other assorted stupid crap. I once tried to buy without giving them
> the info and they wouldn't sell to me until I did. There's a great
> marketing strategy, piss off your customers. I believe they have a
> pretty good online presence, in which they probably found even better
> ways to piss off customers.
>


WOW! They must have been picking on you in particular, I never
experienced that.

In Houston RS opened a super store IIRC it was called Incredible
Universe. It was a very nice store that scratched all itches with
product selection. The problem was you had to have an ID card to get
in, not just to buy. They wanted all your personal info to give you a card.
They were very intrusive and there was always a line of people at 4
spots re registering because they for got their cards.

The store failed miserably and I would probably blame the PIA procedure
to get inside the store. Talk about idiots.

On Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 10:57:42 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
> On 1/12/2017 9:44 AM, Jack wrote:
> > On 1/12/2017 6:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
> >>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
> >>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
> >>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
> >>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
> >>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should've
> >>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
> >>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
> >>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
> >>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
> >>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
> >> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
> >> while others were selling them for 30% less.
> >>
> >> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for
> >> equipment.
> >
> > Every time I went into Radio shack I had to give them my name, address,
> > phone number, wife's maiden name, first born's name, favorite dogs name
> > and other assorted stupid crap. I once tried to buy without giving them
> > the info and they wouldn't sell to me until I did. There's a great
> > marketing strategy, piss off your customers. I believe they have a
> > pretty good online presence, in which they probably found even better
> > ways to piss off customers.
> >
>
>
> WOW! They must have been picking on you in particular, I never
> experienced that.
>

They weren't just picking on him, they picked on me too. I hated answering the same
questions over and over again. It's a frigging electronics store. Shouldn't just a phone
number bring up everything they needed? Even Harbor Freight can do that.

I used to make stuff up just to screw with them.

On Thu, 5 Jan 2017 13:14:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>>
>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>
>I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
>Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.
>
>I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
>begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.

Kenmore is just other appliance manufacturers relabeled, guess some
one will buy, P T Barnum is right again. DieHard the same thing.

On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 11:46:29 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:

>On 1/7/2017 10:37 AM, [email protected] wrote:
>> On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 09:13:21 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/6/2017 9:44 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>>> On 1/6/2017 7:33 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> From past experience, B&D could be the death knell for Craftsman. The
>>>>> only thing B&D does well is marketing.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> According to the news they paid $900million for it
>>>
>>>
>>> And while that might sound like a lot, I think 3 or 4 quarterly losses
>>> out of the past 20 quarterly losses would eat that 900 million up.
>>>
>>> Every town does not need multiple stores, get rid of the overages.
>>> I'm sure Sears will still profit from Craftsman sales and probably not
>>> as much but a store that is loosing money tends to stay that way and
>>> mostly because of over saturation. I go to stores farther away as the
>>> same brand that are closer stores very often.
>>
>> Sears certainly isn't over-saturated in Atlanta. I think there are
>> only seven stores in the entire metro area (none in this area). Hell,
>> there are three HomeDepots and two Lowes within 15 miles of me. The
>> Lowes are all right across the street from the HDs, too. Oh, there
>> are two HFs in the same area. ;-)
>>
>
>It all depends on the location and the competition if you are over
>saturated. IIRC in the Houston are there are only 5 large Sears stores
>left. IMHO that is too many as the 3 closest to me are pretty much
>empty every time I go in.

I count nine.

http://www.sears.com/stores.html

>BUT In Houston there are also many like alternatives. Macy's, JCP and
>none seem to be doing enough business to remain open. So that sector in
>the Houston is overly saturated. Not to mention that there are probably
>thousands of strip centers in the Houston metro area that offer almost
>the same thing as the department stores like Sears.

Atlanta isn't exactly Frost Bite Falls. Sears is mostly empty because
they have nothing that the public wants at the prices they're
charging. Stick a fork in them.

>> Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>> And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black-decker-140907321--finance.html
>>


>Closing a bunch on stores too, it will not belong till it goes under.
>
>http://fortune.com/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-closings/



I heard that they were considering groceries ...
" stick a fork in that one - I think it's done .. "
John T.

On Fri, 06 Jan 2017 16:34:16 -0500, Joseph Gwinn
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Jan 5, 2017, Ed Pawlowski wrote
>(in article <[email protected]>):
>
>> On 1/5/2017 4:14 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
>> > On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 1:40:38 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
>> > > Apparently Craftsman was around before Sears acquired it 90 years ago.
>> > > And now Sears is selling Craftsman tools to Stanley.
>> > >
>> > > http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-sell-craftsman-tool-brand-stanley-black
>> > > -decker-140907321--finance.html
>> >
>> > I heard a (slightly) more in depth report this morning. They mentioned that
>> > Sears is considering selling off the Kenmore and Die-Hard lines of business.
>> >
>> > I don't recall if it's just a consideration or if negotiations had already
>> > begun. Either way, the company is dwindling into nothingness.
>>
>> They missed the boat a long time ago. Sers had a thriving catalog
>> business. They should have turned that into something like Amazon
>> before Amazon started up.
>
>My recollection from the newspapers of the day is that the Catalog was losing
>money, so after much agonizing, Sears closed its catalog, and laid 50,000
>people off. I was stunned. The defense contractor I worked for at the time
>had 20,000 employees, and produced far more paper than Sears Catalog ever
>did. So, I can kinda guess what 20,000 of those Sears Catalog employees did,
>which left the other 30,000 unaccounted for. With that kind of overstaffing,
>no wonder they were losing money, with a bit of house cleaning, they could
>have made money.
>
>
>In the 1970s, I bought thousands of dollars worth of hand tools for working
>on cars. Good stuff - still have and use it. The big debate of the day was if
>Snap-On was worth their premium over Craftsman. Most of my friends did what I
>did - Craftsman by default, Snap-On only if necessary.
>The last technical thing I bought from Sears was an ordinary hose for
>compressed air, probably 10 or 15 years ago. It was well made, but I
>could’t get the hose to attach securely to threaded compressed air
>connectors, like the Universal and IR and the like. It turned out that the
>hose was equipped with oxygen fittings. My guess was that Sears had laid off
>all the expensive grumpy old men who knew the difference, and who knew how to
>use every tool Sears sold, and the newly-hired bright-eyed young thing
>didn’t realize that air and oxygen are not quite the same thing.
>
>I’d hazard that the self-defeating layoffs may have been a part of the
>closing of the Catalog division.
>
>Returned the hose, bought a Goodyear air hose from Home Depot. This hose
>worked right from the box.
>
>My guess that the Craftsman line will do better under Stanley/B&D, for all
>their sins. At least Stanley/B&D know what an air hose is for. I wonder how
>those bright-eyed young things will do under the new management.
>
>
>Joe Gwinn
From past experience, B&D could be the death knell for Craftsman. The
only thing B&D does well is marketing.

On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.

This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.

Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
did not. They're done for.

Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
but good for the marketplace overall.

On 1/6/2017 5:47 PM, woodchucker wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 4:13 PM, Jack wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 2:28 PM, Leon wrote:
>>> On 1/6/2017 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
>>>> On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>>> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.
>>>>
>>>> This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
>>>> are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
>>>> adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.
>>>
>>> KMart needed extra funds, more money than their spectacular profits
>>> could provide back in the early 90's. They needed funds to offset the
>>> extremely high pension payments that retiring family owners were
>>> collecting. As profitable as it was KMart could not sustain payments to
>>> the owners that were collecting pensions. So you look for a profitable
>>> company to help pay costs that the family members pensions would not
>>> affect. Enter Sears.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
>>>> pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
>>>> traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
>>>> did not. They're done for.
>>>>
>>>> Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
>>>> mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
>>>> but good for the marketplace overall.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> While all of what you have said plays a factor, the problem started 25
>>> years ago and it was not related to pricing, competition, or product
>>> quality.
>>
>> I recall buying a sandblaster at a relatively new Sears store about
>> 25/30 years ago. I looked for a salesman to sell me the thing for over
>> a half our. Finally I somehow found a manager bouncing around and
>> raised hell with him, asked him how long he thought they would be in
>> business if no one could find a salesman. Place closed about 3 years
>> later.
>>
>> Also, about 2 years ago I needed some shelf brackets. Sears had them
>> for .79 cents apiece. I asked if they were mis-priced, as they should
>> be about a nickel each. Found them on line, 25 for $1.49.
>>
>> When you have fools running a business, competition will kill you
>> eventually.
>>
> Shelf brackets for a nickel apiece 2 years ago??? Maybe 50 years ago
>


LOL, the hooks are 15 cents each.

On 1/6/2017 10:41 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 16:01:39 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>
>> On 1/6/2017 3:13 PM, Jack wrote:
>>> On 1/6/2017 2:28 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk wrote:
>>>>> On 01/05/2017 03:54 PM, Leon wrote:
>>>>>> ears cannot survive at this rate, thank you K-Mart.
>>>>>
>>>>> This has little to do with K-Mart. These traditional retailers
>>>>> are getting their lunch handed to them because they did not
>>>>> adapt to the world of eCommerce in a timely and effective way.
>>>>
>>>> KMart needed extra funds, more money than their spectacular profits
>>>> could provide back in the early 90's. They needed funds to offset the
>>>> extremely high pension payments that retiring family owners were
>>>> collecting. As profitable as it was KMart could not sustain payments to
>>>> the owners that were collecting pensions. So you look for a profitable
>>>> company to help pay costs that the family members pensions would not
>>>> affect. Enter Sears.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Amazon has set the bar very high for very fast delivery, great
>>>>> pricing, and painless returns ... all from your living room. Some
>>>>> traditional vendors figured this out. Some - Sears as one example -
>>>>> did not. They're done for.
>>>>>
>>>>> Capitalism and markets seek efficiency and punish the lack thereof
>>>>> mercilessly. Creative Destruction is bad for individual actors,
>>>>> but good for the marketplace overall.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> While all of what you have said plays a factor, the problem started 25
>>>> years ago and it was not related to pricing, competition, or product
>>>> quality.
>>>
>>> I recall buying a sandblaster at a relatively new Sears store about
>>> 25/30 years ago. I looked for a salesman to sell me the thing for over
>>> a half our. Finally I somehow found a manager bouncing around and
>>> raised hell with him, asked him how long he thought they would be in
>>> business if no one could find a salesman. Place closed about 3 years
>>> later.
>>
>> Not every store has a good location or a smart manager. One store does
>> not reflect the sum of the stores. Remember Woolco? The Woolco store
>> in Corpus Christi, TX would still be open today if it could have
>> continued to operate. I worked there when I was going to school. It
>> was not unusual at all for an ambulance to show up every weekend to haul
>> some one away. The store was so crowded that people passed out, no
>> kidding. Woolco was one of the first big stores to close.
>
> Store anagers have very limited power, these days. Their weekly (even
> hourly) payrol is often fixed by corporate. Inventory and shelf space
> is also often dictated by corporate, even though the store manager may
> understand his customers better.

Exactly, store manager does not mean what it used to mean. They
probably have a key, I'm not sure what else. ;~)

On 1/6/2017 6:13 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 1/6/2017 4:20 PM, John McCoy wrote:
>
>>
>> Of course, having the albatros of K-Mart hanging around their
>> neck hasn't helped.
>>
>> John
>>
>
> But K-Mart bought Sears. Double albatross. K-Mart was always a
> discounter but maybe 10 or so years ago they seemed to carry cheaper,
> lower quality merchandise.


10 years ago? ROTFL... I remember in 1974 being disgusted with the
crap that KMart sold, I was 19.

On 1/6/2017 6:43 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
> On 1/6/17 5:55 PM, woodchucker wrote:
>> On 1/6/2017 4:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>
>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>
>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>
>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I don't think so. I have a peeve with Amazon. Originally free shipping
>> over $25.. then they moved it to $35, and quickly thereafter to $49... I
>> understand the $35, but the $49 was not necessary. It was to make you
>> buy into PRIME.. and that's where my disdain lies. I understood when
>> they said in order for them to remain profitable they had to move to
>> $35.. That I got..
>>
>
> I bought Prime and will never look back.
> I think I got my money's worth in the first month.
> Worth every penny and more.
>
>

Me too, especially considering the Prime TV shows, not to mention the
second day free shipping. The free over "what ever amount" typically
took at least 5 days.

On 1/6/2017 10:45 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Fri, 06 Jan 2017 19:34:58 -0500, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 15:52:47 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/6/2017 3:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>>
>>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>>
>>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Not everything purchased through Amazon is supplied or sold by Amazon.
>>> There are thousands of retailers selling their goods on Amazon and they
>>> ship direct from their stores, and they have all different prices and
>>> many are not even in the ball park of being competitively priced.
>> But being aligned with Amazon, the (sheeple) public are convinced
>> they are getting the deal of the century - just because they bought it
>> online from Amazon - - - - - - .
>
> Sure. Sometimes paying the $13 is less painful than spending a day
> finding the cheapest price.
>
Exactly, your time, retired or not is worth something.

On 1/6/2017 6:34 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 15:52:47 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote:
>
>> On 1/6/2017 3:00 PM, Jack wrote:
>>> On 1/6/2017 10:57 AM, John McCoy wrote:
>>>
>>>>> I think Sears will go out of business shortly.
>>>
>>>> I agree with you. I don't think they have a clue how to
>>>> solve their problems - they're still trying to figure out
>>>> "how do we compete with Walmart", when the world has moved
>>>> on and the real competition is the likes of Dollar General
>>>> (and, of course, Amazon).
>>>
>>> I recently mentioned I was looking to replace my Sony earphones. Amazon
>>> doubled the price from $14 to $27, plus shipping. I finally found them
>>> online at Walmart for $14 and free shipping. Walmart knows whats up,
>>> and if Amazon isn't careful, it will be in the bag with Sears/Kmart.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> Not everything purchased through Amazon is supplied or sold by Amazon.
>> There are thousands of retailers selling their goods on Amazon and they
>> ship direct from their stores, and they have all different prices and
>> many are not even in the ball park of being competitively priced.
> But being aligned with Amazon, the (sheeple) public are convinced
> they are getting the deal of the century - just because they bought it
> online from Amazon - - - - - - .
>


This is true but it is staring you in the face most of the time. Often
you see the words, may be at a lower price by others. Click the link
and the pricing goes all over the spectrum.

On 1/12/2017 6:06 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 1/11/2017 9:47 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>
>>
>> Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. And it would be just as accurate to
>> say Radio Shack should be exactly where Best Buy and Dell combined are
>> today. In the 1970s and 1980s Radio Shack was the computer store.
>> Everything electronic was at Radio Shack. Radio Shack was in every
>> mall back then so they had presence everywhere in the country. All
>> the new computer buyers of the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s should
>> have bought from Radio Shack. But the Shack is now about gone. Why
>> didn't the people at Radio Shack predict the prevalence of computers
>> and online everything that came 30 years later? Probably the same
>> reason Sears did not see everyone ordering everything in the mail
>> (FedEx and UPS are a big part) fifty years later.
>>
>
> Radio Shack did predict it and figured they would be selling computers
> to the world. They thought they could sell them at full retail price
> while others were selling them for 30% less.
>
> RS was a good place if you need a diode or resistor, but not for equipment.

RS spun off computer city. Which was a lot like a big box store.
The problem was price. They offered rebates on their own branded stuff
to lower the price. The problem was they didn't pay out the rebates w/o
hunting them down. Repeatedly we found that to be a problem and they
offered all types of excuses. But we knew it was BS because we even used
my father inlaws name and address for a few items when we bought more
than 1. Same issue. So in my mind, The offered high price, low service,
and low trust. The perfect reason to stop buying from them. Which we did.

--
Jeff

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