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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 5:31pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Doug - yeah, I had All-State initially in my MUCH LONGER post under the 'weirdly innovative' paragraph, but removed it for the sake of general clarity. There's just so much stuff that Sears did over the course of their history that it becomes impossible to sum them up.

Sears auto stuff (DieHard batteries and such)... also such a massive mainstay.  And I spent much of my childhood embarrassed and lightly ostracized by my mandatory ToughSkins jeans. Grade schoolers are just as fashion conscious as adults, it turns out.

Etc. 


Edited by Dave Kopperman on 30 November 2022 at 5:41pm
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James Johnson
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Dave,

Thanks for triggering repressed memories of the ToughSkins clothing line.

Now I have something else to think about over the holidays.......  :-)
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply


 QUOTE:
Again, my first visit to MacDonalds—burger, fries, shake. And 35¢ change from my dollar.

When I was in New York earlier this month, I stopped in a (run of the mill, not at all swanky) juice bar on third avenue in midtown and bought a large smoothie. 15 bucks. Ouch.
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

(I've wondered why our written language for money is structured as it is. Why is five dollars $5, but five cents is 5¢?)
________________________________

I've never had ¢ on any of my keyboards, I always have to write out "cents."  (Or copy and paste, like I just did here.)
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 7:41pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

My parents never had any problem with me buying comics.  My Dad drove me all the time until we finally asked and discovered that they were delivered only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Of course, I think he read comics when he was younger.

My mother was only upset when I revealed I wanted to be an artist instead of the lawyer path she had picked out for me in grade school.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 7:42pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

The very first typewriter I had, a second hand Remington only slightly smaller that a Volkswagen, had $ and ¢ as shift functions of the same key.

Incidentally, on my iPhone the $ key hides ¥, €, ¢, £, ₩ and ₽.

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Doug Centers
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Posted: 30 November 2022 at 11:40pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

"...in many cases the Kenmore models from the same manufacturer were rated superior..."

...

That's exactly how it worked Dave. I sat at many a training seminar with tire manufacturers who openly admitted such. Those "best" tires would usually get the Roadhandler branding at Sears Auto.

They understood how market share worked.
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Trevor Smith
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Posted: 01 December 2022 at 1:23am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Completely unrelated to the post, I hear Ozzy's "No More
Tears" in my head every time I read this thread title.
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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 01 December 2022 at 4:36am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

I shared some of my thoughts on this over on Facebook, and my Aunt (who worked at a Rhode Island Sears as stop-loss manager for decades, starting back in the mid-70s) posted this:

 Bess wrote:
When I went to work there it was a great company to work for. They treated associates well, had good products and kept the stores looking good. Lots of things in retail have changed due to Walmart but it only took Eddie Lampert about 15 years to destroy what was a great American company. As a salaried manager I can tell you the Company I started with and the Company I retired from were not recognizable as the same Company. Sad for a lot of people.  It is painful to think about. Lot of people got screwed while Lampert got richer. We knew the day he bought Sears we were in for trouble.

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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 01 December 2022 at 4:45am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Not sure why, but George Carlin's old routine waxing nostalgic about Ed Sullivan is coming to mind: https://youtu.be/C1BbbBDSw_U
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Brian Miller
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Posted: 01 December 2022 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

When my paternal grandfather was growing up and getting to early
adulthood, his father owned a small sawmill. He and his siblings all worked
there thru the years. At one point they had a contract with Sears to supply
lumber for chicken coop kits that they sold out of their catalog. That went
well for a while but the demand got too large and they couldn’t meet it so
Sears dropped them. I’m not sure if that somehow caused them to lose the
mill, but there weren’t any stories ever told that took place after that in the
timeline. Just that they lost it.
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Michael Hogan
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Posted: 01 December 2022 at 5:22pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

This thread brings back an onrush of memories:

- Sears Toughskins trousers (named as such because if
you fell, they wouldn't tear, but your knees would still
get all scraped on the tough material!)

- Sears/Craftsman (ya can't beat their hand tools.
Broke a 20-year-old screwdriver? Bring it in and get a
new replacement.)

- Grants (both my older brother and older sister worked
there. One Xmas, my brother's boss let him buy ALL the
broken/damaged/cannibalized boxes of Hot Wheels
merchandise for $10. He gave me the mountain of stuff as
a gift.)

Edited by Michael Hogan on 01 December 2022 at 5:22pm
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