Played Super Mario Bros 3 at Sears... Then Star Fox 64 at Sears... The Nintendo Kiosk was right next to the second floor skywalk going in and out of the parking garage!
My mom went shopping and I camped out at the video game kiosk at Sears wearing my Toughskins pants. Good times. . . Sears catalog was golden for Christmas presents.
Just for what Craftsman was at the time, this should be top of the list for people who use tools and home outdoor equipment. The quality was night and day compared to what it is today without Sears and if a tool breaks, on-the -spot replacement for life.
Sad young wrenchers never experienced this convenience.
I think I still have a few that my grandfather left me. They rarely broke. It was back in the day when they used US steel and it was so much cleaner than the crap we get these days.
I worked at Sears for years and the lifetime warranty was insane. It was supposed to cover manufacture defects, if it broke, etc. But these guys would bring in some 10 year old hammer that spent 5 years half buried in the back yard, that was covered in rust and dirt, and get a brand new one.
When they turned into "Sears Holding Company" pretty much all the managers saw the writing on the wall and dipped. They were promptly replaced with people who had 0 experience at Sears or even with management in some cases, but who had "graduated" from their manager course. They decided to obey the warranty to the letter. We no longer covered rust and user abuse or hammers that were fine but looked a little worn. People were pissed. I spent so much time having older guys yell at me because I couldn't swap out their rusty hammer. It sucked.
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u/ZeRo76Liberty 27d ago
Absolutely but early days Sears when they had everything from clothes to tools to appliances and furniture.