Our local Sears store is closing.
I am not entirely surprised by the news, but I am a bit saddened. For the longest time during my childhood, Sears was the place to shop in our valley. There wasn't much competition, and the internet wasn't a Thing yet, so you went to Sears. My first computer, an Atari 800, was bought at that Sears. All the software I saved my allowance to buy came from Sears (mostly INFOCOM games like Zork). Appliances and tools all came from Sears. Clothing came from Sears too. And if there was something Sears didn't have that you needed, you could order it from their catalog.
So yeah, I have fond memories of Sears and it seems strange to think about it closing.
I haven't shopped there in years, of course.
The last thing I bought at Sears was a Kenmore washer and dryer... or maybe it was some Craftsman tools... but that was at least a decade ago. I feel bad about that, but they just don't have anything I want to buy. Not any more...
I drew this Atari 800 for the cover of Kevin Savetz's terrific book, Terrible Nerd!
And now I think I'll have a beer and reminisce about the good ol' days when I was a kid and the Sears Christmas Catalog was my world.
Much like Apple.com is now.
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
Atom Entries Feed Comments Feed
Remember when you could buy houses out of their catalogs? Wait. You’re probably not that old.
My first “real” telescope came from Sears. Bought with allowance money in 1972. It was a 60mm/900mm focal length equatorial mount refractor with all the bells and whistles (minus the automatic drive motor).
I actually bought a pair of shoes from Sears (a discontinued Sketchers work boot that the Sketchers store was no longer selling) about three weeks ago, so I can’t say it’s been years since I shopped there but prior to that it had been quite a while.
I loved looking in the Sears catalog to check out the Star Wars toy dioramas they would set up. I wanted that job.
I lived for the beautiful summer day when the Sears fall catalog would show up in our mailbox so I could pour over it to pick out my school clothes for the school year!
Oh Zork and Infocom. How many late nights in 8th grade with me and my dorky friends mapping out every room. My first BBS (300 bps!) was “The Great Underground Empire” and my handle was “Dr. Zark” – I can’t remember where Dr. Zark came from but I’m guessing it had something to do with Zork.
How did I not have girlfriends in high school? I have no idea…
Great Atari 800 image. That was my first computer, too. Wish I still had my original. It worked for many years.
The local Sears store at the mall here closed in late January. It’s being torn down to make room for some other store (unknown at this point). There’s still a Sears downtown, but it’s harder to get to and not as easily visited.