I think the last thing I got at Sears, were some Michelin tires back in 2002 or something. Took forever to buy them and get them mounted and get out of there. It took effort to actually get some service. Hello anybody working here??????
The rumors about the demise of Sears have been strife in lots of forums for years, no doubt that helped steepen their downfall, along with that poor unadaptable busines model, which almost seems intended to fail. Cashing out and done and done perhaps.
As far as having a retail store and Online presence, well Wal-mart seems to be pulling this off.
I really despise entering their stores, usually just for 5 quart jugs of motor oil for perhaps half the price of buying at autoparts stores.
BUt after some 9 years of faithful service running 24/7/365, my silverstone fm121 fan's circuit board was so corroded and impacted with greasy dust, it quit. Amazon had it for 20$, Walmart online for 15$ free shipping. not being a prime member, I said F it 5 bucks is 5 bucks and ordering was simple. If sears sold it for 15$ too I would it would come down to shipping, and website design as to who got my business.
Sears seems to have chosen not to adapt, almost intentionally.
I doubt the decision makers are hurting financially.
Craftsman as a brand name, 'meh' for many years now, in my opinion.
Diehard, same. What was it, a decade ago when the die hard platinum was a relabelled Odyssey AGM battery, even then people were like sears will likely not be around to warranty it should the need arise.