MIA brands at Sears Canada stores

[Ciel]

Based on my trip last Friday to the Lime Ridge Mall store-if you, like me, wanted to try some of the apparel shown in the new Wishbook (delivered Thursday with the community newspaper bundle), expect to be disappointed in the coat dept. and likely elsewhere.


Despite the name Columbia attached to the wall, there were no Columbia, Fenelli or other coat brands except the ones owned by Sears: Jessica, Attitude, Alpinetek. I specifically took out pages from my copy of the Wishbook so I could find the coats I wanted to try for fit. I am not keen to order from catalogue and risk a fit issue with coats that vary in sizing/fit.

Could not find the Skecher shoes either in the shoe dept. for Mom to check fit as she needs to replace her current walking shoes.

I would like SCers living in major cities downtown to chime in if they have noticed a similar brand evaporation from the sales floor. The items I mentioned were not catalogue only marked brands. It seems to me that the store chain has really moved to a warehouse supply mode for many sections to save on store stocking/staffing costs.

Still have not seen Whole Home Kids striped or fish print towels from Fall/Winter catalogue at the same store either!

[torontogal12]

I noticed brand evap last year too. I'm guessing they make more money off their own labels so they're keeping those on the sales floor?

They should really focus on items that are NOT clothing

[Ciel]

For time being, I have to get vacuum bags from Sears-at least they are usually in stock.

Clothing-I have noticed that Together and Somewhere lines seem MIA from the floor too as only a few pieces used to get to retail floor. Given that different size charts apply to other brands from Sears' own charts, one likes to know what fits and what doesn't and make the call which part must fit and live with the non-fitting parts of a coat. I want to believe Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver downtown stores carry a little of every brand on the sales floor.

Wishbook no longer carries a certain Dearfoam slipper that was around last fall/winter. Sniffle-it ran to large sizes.

As I was disappointed with last week's run through the mall to find a dress with short sleeves of a certain length for Mom (hint: only one store had a dress with short sleeves; rest of stores carry dresses that are sleeveless, mid-thigh or knee-length and tend towards semi-transparent fabric more than opaque), I cannot spend time on fruitless quest for coats. Guess I have to try Halton Hills Premium Outlets in September to see if I luck out on something there. Or head to Yorkdale/Sherway Gardens/Eaton Centre.

[Ciel]

Update-Lime Ridge Mall Sears has:
-about 5 Columbia coat styles in stock as I visited the mall today. Look to the right of the wall with the Columbia name on it towards the side aisle. The coat racks are along the side aisle and two styles are on the racks in that side aisle.
-one Fennelli suede-look parka style in dark brown. The aisle in front of the coat area (in front of the Columbia wall) had two types of Liz Claiborne regular sized parkas with fur trim hoods.

-Haggar pants-most in stock are Modern Fit (sits slightly below the waist) and in solid colours. The Classic Fit (sits at the waist) pants are in a gray check pattern and there's at least one of each size to 18 in stock.
-good selection of items from the recent Look! report(if you like the shiny apparel) on the racks.
I'm noticing that 10s and 12s predominate in sizing on the clothes racks, and a 14 or 16 are hard to find so if you are in the latter sizes-get your shopping done already! Same tip applies to L or XL in sweaters-there seems to be only one in a stack with lots of M!
-slippers-the Dearfoam slippers in stock did not have XL on the rack. However, I did notice the knit variety that I got last year is back on the website as of last month. There was a 30% off slippers in store sign but no match for me today.

[Ciel]

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013...00_people.html
Oh my, I'm thinking some stuff will be harder to obtain or take much longer to get.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013...ost_story.html#

It’s a template for what’s to come, according to Mark Cohen, a professor at Columbia Business School who was CEO of Sears Canada from 2001 to 2004.

“When legitimate companies sell assets, they reinvest by paying down debt or using the funds to invest in the business,” Cohen told the Post. “What’s Eddie Lampert doing? Putting the money in his pocket.”

“Sears is going to close all their stores, liquidate all their goods and distribute the cash to shareholders,” an industry source told The Post. “Then they’ll wait for a period of time and then file for bankruptcy.”

If you have any favourite items or have parts needed for your Kenmore appliances/lawnmowers, now's the time to be making your list and confirming you can get the things you need.
When I saw today's (second link) article in the Star with the quote from the former CEO, I thought, "uh oh". I think Sears Canada really tried to relaunch its brand after the Eatons buyout but something missed.

[Durham Couponer]

Thanks for the reminder- I have to stock up on vacuum bags because my little Kenmore has been running strong for 15 years despite the cat fur carpet, and we haven't found generic bags yet.

My mom was wondering what would happen to her appliance warranties since the Sears repair division is thinning out. If I remember correctly, Eaton's sold their warranties to a third party, didn't they? I just remember angry lifelong customers coming into the store asking where the large appliance department went because they needed their Viking items fixed.

[Gram10]

Sears is starting to remind me of SUPERSTORE! I am starting to find they really don't carry a lot of what I am looking for. Is it just me!

[Zonny]

My mom was wondering what would happen to her appliance warranties since the Sears repair division is thinning out. If I remember correctly, Eaton's sold their warranties to a third party, didn't they? I just remember angry lifelong customers coming into the store asking where the large appliance department went because they needed their Viking items fixed.

Ha, I have a Viking stove that came with my house.

We have a Sears Outlet store in Halifax, sometimes there's good deals there. When I was there on the weekend they had Columbia kid's jackets, but I wasn't willing to shell out $60 (even if that was half price) for a jacket like that for my 7 year old. I was happier with the parka I got for him for $8.99, definitely more my speed!

[Lynn49]

I think those labels, perhaps, are rats jumping off a sinking ship. Sears is in financial doo-doo, and I'm guessing that those companies now have very little faith in their ability to pay their bills. They're closing major stores, and they're not long for this world at all. Their days are numbered.
So if you need their vacuum bags or whatever, keep a few spares at home and your eyes on stock depletions in your local stores. if they're getting scarce and harder to find, start upping your stash. That may be one if the last items to go, but I'd keep eyes open.
Just FYI...

[Ciel]

Good point on the vacuum cleaner bags, Lynne. We're usually buying a new bag pkg only after the last bag is tossed (and I try to keep each bag going for as long as possible). Never seem to see a sale on vacuum bags though.

I do recall when the catalogue side was ramped up, it was a condition for suppliers to buy or get Sears' software in order to respond to orders quickly and to be part of the supply chain providing products to the stores/catalogue divisions.

[Ciel]

http://www.thestar.com/business/2014...y_gardens.html

So ends Sears in downtown Toronto and Sherway Gardens. Fixture sale, anyone?

[Ciel]

Spring Look Report is coming out for March 7. Here's hoping more of the products make it onto sales floors.

[Lynn49]

I wonder if they'll eventually become just an on-line and/or catalogue retailer.... Maintaining retail space is just getting too expensive for them in the condition they're in....

[Ciel]

The majority shareholder is looking to sell its Sears stock. Guess with the cashout from prime mall leases in Canada, the obvious move happened.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/14...s-canada-stake

ears Holdings Corp said on Wednesday that it was considering the sale of its 51% stake in Sears Canada Inc, a move that could mean all of the Canadian department store operator goes up for sale.