"Thanks, Sears, for being here when no one else was here"

Jacqueline Condron

34 years old, Boston

Certainly the catalog – flipping through this before the start of school was a huge deal. We also had the habit of receiving my Easter dress (with hat and shoes). Sears was the place where my grandmother took me every year for winter boots and a combination of snow. We would also buy my grandfather's work boots. We were there at least five or six times a month, from 1988 to 2004, when my grandmother moved to Florida. Good memories at Sears.

Dennis Morley

72, Fenton, Mich.

I remember dating Sears with my parents in the 1950s. Mum usually looked at models of clothing, fabrics, and bought clothes for us all. Dad took me to the hardware department. As we went down the aisles with tools and the toolbox, he held my arms. I've always wanted to open all the toolboxes (I was about 8 years old). The family would be there for several hours. Sometimes Dad had the car repaired during our stay. Ahhh. Then there was the Beecher tornado in 1953. My aunt and uncle had to go to Sears to exchange curtains. While at Sears, the tornado hit the Beecher area of ​​Flint. It probably saved their lives. Their house was razed by the tornado.

Dreams catalog

Frank Szafranski

64, San Diego

For me, my best memory of Sears was the Sears catalog. You can find anything there. When I was a kid, I was always looking forward to seeing the Christmas catalog. I would like to use it to show Mom and Dad what I wanted for Christmas. I have dreamed a lot with this catalog. At the time, James Bond (Sean Connery) was popular and so I took a look at all the beautiful James Bond toys, including guns hiding in briefcases, and so on. Then there was G.I. Joe and all the cool accessories. The Sears catalog was the best!

Matthew Sylvia

50, Eureka California.

We are a Sears family. I grew up in a very rural area of ​​northern California, within a fairly large family: eight siblings, my parents and my grandmother under the same roof. My favorite memories are going through the catalogs and seeing the toys, as well as all the other things that Sears had in their stores. It was magical, and we called it the book of greetings. One of my sisters would cut paper dolls from the oldest catalogs and play for hours. We ordered clothes and school supplies and Sears was Christmas with us. Thank you, Sears, for being there when no one else was there.

Former Employees

Tim McKay

59 years old, sycamore, ill.

Meeting with my wife for 35 years, when we were both working at Sears, Harlem and North Avenue in Chicago. Sears had everything, including my "Million Dollar Baby", as the song popularized by Nat King Cole. My mother was the shop operator and also cataloging the orders.

Dennis Ward

58, Boulder, Colo.

I met my wife while I was working at Sears in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1981. I was a salesperson at the Auto Center when the Human Resources Manager asked me to train a new employee. It was love at first sight for me (it took him a little longer) and we got married two years later. We always smile like idiots every time we see one of the remaining stores.

Joanne Meehl

60, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

My dad played various roles from the 50s to the late 70s. He was fiercely loyal and, with the exception of groceries and cars, it was the only store in which we bought anything. from shoes to photo shoots to tires. Sears honored the cuts to my father's employees when he became a retiree, while honoring them when my mother used them even after his father's death in 1984, until his death in 2013. For that alone: bless them.

Julie Castleberry

55, Arlington, Texas

I worked at Sears, my second and final year of high school in Austin, Texas at Hancock Center. I started as a cashier and I quickly started in jewelery and cosmetics. I remember buying candies at the pound for a snack! I have been authorized to plan and purchase cosmetics for our store and draw a lot of experience from it! Then I went on TV and electronics and tried to sell Commodore 64 computers that did not know anything at all! I loved my stay there and cherish the opportunities that it gave me!

Sears products for beloved kids

Jim Sauer

61, Austin, Texas

In the '60s, my father worked for Allstate Insurance, which belonged to Sears, and our family enjoyed a 10% discount. All clothing, shoes, toys, etc., were purchased from Sears. My favorite memory was on my 8th birthday, I was getting a new bike that I could choose. I chose a beautiful Red 1 speed and I drove her home through the remote neighborhoods of the main streets while my father was following me slowly. Google Maps indicates that Sears was a mile away from home, but I thought I was riding to get home. I've had this bike for over 10 years, and it later became known as "Red Bomb". I always have a picture of me with this bike.

Kyra Dwyer

49, Fairfield, Conn.

The Christmas shop and a flower girl dress that my mother bought me at the age of 10. I thought it was the most beautiful dress of all time. We did not have much money, but this dress made me feel like a princess.

Some of the above answers have been changed for reasons of space and clarity.