January 1, 2026
From Kenmore to “No more”
Only 5 Sears stores remain in the U.S.
Mail-order legend to mall ghost: rage, nostalgia, and 'Sears lives in Mexico'
TLDR: Only five Sears stores remain as the real estate rescue plan collapses and Seritage sells off assets. Commenters blast alleged asset-stripping, share vintage catalogs, and note Sears thrives in Mexico—turning a retail obituary into a debate over capitalism, nostalgia, and why U.S. icons fade.
Only five Sears stores are still open, and the grand plan to turn its old buildings into glittering “live-shop-dine” complexes has fizzled. Seritage, the real estate spinoff, is selling off the last pieces to pay down a $1.6B loan from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire, per NYT and CoStar. But the comments? Pure fireworks.
The hottest take: users accusing hedge fund boss Edward Lampert of asset-stripping the brand—“intentionally destroyed for the real estate,” fumes one, turning the thread into a courtroom drama with armchair prosecutors versus “that’s just capitalism” defenders. Meanwhile, ericpp drops a curveball: Sears is thriving in Mexico under different owners, sparking a “did America kill it?” vs “different market, different story” showdown.
History nerds seized the moment with deep nostalgia, linking the Internet Archive’s old catalogs—like the 1911 book of dreams (1911)—and turning the thread into a time machine. Cue jokes that Sears sold everything from tuxes to tractors to entire houses, and now can barely sell hope. One curious soul even asks, “What did they sell?” and gets a flood of “literally everything.”
And for the paywall-weary, bookofjoe drops an archive link, setting off a mini brawl between rule-followers and link ninjas. The vibe: mourning a mall icon, roasting the money men, and sharing memes of “Order a house by mail, get a ghost town by mall.”
Key Points
- •Only five Sears stores remain in the United States, with closures expected soon.
- •Seritage Growth Properties is winding down, selling remaining assets to repay a $1.6 billion Berkshire Hathaway term loan.
- •Seritage abandoned plans to convert Sears properties into mixed-use developments.
- •Adam Metz, Seritage’s CEO, said the company aims to sell assets quickly and profitably and is open to alternative transactions.
- •Edward S. Lampert bought Sears in 2005 and merged it with Kmart (acquired in 2003), a strategy initially boosting Sears’s market value above $20 billion based on real estate expectations.