We live in lightning fast times…
That goes without saying. Yet sometimes Cowtowners have to shake their heads about things that – amazingly – have nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump.
Go figure.
For example the mighty Sears department store chain going down down ugly.
How ugly?
When one of the company’s most profitable and iconic stores ever – the Sears at Metcalf South – in Overland Park takes a bullet, you know the end is near.
How near?
With more than 1,100 remaining Sears outlets, it may not happen overnight, but under the current circumstances, the bigger they are the harder they fall. And depending on how many of the remaining Sears are the mini sized “hometown” stores it’s not as if the company is anything approaching the powerhouse it once was.
Far from it.
Having gone from around 4,000 stores to 1,500 the last handful of years, the handwriting looks to be on the wall for what’s left of the Sears/K Mart empire.
Still it’s hard not to breath a sigh when reminiscing back to the 1980s when Sears still had its automotive center on the vaunted Country Club Plaza where the Court of the Penguins now stands.
I can’t tell you how many lawn mowers, weed whackers, washers & dryers and kitchen appliances I purchased there over the years. Not to mention – embarrassingly – that I purchased record albums as a boy at the Plaza Sears.
No mas.
Think of it – 50 years in the shadow the once great mall at 95th and Metcalf, where its grand opening was attended by notables ranging from the reigning Miss America to Whizzo the Clown.
So how about a moment of silence for what’s certain to be the coming flood of familiar people, places and things that may not even survive the Trump presidency?
And given the state of brick and mortar retail today, is it any wonder that the Independence Center mall appears poised to default on its $200 million loan balance due next month?
I can almost see Whizzo rolling over in his grave!
Sears, Whizzo, Torey & Ol’ Gus, Gregory Grave, Smaks, the 1960’s Athletics and Chiefs… things change fast when you’re not a boy.
HC, same fate for the Sears at Antioch on the Northland. 4+ decades (1973) and……..poof! No idea where the hell I’m going to get my Toughskins, now!
Hearne yes its a ‘new world’ built on the net, social media and the new ‘generation’ of young people who order everything online, don’t go out, don’t see movies go to nightclubs or do much of anything. In the next decade most malls will close or downsize. Look at the once packed Plaza…now dead at night. Slow in the day mostly…so sad. Our era is over.
The Plaza isn’t dead at night because of “social media” and the “net”.
Let’s all try and figure out why the Plaza is dead at night.
Hmmmm……….
your era is over glaze. Old worn out ideas/////old worn out opinions….still writing about the good ole days.
Boom boom is rolling.
Come see boom boom and see that life is a thrill a minute.
Now go buy a rocking chair at nebraska mart and start rocking…..
going into that sears store every so often these past few years was depressing… and it never was all that exciting in the first place… but it was kinda sad to see the parking lot with maybe 10 cars on the west and a few more on the south… the sales clerks faces though told the sadder story.
you just knew that they knew, like most of us, that with metcalf south on its last legs, then no legs, it was just a matter of time before that Sears would become history. and a lowes next door? you could see it in their game face, weary of the wait and the waiting around, but still trying desperately to be of help… thinking maybe if we had sold a bit more, we could have stayed open through one more Christmas, and maybe that could have saved us for another year!
the face of weariness and desperation is the saddest face of all…
No doubt the world is changing old mules. But go look at the expansion of businesses in joco from 119 to 151. There’s more businesses in that area that ever were in
metcalf south.
People want to drive up an get their stuff….they’re buying online at 3am….
and that’s just the way the world is changing. Either change or die!
And Mr. Boom Boom, those places are the Ghost Towns of tomo in more instances than not…
Not so much a question of if as when.
Oh many will survive, but for how long. Hand writing’s on the wall, dude.
Glaze if I was you I’d shut down that comedy club and run a womens only showcase
joint. Bring in those guy groups on friday andsaturday…selll dildos and vibes to all these horny women in kc…..you’d make a killing and the publicity would be huge.
That’s boom booms advice…..comedy is dying….i watch it on netflix/comedy channel or on hbo/etc…..don’t need to go to a club.
Follow boom boom’s advice and you too can live the life of the rich and famous while getting your social security check. Or get yourself some rich jew broad and live off
her for the next 20 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Automotive Center at Metcalf South is still open … isn’t it?
Chris, I’m picturing you buying that weed whacker at Sears.