Hey everyone, I just released a video on my second channel documenting the very last day Sears Canada was open. Go check it out! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mZmTnrxpv6_Zppc.html

That layoff meeting clip is heartbreaking

2014: Is Sears Canada going away? Oh no were not going anywhere. 2018: Abandoned - Sears Canada

As a Canadian I'm really going to miss comparing the Sears logo to the SEGA logo.

That lay-off video was so heartbreaking...you could hear in her voice that she knew that she was announcing the end of many families’ sole source of income.

About 5 years ago, I lived very close to a massive Sears building. The logo on the front of the building was gigantic and would light up at night. However, at night the S wouldn't light up. It would say "EARS".

The abandoned series is so professional it should become a TV series.

the sears wishbook was a big part of my childhood in the 80's n 90's

I realize this isn’t your gig but I’m surprised you didn’t bring up Sears treatment of their staff, especially retired staff. It was honestly one of the most heartbreaking elements of the shut down. I worked for Sears 2013 till early 2017 and most of my fellow employees were extremely loyal senior citizens. I knew women who worked there for more then twenty years, had barely retired and had there pension ripped away from them. To this day at my local mall a bunch of the elderly ladies meet in the food court every Friday morning to talk about their experience and where working for Sears has left them.

I wish more KZfaqrs took their subjects seriously enough to do interviews like that!

That layoff meeting footage is so sad.

January 14, 2018. All remaining stores closed tonight... RIP Sears Canada ;( and thank you Jake for that video

Ouch that layoff meeting footage hurt my heart poor babies ❤️

Sears US is next

This series has definitely improved in both editing and voice acting. Now you can speak full sentences without getting off topic. I truly think your series is a great one and is worthy of the attention it is getting.

I loved getting the Sears Wishbook in the mail, I would make a list of things from it and buy them at another cheaper store.

its always heartbreaking when people lose their jobs. especially when it happens en masse

It's sad that Kmart/Sears is going under. Hopefully someday, someone will make the National Retail Museum so they aren't forgotten to the sands of time.

I predicted the fate of Sears Canada about half a year before they announced the first bankruptcy news... I was walking around in my local Sears (a HUGE one, 3 floors in Fairview Pointe-Claire Shopping Centre in the suburbs of Montréal) one Saturday afternoon and it was completely dead. The third floor was the worst of all though, the only people up there were about 2 employees. No music either. Just dead, eerie silence. I took some video footage of the condition of that store... shelves that were bordering on abandonment, their old Craftsman tool section turned into a makeshift thrift store with everything from old Christmas decorations to baby cribs in it. The shoe section was a joke, barely anything worthy of buying on the shelves and when I snuck into the rear storage room, I saw that there were rows upon rows of completely empty shelves, absolutely no inventory at all. It was a sad sight and made me laugh at how the management of Sears Canada were trying so hard to bullshit the public about their situation. Anyhow, you've made another great video, Jake! Ciao!

Don’t lie we all used sears as a shortcut to get into the mall

It's kind of sad. This company started with a guy who bought 5 watches and sold them to railroad switchmen. So much history in the Sears and Roebuck era. Sears was where you bought your first electric guitar in the 60's because you saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Or a combo organ when you saw The Doors. There weren't many music stores back then. Maybe they should've returned to their roots as a mail order company and merged with Amazon or something.

It's always a good day when you upload a new episode of Abandoned.

Can you do a video on the bridal store, Alfred Angelo? It was so shocking how they closed all their stores abruptly and with no warning to the customers and employees. Love your videos by the way! Amazing job!

"Hey Google, show me videos about CES" "OK, showing videos about Sears on KZfaq" Huh, neat.

That wish book was always exciting to read through every single Christmas.

*Bright Sun Uploads* DROP EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW-

Seeing this is weird for 2 reasons: The first is that Sears is 150 years old company who is literally a house hold name, and it'd be crazy to think it'd go away. The second is that its crazy to see them completely going away in Canada, and is doing badly here in the US now too and I'm assuming that it will be DeJa Vu pretty soon, which will be sad.

"What the Sears" was a horrendous campaign and everyone involved should feel awful

Sears was one of my favourite stores. I purchased almost all the electronics at Sears because of their layaway options. I loved their shopping catalogs, my favourite one was 2000 millennium one. Nothing is same since they’re gone ☹️

I went to a Sears nearby for my birthday, it was almost abandoned, and the music was almost quiet. But it's closing now. My first, and last time at a Sears.

Sears was actually one of the first major Canadian retailers to adopt online orders. It's a shame they never really leveraged it.

I remember the June 22nd day clearly, it was painful to see and I lost co-workers that day. Working in head office I was locked out and was not on either list, I had actually sent in my resignation two weeks earlier and had that day pegged as my final day. Great timing. I did however manage to sneak into the Royal York Hotel meeting in Downtown Toronto, right down the street from the one that was happening in which you have video of, of the Metro Toronto Convention centre. We lost what seemed like almost 2/3rd of the corporate staff that day. Lots of tears were shed by all of us. It was nice to see all of that. I know the lady giving the news did not want to.

Very sad for Sears passing, a true iconic Canadian store.

"Is Sears Canada going away??" Can't believe that dumb commercial talking about their own demise. brilliant!

These retail chains lack forward thinking. There's no reason why Sears couldn't have been Amazon.

I love how this also shows the history of sears, im from canada and sears was literally my go to place when i was a kid, i actually loved this place. Kinda sad its gone, like a huge part of my childhood to januray 2018, RIP sears.

6:07 "Suspect's Wicked Farts Halt Police Interrogation" .....wait what?

Please do North Wilksboro Speedway!!! It’s the track that made NASCAR then they just left it...

Abandoned Toys ‘R’ Us That video is probably gonna come in 2020 once Toys ‘R’ Us ARE actually abandoned after their chapter 11 bankruptcy.

It was a real shame. I actually lived near one of the revamped stores and had re-started shopping there before they closed. The revitalization plans were rock solid, but implemented too late to have a significant impact.

Sears closed so fast after the Rebrand, I didnt even know there was a new logo...

Can you do Borders bookstores? That was traumatic to me as a kid, and I would like to relive those memories.

My local Kmart is finally shutting down it somehow survived 2016 and 2017 but it won't survive into 2018 kind of sad seeing it go since it was one of the Big Kmart stores with the cafeteria in it

Sears management was 90% of the problem . They got very complacent . It when they laid off all commission salespeople well that was a huge mistake . When you went to Sears store you found what you wanted and if they didn't have it they would get it in your size . And you could try it on to see if it fit . That's a problem with Amazon and all the catalog stores . You wind up tying hundreds of dollars in credit up because things don't fit or not very good quality . You can tell from a picture which you can tell when you hold your hands . The target was a different situation there run by stupid people .... Sears will be a big loss everywhere if they cannot figure out how to fix it . There are people smart enough to do it ..I still love big department stores . Especially ones where people wait on you . You can't beat commission salesman . Good ones work .

Good video. Seeing all these dead stores and malls is a little depressing. I remember when malls really had it all banks, library, fountains, Safeway, Woolco, Eaton's, Bay, some had close to 200 stores. While weekdays were busy Saturdays were packed. Part of the problem is malls themselves. They are all cell phone stores and shoe shops nowadays and no real draw. Things are too spread out. Before you could go to Safeway, Record store, book store, bank, grand and toy all in the same place.

as a Canadian, its sad to see Sears Canada go bankrupt :( remember shopping there when I was younger.

I like that you went the extra mile and got an interview. Good job!

Just discivered this series, and totally binged watched it. Amazing job! Its so sad to see these iconic stores disappear. I watched it happen when i worked for Radio Shack, and im watching it with Sears, as I have a friend who woks for them.

Jake, your videos are so well done it almost unbelievable. That interview with the Mall president was fantastic. Oh, and I always almost tear up at the end of these when you usage footage of the abandon stores/locations where a huge corporation used to be.

I love this series dude, thanks for another great video!

R.I.P Sears Canada 😢 and awesome video btw :)

Death of the middle class meant the death of all the big box stores when people no longer had money to spend in them.

About a week ago, I saw a Sears ad that said “Store closing sale!”

My grandpa remembers when they used to get those giant Sears catalogs in the 1950s. He said that you could buy kits for full size houses, airplanes, Hot Rods, and so much more. The one near his house in Texas even sold M1 Garands for $20 a gun. I wish we could go back to that time.

im honestly surprised it's not closing in america too. There's a store in the mall of america and i've been in there a few times and its pretty much empty whenever i go.

WHY DO ALL YOUR VIDEOS MAKE ME NOSTALGIC?!!! *cries*

I just stumbled on these videos a few days ago. They are so fascinating. Sears is so interesting, I know they sold electronics, hardware, clothing, sporting goods and yet when I needed any of those things I never once thought about going to Sears. It's like they had no identity and tried to be everything to everyone.

Rip Sears Canada. It was at one of my local malls, and my family would always get the Christmas wish book. We'd also get our snowsuits there. I went there a few weeks ago and it had everything must go sign everywhere. It was a sad sight.

Apparently Canada is where chain stores go to die.... RIP Sears and Target

They should've sold me at Sears, I woulda saved them from going under

Learned more about the chain of stores, than I thought I was lol. I used to rent a little 2 bedroom, 2 story "cute" looking little house, and it was ordered right out of the 1942 sears catalog!! Was delivered on a flat bed, and came with instructions on how to construct. Really cool, they kept all the original paperwork, and it was really neat when I'd have company and they'd admire the house, I always loved telling them it was ordered right from sears. Lol! Been binging your videos all day at work! I've got nothing done today! Thanks! LOL

Been watching this series for over a year now. Made me change my outlook on retail for the rest of my life. Im so happy to see how professional this series has become in a years time.

Sears catalogs used to be like porn when I was a child. kidding, not kidding.

i lived near to a huge sears and i loved that store. i was so sad to see it close. the store was empty for a while since the building is so big. it was finally replaced with another clothing store. i went to visit with my family and it was truly sad. seeing all the areas where is used to shop when i was 7ish.

I love the interview, very heartwarming and honest.

I waited all day to watch this! Your thoroughness impresses me yet again. On a different note, The most bullshit thing about Sears dying is what the employees have to go through. They're getting next to nothing from the company in regards to layoffs and unemployment, and a fair chunk of the employees have been with Sears for upwards of 10-15 years. I feel so bad for them.

It's so cool that you live in canada because I do as well and I know most of these places

I miss Sears. I loved going to the massive stores at Kingsway and West Edmonton Malls. Both are now massive, empty areas. I miss circling toys in the Christmas catalogues, and my favourite childhood presents are all from Sears.

I'm loving the Abandoned series, idk why but its a fascinating watch, the night I came across it I watched for three hours straight lol, keep up the good work 😂

Please make an abandoned about the Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas which is a huge abandoned half finished building on the Las Vegas strip

YO! hey JAKE i just wanted to say that your videos are very good and entertaining to us wich i think i speak for everyone who loves and really likes your videos. THANK YOU JAKE

I will always miss sears.. Reading the Christmas catalog was so fun when i was younger. Great video.

Sears was part of our weekly routine. Seemed like almost every Saturday we were at that place. Very fond memories of a bygone era. I look for old Craftsmen stuff at estate sales. My toaster is a early 80's use it every day.

OH SHIT IT'S FINALLY HERE i live in Canada and I've been waiting for this for so long, last time I went to one was about a year ago at one of the ones in Scarborough Oh, I got a like, you gotta do a fan meetup in Toronto or something. That'll be great my man

Can you please do borders books

Your interviews are great. Please keep it coming.

Hey Jake, I absolutely love your videos and after coming across this one, it got me thinking of another long gone catalog company. I've grown up in Mississauga almost my whole life, and I remember going to Square One with my mum to pick up items from Consumers Distributing. I remember their catalogs being massive!

What Canadian doesn’t have those memories of circling toys in the wish book every year as a kid? :)

Abandoned sports authority

When I saw the map off all the sears stores closing I couldt stop but shed a tear as right there in northern alberta was our beloved Sears, the same one that i had gone to all my life up to this point

They had all these amazing infrastructure for catalog order and delivery... if they had moved the order system online quickly enough they could have beat Amazon to the punch and be a huge powerhouse of online shopping...

Every time a new episode of this series comes out I think about how far it’s come and how professional it is now. It’s really impressive getting the historical clips combined with a modern interview and other tidbits of info. It’s just perfect. Great stuff.

I love these films. One of the best series on KZfaq.

Wow, it's not everyday I see pics of the old Sears in Garden City and Polo Park but I'll take nostalgia wherever I can get it lol

14:14 my hometown Sears, living in Southern Ontario this video takes me back, my mom used to order everything from the catalogue and pick it up there

The Sears closed in Timmins Ontario over the summer. It was kind of sad because it was the only anchor store our mall had left.

The sears at the mall i go too all the time is finally closed. Its really sad. I remember also getting the Sears christmas catalogue and doing the circle thing. I still have my 2007 book actually haha. Also jake and BSF team, thank you for all your hard work! Its amazing❤

Those Sears Christmas catalogs were my favorite part of the Holidays!!! I'm gonna miss this :(

When I was a kid, at Yonge & Queen there was Eaton's on the north side and Simpson's on the south. Simpson's tended to be a little cheaper. When it became Simpson-Sears, I didn't like it because I considered it an American store pushing out a Canadian one. But I still shopped there. When it became Sears, I NEVER ENTERED THE STORE AGAIN because I considered it an American store. Until like the last week, I went in just to look around. At the time, I needed a belt and an umbrella. I found ONE of each, both of which were entirely unsuitable. Canadian law MUST offer better protection to workers!

I love the "Abandoned" series. It is very informative

The quality of your video are getting better and better. It’s really exciting to see a channel grow and mature like this over time. It kind of reminds me of Philip DeFranco’s channel and how it matured in content and quality over the years.

Thank u for sharing with the video and history of Sears!!

Should be noted that when Eatons Folded Sears took over most of their high profile leases. In my city, they moved across the street to a popular mall and left a dying mall at the time.

Every major company that has not adopted an aggressive and comprehensive web presence has died. The web is the modern mail order system and every business that fails to grasp that will either flounder or flat out fail. Regardless of size. I am actually surprised that Sears didn't die off 5 to 10 years ago.

I love these videos, i binged watched all of your abandoned videos

I was with SEars for over 20 years. Even when i was there it was noted to be a badly managed operation. It was like no one really seemed to know what they were doing. One meeting they held the managers were given instructions by higher ups to tell us as employees,, we should all be buying our stuff from Sears. However,, people pointed out rather quickly,, they would ,, except the same thing at another store was always cheaper - a lot cheaper. Sears became a disaster,, but in the end the higher ups were bleeding the company dry and getting rich while the regular people were let go with no severence, no payout - nothing. Many after decades of service.

Sears would regularly hire and then fire 50% of their staff in each store. It was a revolving door and Sears would waste scarce resources training new people and firing the more experienced people. Then, they would fire the newly trained people and train the new-new-newly hired people. Sears also liquidated all their best assets - credit card program, best leases, best brands and so they had further declining revenues. Before Sears closed, they had less than 1 employee per 5,000 square feet on their retail floors. Their stores were over priced, understocked and lacked employees. In short, Sears hated their employees, hated their customers and hired inept people to manage their operations.

At least Sears Canada tried to change and do something different or least tried update their stores and image, unlike Sears and Kmart here in the States. Unfortunately it happened to be too little, too late... and the same fate awaits Sears Holdings unless they pull something out of their ass and figure out how to save their dying company.

I like these types of "abandoned" videos---where you look at the business rather than just the physical space they've left behind. I believe Target Canada was your first in this series. I was looking forward to your video on Sears Canada after my last visit to a Sears liquidation sale. I'm surprised, though. You've included several shots the former Eatons locations, including the two flagship stores at the Toronto Eaton Centre and the Pacific Centre in Vancouver (which have both been filled by Nordstrom Canada as well as expanded mall space), but made no mention of Sears Canada's $50-million CAD acquisition of the T. Eaton Company, Ltd in 1999 and their failed attempt at entering the high-end, luxury retail market with their relaunch of the Eatons brand in 2000. It was through this acquisition of Eaton's corporate assets that Sears had a presence in those massive downtown retail flagship locations. Moreover, it was at Sears Canada's height that the company purchased Eaton's and soon suffered its first major losses in revenue after their failure with the Eatons "aubergine" brand. I believe that triggering their downward spiral. Sears Canada rebranded their Eatons stores as Sears only two years later, in 2002. Those larger stores continued to offered certain exclusives held over from Eatons, but remained unsuccessful because Sears isn't a brand on par with Holt Renfrew or the rebranded, repositioned Hudson's Bay and was therefore unappealing to the more affluent shoppers. Luckily, Sears Canada was able to pass those properties off to Nordstrom. Not that it helped their bottom line. It was also at that point in which Sears Canada started playing musical chairs with their CEOs and adopted new logos, rebranding itself every few years until we were finally left with their last attempt: WTS---What the Sears is going on? If you ever revisit this subject, I hope you'll consider incorporating Eatons into your video.

Sears Catalogues from back in the day were life!!!!!