I figured this week was a good time to review a retailer since we all know the entire US will converge on retailers this Friday to spend all of their money.  I tricked them all by spending it this weekend and spent a fair amount of time at Sears electronic department.  Normally, anytime I go to the mall I will go to Sears to check out their petite section (because it’s actually stylish and nicely priced) and their clearance because everything is even cheaper so I can buy more.  I know people never think of them as a good quality or fashion forward store but I can’t count the number of times I’ve been complimented on items I’ve purchased there.  As it happened this weekend’s trip had nothing to do with clothing and had everything to do with buying a new TV.  After doing two serious weeks (and a few extra weeks of on/off research) of researching TVs, I had narrowed down my search to two TVs of which both were carried in only two stores, Sears and Target.  I wanted to see them both in person and as side by side as possible in order to do the final comparasions and after visiting a Target of which doing a comparsion was impossible (not to mention the TVs were more expensive there), I went to Sears.

If you’ve not been to a Sears in a while, I can’t really blame you.  The stores are in definite need of an update and do seem run down so why would they have anything of value?  But if you can get past the looks and get inside, you’ll usually be fine with what you find.  Everything is set up in a pretty basic department store layout so you can quickly find what you’re looking for.  I made my way downstairs into the electronics department and began browsing the TVs in order to find the screen size I had in mind when I was approached by a gentleman in the Sears blue shirts to see if I needed any help.  I pointed to my print-outs (mostly for the pricing to make sure I was getting the deal I saw since websites and in store don’t always match) and asked him where the 32″ TVs were and in particular the two on the page.  He helpfully walked me over to the TVs in question and asked me about the research I had done and to see if I had any questions.  We talked for a bit about the TVs as I walked around in front of them and knelt and stood on my tippy toes to make sure the viewing angles were good.  He even pointed out the difference in housing that would make the viewing a little different because of their build and helped me find more information on the products to compare inputs/outputs and we discussed the 720p versus 1080p dilemma for TVs under 40″, since one TV was 1080p and the other I was looking at was a 720p.  I waited around long enough for their stock DVD to repeat back to the video game simulation and the action movie clip to see if there were any noticeable differences in blurring and sound.  All in all, I spend a good 45 minutes just staring at the TVs and talking to the sales guy about what I was thinking.

It was a relief to be somewhere without the pushy sales people who are always trying to get you to think about bigger and better and sell you their tech services and all other manners of stuff.  Not once did he try to talk me into their install services, a bigger TV or something different that I wanted through out this process.  Finally, I decided on the TV I wanted and he rung me up and sent me on to merchandise pick up to get my TV.  The merchandise pick up guys were friendly and I was surprised when the one carried it out and put in my car for me.  I thanked him for doing so as I had fully expected to have to carry and load it myself.  He thanked me for thanking him as he said no one ever did so because it was part of his job but I said his job did a lot more than most other places and he deserved a thanks for it at least.

So Sears, not only can you provide me with cute clothes for cheap but your salesmen and women are knowledgable, non-pressuring and pleasant to deal with.  Please don’t change cause overall you have stars and I don’t want to give you less.  If you find the money and time to update the stores and a way to make the website work better, I’ll give you a .   In conclusion, don’t disregard Sears because you might be plesantly surprized with what you find inside and you also might find it cheaper than even Target (who had the TV I bought on sale for a bonus $100 more than I just bought it).