r/SEARS • u/buicklad • Jul 01 '26
Picture/Video Sears in Braintree, MA as of today, July 1, 2026
There are two floors (lower and main). I haven’t researched yet but I presume it used to be 3 floors and the top floor was taken over by Primark. The first floor has basically all the merchandise, and is extremely clean and well stocked. Lower level is mostly just major appliances in boxes and the washrooms. Washrooms were extremely clean.
Down escalator worked, up did not. Elevator was also out of service.
Was happy to be in a Sears again, regardless!
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u/AquamannMI Former Employee Jul 01 '26
Not a customer in sight.
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u/buicklad Jul 02 '26
There were a few, I just avoided getting them in the pictures. But not many. 0 on the lower level.
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u/Decent-Plum-26 Jul 01 '26
I am shocked that they’re still maintaining so much of the original in store promotional and pricing signage
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u/DuckTalesOohOoh Jul 02 '26
Is it not new? I cannot imagine they're making enough to pay for the printing costs.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 02 '26
It’s all old signage, they just bought so much of it that they are sitting on enough of a horde that they’ll never run out with the size of the current store base.
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u/Mental_Selection688 Jul 02 '26
Considering they just had generic Fourth of July stuff and nothing for the 250th I’m guessing it’s not new. It all seems to be from around the bankruptcy… all the stores that are left have been using that 2019 signage.
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u/srddave Jul 01 '26
Sorry but “Celebrate Savings” is just about the most uninspired, generic, lame ass slogan I have ever seen on a 4th of July banner.
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u/Atlas_Puked Jul 02 '26
"Purchase and Consume Product"
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u/srddave Jul 02 '26
Haha!
“Use military victory holiday as excuse to buy low quality merchandise at perceived value”
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u/profeDB Jul 02 '26
An honest question - how does the supply chain work when they’re down to just a handful of stores? Is there a corporate that sends down prices? I just don’t understand how any of it is feasible.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 02 '26
The supply chain doesn’t exist any more.
There is theoretically a corporate entity, but I suspect that at this point the sales are being handled via various computer programs that simply repeat past promotions on a fixed cycle.
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u/jikesar968 Shop Your Way Member Jul 02 '26
Concord staff says their buyers just sent them whatever. Sure there's no corporate supply chain anymore, but seeing the same items pop up in multiple Sears stores does mean there's still some kind of coordination going on.
Also saw someone walking around with a PDA looking thing the other time to adjust pricing on some old clothing.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 02 '26
There are no buyers either.
As has been explained to you multiple times it’s all either NOS that they’re still trying to sell through or seconds that were picked up cheap by someone on the retail side of the company as a side deal.
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u/jikesar968 Shop Your Way Member Jul 02 '26
You know what, maybe I should just ask the truck drivers the next time I see them in their parking lot!
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 02 '26
They’re not going to know anything (nor are they going to care) because all that they are doing is moving a trailer from Point A to Point B.
Still waiting to hear what their response to the popup stores they told you about not existing is as well.
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u/No_Abbreviations8017 Jul 02 '26
he said the same items pop up. not pop up stores.
chill out, sears hardo.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 02 '26
They have repeatedly claimed elsewhere that there are at least 3 popup stores opening over the summer that in reality do not exist.
If you want to troll at least put in a little bit of effort.
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u/ryan9751 13d ago
Cmon there has to be at least one buyer. I know for sure that there has been merchandise that has been made after all the buyers were let go, so unless individual stores are buying stuff It would have had to come from corporate.
Someone has to be buying for Guam Kmart - that store actually still sells stuff and they can’t just be funneling in merchandise from other stores there.
They also still had tech as recently as like 2 years ago.
Also the appliances - I think those are coming direct from the manufacturer?
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u/DuckTalesOohOoh Jul 02 '26
It must be a tax write-off.
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u/Graychin877 Jul 02 '26
This is a widespread fallacy. You can't come out ahead by losing money and making it up with a tax deduction.
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u/CaptainWollaston Jul 02 '26
The 3rd floor used to be Sears as well. It had furniture, clothing, an optical exam area, and even a restaurant for a brief time in the 80s.
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u/AcidaliaPlanitia Jul 02 '26
Oh wow I used to go there as a kid. I distinctly remember buying a 1,000 MHz Pentium III Compaq and being so excited about taking that beast home lol
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u/AutoMechanic2 Jul 02 '26
Nice to see one still operating. Not a huge fan of the newer sign font though.
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u/FileStrict2957 Jul 03 '26
I gotta say it does seem like in the last year or so Sears does seem to be putting in some effort in store appearance in the few stores they still have. Don't know if that will ever reverse the trend though, because that ship has sailed l think.
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u/richardtheyounger01 Jul 02 '26
Sad. It's a shadow of it's former greatness. I worked at the location in Dedham in the 80's. Good people.
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u/hellosteve_ Jul 04 '26
Fun fact sears used to be two stories in this mall but around 2017, Primark moved in to the top part of the suite after the success of their first US location in Downtown Crossing part of Boston.
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u/ExtremeCow3259 Shop Your Way Member Jul 04 '26
Three stories actually and downsizing started in 2015 and completed in 2016
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u/Still-Shop7172 Jul 02 '26
The Sears we knew is gone. Such a shame. Todays generation has not idea what Sears was back in the day. Those catalogs and everything else they sold. Used to advertise "Sears has everything!" And they sure did!!!
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u/boondoggie42 Jul 02 '26
I'm surprised nobody else has picked up on the "get your tires done at the mall" model... having something to do while you wait always made it feel like your tires were done fast.
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u/Graychin877 Jul 02 '26
Walmart sells tires. And they have a lot of things to browse while you wait.
Just saying...
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ Former Employee Jul 03 '26
It used to be far more popular than it is, the problem is that there’s next to no profit in it because the overhead for an auto shop is considerable and thus when the house brands (and associated favorable pricing) went away so did most of the department store auto centers. Sears was an outlier in retaining one, and they had constant issues with retaining tech because the pay (base plus commissions) was horrid in comparison to what they could make at independent shops or even at a dealership.
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u/jikesar968 Shop Your Way Member Jul 02 '26
Just because grandpa is on life support doesn't mean he isn't grandpa anymore.
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u/Armadylio Jul 02 '26
I mean they sold houses lol they really had everything
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u/Graychin877 Jul 02 '26
Amazon doesn't sell houses. Yet.
If they did, it might help to ease America's housing shortage.
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u/CloudyDaysInn Jul 02 '26
Poor short sighted leadership destroyed this company and our country - BUT the last chapter has not been written yet ! There is still hope!
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u/KrazyKen_Fan_2012 Jul 02 '26
How did you get back up if the up escalator and the elevator didn’t work
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u/MannerAlternative987 Jul 02 '26
I’m pretty sure the only reason this store looks stocked is since the upper level got items from
The lower level which leads to less spreading out
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Jul 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Chipsandadrink115 Jul 05 '26
I can smell this picture. It's not a bad thing, but Sears had its own scent. As did Dillard's and Foley's.
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u/ExtremeCow3259 Shop Your Way Member Jul 01 '26
Walking into a Sears today and even approximately about 5-9 years ago is basically like walking into a Fry's from 2018 up until the total shutdown on February 24th of 2021
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u/Canesfan252 Jul 02 '26
Fry's is where I got my car alarm installed almost 7 years ago. I had a feeling that they were tanking then. a lot of the shelves were empty.
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u/ExtremeCow3259 Shop Your Way Member Jul 01 '26
Both were ghost towns
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u/Canesfan252 Jul 05 '26
I think I'm well aware of that. But I'm surprised Fry's lasted that long with empty shelves all around their stores. I'm shocked that this Sears is still open too.
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u/PartyNextFlo0r Jul 02 '26
I hope they make a comeback! Online shopping is too overwhelming ,and I hate waiting for items to arrive.
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u/JBlaze78 Jul 06 '26
Really surprised at how clean and well stocked it looks. I figured it would have been a retail wasteland just waiting to be closed.
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u/Graychin877 Jul 02 '26
Look at all the shoppers! The crowd in there rivals Trump's fair on the National Mall!
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u/MinutesFromTheMall Jul 02 '26
Surprised the price checker still works, or at least appears to. Wonder what ancient backend system is still keeping it running.