Sears Experiments with Return to Toy Business

I'm surprised this wasn't on the news yet. I got a flyer in today's Sunday newspaper advertising the fact along with a $5 off coupon with purchase of $20 required.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...0,3847162.story

I wonder how the prices will be since KMart technically owns Sears.

Those Sears catalogs were awesome when I was a kid. I remember looking through them and selecting a bunch of stuff I wanted. If this succeeds for them, I hope the catalog returns.

Welcome to WishbookWeb.com

Same here. Some of my favorite Christmas seasons involved sitting at the kitchen table with the catalogue, pen in hand.

Hopefully the pricing will be comparable to K-Mart or better still, on par with Wal-Mart.

Yes! I remember spending a lot of time looking through those WISHING for a lot of things. A lot of stuff I got, a lot of stuff i didn't.

But this is awesome...I just hope prices are good.

My childhood Christmas' were all about the Sears and JC Penny catalogs, I can still remember getting the special Sears exclusive Cantina set from Star Wars with the small version of Snaggletooth.

Thank you for that link. Brings back a lot of good memories. It makes me laugh actually and surprised by some of the prices back then. The Imperial Shuttle was only 30 bucks, but its reissue was like 80. But a state of the art VHS Camcorder cost over 1000, and yet my HD Digital Video Recorder, which can do 1080p, cost me 100.

Like the rest of you, the Sears Wishbook was part of my life in so many ways. I would usually get it in September, and study it until December to let mom know what I wanted. The most notable things I remember were some Sears Exclusive Dreadnok vehicles, which I'm pretty sure I did get. Thanks for the link; it is teh awesum.

Wow, thanks for that! Lots of happy memories there...Thundercats PJs, and even toys I had as a toddler. A nice blast from the past, indeed.

Only 3 states are getting Sears toy stores?

I'd like to place an order from the 1985 catalog.....I'll take a Soundwave for $16.99!

I did the same thing, one year I ranked the stuff I wanted but my mother didn't get the stuff I had a "2" beside - she thought I wanted two of those items, LOL!

People like to shop for toys in a mall? For real? Imagine THAT!

I remember the catalogs too as a kid lol.

I gotta say, this is a pretty sweet idea. Interesting for those collectors who work there too.

Since when was a toy store a BAD idea? It's when you hire IDIOTS to run it that everything goes to sh*t...

... and just imagine what kind of busines you'll do come holiday time.

On another note, has the nursery section completely taken over Toys R Us yet?

I just got the 2009 Sears Wish book yesterday. Sears Canada never stopped Catalogues.

One thing I never understood is how KayBee Toys and Toys 'R Us both went out of business where they were in my neck of the woods. Both were right off of the interstate, in the capital city, and heavily trafficed with mall shoppers [KayBee was in the mall, and TRU was just right outside]. I know there were many things going on corporately, but I'm still perplexed by this.

In this regard, I'm envious. I have many fond childhood memories with the wishbooks of JC Penny and Sears.

Anyone have an idea as to how long before this "experiment" will take to trickle down to all the Sears stores?

The idiots in charge, man... the idiots in charge...

I'm confused?
The sears here in PA area have been putting
up a toy dept every X-mas season.
Sears worked with KB for the first few years,
and switched to k-mart after they merged.
Their selection is ok, but they only have a couple of aisles.
Prices are usually decent.

They actually mention that in the article. For the locations they listed, it's supposed to be a permanent section as opposed to seasonal. Also, it will be self-contained (i.e. no involvement from K-Mart or other companies).

Well the one fully featured Sears store (IE it isn't just electronic and furniture) here has a permanent toy section.

The Sears here does the 2 aisle holiday thing. Would love it if they did the permanent section deal. Not alot of places to hunt here in the Shoals since TRU left so a new place would be a welcome sight.

Thanks for spreading the news.

I wonder which 3 New York City area Sears stores will be getting this toy section?