Sears Cards to be Converted to ThankYou Mastercards

[UncleB]

As reported by DoC:  https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-sears-shop-your-way-card-to-be-converted-to-citi-thankyou-master... 

It's not clear (to me) if this is just the Sears Mastercard or if the PLCC cards are being converted as well (I'm assuming yes?). 

Also, it appears the Sears SYW card is not impacted at this time.  There's some discussion about this transition over in the ongoing SYW thread, but I'm posting here since this news really isn't about that product.  Notably, the app page for the SYW card is still up.

Anyway, here's the official Citi info page:  https://citicards.citi.com/crs/CitiThankYou/info/default.htm 

[UncleB]

I've not had a Sears card in 20 years, but it was my very first credit card when I was a freshman in college. 

While I'm not impacted by this at all, I'm still weirdly sad that the card is now gone even if the stores are practically gone as well (there are seven remaining in the mainland US).  It's just another step in the slow death of a once iconic brand.

[cashorcharge]

Learned something today....there are 7 Sears stores left!

[Varsity_Lu]

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@UncleB wrote:

I've not had a Sears card in 20 years, but it was my very first credit card when I was a freshman in college. 

While I'm not impacted by this at all, I'm still weirdly sad that the card is now gone even if the stores are practically gone as well (there are seven remaining in the mainland US).  It's just another step in the slow death of a once iconic brand.

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All my hand tools are the old Sears branded Craftsman. I remember "investing" in these as a young buck thinking "I am paying three times the price for this hammer, but it's made in the USA and guaranteed for life!". I have  replaced so many broken tools and used to love walking out of Sears with something new that they exchanged for free. Seeing Craftsman in Lowes nowdays makes me sad. They are still my preferred hand tools. My hickory handled hammer has build two houses and is still going strong.

[coldfusion]

From looking at the Citi splash page, on the surface this looks like a rebranding, i.e.  from a cardholder perspective this largely an exercise in putting new lipstick on the Sears Mastercard with Thank You Rewards  and converting over any existing  standard Sears Mastercards that don't earn TYP.   Only real questions I have right now would be if new promotional offers that align with SYW cards will still be issued after June and what if any impact will be made to the card's native TYP cash/portal redemption rates.

[TrapLine]

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@UncleB wrote:

I've not had a Sears card in 20 years, but it was my very first credit card when I was a freshman in college. 

While I'm not impacted by this at all, I'm still weirdly sad that the card is now gone even if the stores are practically gone as well (there are seven remaining in the mainland US).  It's just another step in the slow death of a once iconic brand.

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Like Montgomery Wards, Sears did themselves in by not staying in synch with the market place. Add Kart to that list as I did so appreciate the "Blue Light" Specials? Then we have Target that is so trying to be a political force and they are slowly killing themselves.

At least Walmart is keeping a lower profile on the political scene. Consumer tastes of the younger people is not what the Silent and Baby Boomer Generations saw retail as (social experience) ... and not paying attention and believing the Mall Shopping experience is returning is folly at this junction of our lives.

[Komma]

It looks like all they're doing is renaming/removing the old Sears branded card that earned Thank You points and was more or less replaced by the Shop your way version of the card which is still being offered and no mention of it changing.

I don't think you've been able to apply or convert to the TYP version in several years now.

[coldfusion]

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@Komma wrote:

I don't think you've been able to apply or convert to the TYP version in several years now.

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They stopped allowing conversions about 5-1/2 years or so IIRC.   Used to be you had to be transferred to a specific team located in Ohio but they then allowed regular CSRs to process conversions for about a year then stopped allowing it.

[FlaDude]

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@Varsity_Lu wrote:

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All my hand tools are the old Sears branded Craftsman. I remember "investing" in these as a young buck thinking "I am paying three times the price for this hammer, but it's made in the USA and guaranteed for life!". I have  replaced so many broken tools and used to love walking out of Sears with something new that they exchanged for free. Seeing Craftsman in Lowes nowdays makes me sad. They are still my preferred hand tools. My hickory handled hammer has build two houses and is still going strong.

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My wife just got the conversion letter today, she's had that card for over 40 years.

I was also big on Craftsman way back when. I have many tools I bought back when I was on a framing crew for a couple of years 45 years ago that still get some use and are going strong. 

[dfwxjer]

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@Varsity_Lu wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

I've not had a Sears card in 20 years, but it was my very first credit card when I was a freshman in college. 

While I'm not impacted by this at all, I'm still weirdly sad that the card is now gone even if the stores are practically gone as well (there are seven remaining in the mainland US).  It's just another step in the slow death of a once iconic brand.

---

All my hand tools are the old Sears branded Craftsman. I remember "investing" in these as a young buck thinking "I am paying three times the price for this hammer, but it's made in the USA and guaranteed for life!". I have  replaced so many broken tools and used to love walking out of Sears with something new that they exchanged for free. Seeing Craftsman in Lowes nowdays makes me sad. They are still my preferred hand tools. My hickory handled hammer has build two houses and is still going strong.

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I too invested in Craftsman tools from a young age, as my Dad taught me early on. Knowing I could walk in Sears and replace a broken tool was valuable to me as a consumer. 

Now I wouldn't even bother. Not sure if the new owners are obligated to fulfill the lifetime warranty, but I don't want their new import line as a replacement.