Remember when department stores sold car parts

[droptop2bottom]

 

[chargervert]

The Sears catalog was a wishlist book!

 

[qkcuda]

The Sears catalog was a wishlist book!

I rebuilt my first engine (a 273 Power Pack) with rings bearings and gaskets purchased from the Sears catalogue. I was working part time in the Auto Centre, so I also had an employee discount.

 

[RemCharger]

I have a Sears high output ignition box.

 

[33 IMP]

You may not believe this.....
but I had a pair of Foremost 7" A f/x slicks on my car when I made my first ever 12 second pass, at the old Irwindale dragstrip.

Bought from J.C. Penney.

Edit J.C. Penney also sold wheels with the Foremost name and logo. Five spoke torque thrust copy.
I'd never heard of them, nor seen any, till I saw a couple on google.

 

[Coelacanth]

I worked part-time at a Sears in Edmonton, Canada in the Auto Service department for a few years while I went to university. That closed in 2017 and all Sears closed in Canada in 2018.

We still have Canadian Tire stores though, that could still be considered a department store, couldn't it?

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

If you look on pintrest there are 100's of vintage K mart auto ads.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Probably the parts were better than now.

 

[XS22J8R]

I recall having something stashed away, maybe a timing light, and probably inherited from my dad, that is labeled JC Pennys.
I've seen Montgomery Wards automotive items too.

 

[hunt2elk]

Probably the parts were better than now.

I would wager, not probably, but for sure better quality back then. Nothing was coming from China is safe to say.

 

[1967coronet]

I loved Sears, you could pick up a .22 revolver , a bag of peanut clusters then grab a burger at the lunch counter while waiting for your cars new tires getting installed.

 

[PlymCrazy]

Most of my tools were bought from (2) different Sears locations in our area. One of those locations has been recently replaced by a medical building which my son helped build(he's a carpenter). My daughter now works in that medical building(she's in sports medicine). Been amazing for my wife and I to watch that unfold in our last 3+ decades together.

 

[Budnicks]

I never bought much if any car parts from a Department store
(*tires, maybe a Die-Hard Battery & a few hand tools/Craftsman at Sears, when they
were still made in the USA, still quality stuff, now my clothes were a different story,
dated a lady that was the floor mngr at Sears, got good deals)
Department stores 'Car parts'
they are or were, mostly like most of that WalMart crap is today, sub-std imported crap
cheaper made stuff, 2nds or trainloads of **** they bought, 1 offs or closed outs
(Chinese made junk now, albeit they were probably from Japan or Indonesia, instead back then)

Why (?), when I could go another block or even closer to where I lived,
in either town/s to
Monument Auto Supply, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Martinez
that I worked at, they had several locations, all in the East Bay
I could get anything I wanted, with knowledgeable personnel at the counter/s
at the same or even a lower price, much better quality, top named brands
& with a 100% money back guarantee...

 

[gtxdana]

Rinks department store in Ohio sold Holley carbs, Sun tachs and all kinds of other goodies in the automotive department. The pinnacle of one stop shopping. Pick up some groceries, a Holley carb, a shotgun and some shells and then grab a bite to eat at the food court on your way out.

 

[eldubb440]

i knew a kid who got caught shoplifting chevy tune-up parts from k-mart.......

and no, it wasn't me

 

[Dutchrebuild]

Trunk find!

 

[RemCharger]

Aha. Found it.

 

[Under Pressure]

I remember my Dad saying “Don’t by your shocks where you buy your socks”

 

[F4R/T]

Getting that wish book was a HUGE deal at Christmas and it was a blast going to the big store even as a kiddo, then I was happy to get to the tools there .... I honestly do miss those days.. Sears shouldn’t have failed, greed and hollowing out the brands was the goal then let it die also not going online killed them...imo

 

[MarPar]

i knew a kid who got caught shoplifting chevy tune-up parts from k-mart.......

and no, it wasn't me