{"id":4911,"date":"2018-11-08T22:33:56","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T22:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/?p=4911"},"modified":"2022-08-27T11:14:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-27T11:14:07","slug":"what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/","title":{"rendered":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &#038; Gen Z"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses <a href=\"\/why-financial-firms-are-pivoting-towards-instagram\/\" rel=\"noopener\">learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences<\/a>, but others learned the hard way that they have to offer a really special in-store experience, or else.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4912\" src=\"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"870\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The latest store chain to fall victim to the changing tastes of consumers is Sears. According to a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2018\/10\/23\/remembering-sears-fondly-while-shopping-amazon\/1653415002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent USA Today article<\/a><\/span>, as news of Sears\u2019 filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection broke, many people took to social media to mourn the store\u2019s closing. The hard fact is \u2014 the stores closed because people didn\u2019t shop there!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this really did mean so much to you, you\u2019re not shopping there. You\u2019re saying, \u2018Why isn\u2019t my product here? I ordered it an hour ago on Amazon Prime,\u2019\u201d said <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jasondorsey.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jason Dorsey<\/a>,<\/span> co-founder of the Center for Generational Kinetics.<\/p>\n<p>Psychologists call the phenomenon of remembering only the positive of these outdated stores the \u201crosy reflection bias.\u201d What people are nostalgic about are often experiences from their youth that makes it all the poignant.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to the outcry upon Toys R Us\u2019 closing, people took Sears\u2019 closing to mean that they were losing a piece of their childhood. Nostalgia expert Andrew Abeyta, a Rutgers University-Camden assistant professor of psychology explained that, \u201cit may not be a longing for Sears, per se, but a longing for the time of going to brick-and-mortar stores or dreaming of things we couldn\u2019t buy or the social experience of going to the store with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Notably absent from the online retail-inspired therapy sessions are Millennials and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"\/generation-z-research-2018\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Gen Z<\/a><\/span> shoppers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the perfect storm for Millennials to not have any emotional nostalgia,\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jasondorsey.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained Dorsey.<\/a> <\/span>\u201cIf you told them Amazon was going to go away, there might be riots. Sears basically invented the catalog, and yet we have Millennials who don\u2019t even check the mail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Sears\u2019 time might be up for good, there is still hope for many businesses if they are willing to put in the work to adapt to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"\/do-you-need-to-be-a-millennial-to-sell-to-them\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Millennials\u2019<\/a><\/span> and Gen Z\u2019s changing consumer needs. It will take the proper research and resources, but there\u2019s a good balance to strike between brick-and-mortar stores and the online shopping experience.<\/p>\n<h3>Want to Solve Your Gen Z Challenges?<\/h3>\n<p>We lead national and international Gen Z, Millennial, and\u00a0<a href=\"\/how-is-generations-research-different-from-market-research\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">generational\u00a0studies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for our clients every day. We also keynote events around the world, helping businesses better understand their customers and workforce.<\/p>\n<p>Let us know how we can help you.\u00a0<a href=\"\/contact\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Send us an email<\/span>\u00a0<\/a>or give us a call and we\u2019ll be happy to provide a little information for you to review.<\/p>\n<p>Keep the conversation going. Follow The Center on Instagram\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thegenhq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@TheGenHQ<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or on Twitter\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GenHQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@GenHQ<\/a><\/u>.\u00a0We are passionate about sharing our latest generational discoveries!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences, but others learned the hard way that they have to offer a really special in-store experience, or else. The latest store chain to fall victim to the changing tastes of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-generations","category-selling-and-marketing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &amp; Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &amp; Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Center For Generational Kinetics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing-768x441.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"441\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Team CGK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Team CGK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Team CGK\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4249435a9371efe9f97374b6f915e6e\"},\"headline\":\"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &#038; Gen Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/SearsClosing.gif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Generations\",\"Selling &amp; Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials & Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/SearsClosing.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/SearsClosing.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/SearsClosing.gif\",\"width\":870,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Illustration \\\"Sorry we're closed\\\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &#038; Gen Z\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Center For Generational Kinetics\",\"description\":\"LEADING THE WAY IN GENERATIONAL RESEARCH WITH OVER 100 STUDIES\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Center for Generational Kinetics\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/cropped-favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/cropped-favicon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"The Center for Generational Kinetics\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4249435a9371efe9f97374b6f915e6e\",\"name\":\"Team CGK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Team CGK\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/genhq.com\\\/author\\\/denisegenhq-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials & Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics","description":"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials & Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics","og_description":"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences","og_url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/","og_site_name":"The Center For Generational Kinetics","article_published_time":"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":441,"url":"http:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing-768x441.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"Team CGK","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Team CGK","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/"},"author":{"name":"Team CGK","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4249435a9371efe9f97374b6f915e6e"},"headline":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &#038; Gen Z","datePublished":"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/"},"wordCount":473,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing.gif","articleSection":["Generations","Selling &amp; Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/","url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/","name":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials & Gen Z - The Center For Generational Kinetics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing.gif","datePublished":"2018-11-08T22:33:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-27T11:14:07+00:00","description":"The rise of online shopping proved that not every business is suited for modern consumers. Many businesses learned to adapt to changing needs and preferences","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SearsClosing.gif","width":870,"height":500,"caption":"Illustration \"Sorry we're closed\""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/what-sears-closing-means-to-millennials-gen-z\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Sears\u2019 Closing Means To Millennials &#038; Gen Z"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/","name":"The Center For Generational Kinetics","description":"LEADING THE WAY IN GENERATIONAL RESEARCH WITH OVER 100 STUDIES","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#organization","name":"The Center for Generational Kinetics","url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/cropped-favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/cropped-favicon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"The Center for Generational Kinetics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4249435a9371efe9f97374b6f915e6e","name":"Team CGK","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0dd3caedd457c9a93216cb18401adf31e9abce7e161eac2286960a1120102dd1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Team CGK"},"url":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/author\/denisegenhq-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}