My main sears experience died in the mid 80s... As teens we would of course "go to the mall" and part of that experience was the little arcade in one corner of the sears anchor. It was a hopping place, shelves full, they even had stuff that caught our interest...

I joined the Navy in the mid 80s and my sears experience pretty much came to end, I would pop into the same sears sometimes while on leave and I remember how it was changing, the arcade disappeared, the catalog section expanded, the shelves got a bit more empty. It never became my go to store for stuff, by the mid 90s your right, the place (like most department stores) became dead places. Everything started to cater to an older crowd, the clothes sections got larger, the appliance and tools sections got smaller.

I imagine the remaining stores are more akin to discount stores, places where all the internet order returns and overstock goes on 70% off sales.....