Many American consumers have sworn off shopping at Sears and Kmart, their local stores have closed, or they have just forgotten that the chains exist. Business that once went to Kmart now goes to discount store competitors Target and Walmart, logically enough, but where do Americans go for the things that they once bought at Sears?

The Wall Street Journal explains that the main beneficiaries of Sears closing many stores and driving away existing customers has been Home Depot and Lowe’s. Both chains sell large appliances and tools, items that people once visited Sears for. One analyst determined that if Sears loses about half of its anticipated sales in those sectors in the next few years, just that former Sears business could boost each big box’s total sales in a given store by around 1%. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but there is a lot of money at stake.

Sears also once did plenty of business in consumer electronics, like televisions and computers. They’re trying to get out of that sector, which leaves the business wide open for…Best Buy, yet another big-box chain that is staging a successful comeback. Best Buy, incidentally, also sells the major appliances that people used to buy at Sears.

Sears’s Great Holiday Retail Giveaway [Wall Street Journal]

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