Recently, a friend of mine informed me of a program that she had discovered. She has four small sons who are very rough on their clothing, being that they are, of course, very physical in nature. She often goes through a couple of wardrobe purchases a season. The clothes are still in fairly good condition, however, they are a bit worn from all of the use. She recently found out about a program that Sears offers its customers. It is called the Sears Kids Advantage Program.
The program is available in the United States for any clothes that were purchased at any Sears location, either in person, mail order, or over the Internet. The only catch is that you must have receipts to prove purchase. While I tend to throw receipts away, I now am keeping an envelope where I label and place all Sears clothing receipts. The neat thing is, Sears does not care if the clothes are merely worn, or if they have holes or tears in them. I assumed that this program merely gave a small discount, with the hopes that the parents would buy brand new clothing, however the program replaces the clotting at no charge. The catch is the clothing must be the same size as the original and within the same price range or brand. So you can’t exchange a plain white turtleneck that cost ten dollars for a name brand costing 20. Also, don’t depend on exchanging the clothing for the next years cloths. member, it has to be in the same size as what the receipt shows.
This program does not come automatically when you shop at Sears. They do not actively advertise the Kids Advantage program, but word of mouth seems to be working well as the added means of advertisement. Yo can either sign up for the program online or ask about the program at any register in your Sears Department store .
What size clothing does this program cover and when is your child too old to participate? As long as your child is in clothing in the children’s department you qualify. Once your child has moved on to larger size clothing, the program is no longer valid. A question that I have though, to which I could not find an answer, was, what if the child never outgrows children clothing? A best friend of mine has a 35-year-old sister who is 4-foot-11 and weights 85 pounds. She still wears a size 16 in children’s clothing. My daughter is 14, and although most girls her age wear junior clothing, she still wears a 16. According to her doctor, she will never grow again. So I called the local Sears store and spoke with a retailer there in the children’s department. She knew about the program and stated she often recommended it, but wasn’t aware of an age cut off. I asked if a manager would know. I then was forwarded to a manager, who states his understanding was that there was not an age limit, it was a size limit. He also advised that shoes were also included in the program.
However, I discovered that underwear is not included nor are socks. Also, any item purchased from a Sears Outlet store in person or online is not included. All, all exchanges are taken care of in the Sears Catalog department at the store. (www.sears.com)
I congratulate Sears for helping out the families of America. I wish I had known about this program when my boys were smaller. Dressing two boys that are two years apart in ages, can be devastating on the family budget. I think it would be advisable to drop Sears a line and let them know they have done something right with their Kids Advantage Program.
