Uber testing teen service in Columbus

Uber’s ride services have long been available only to those 18 or older, but the company is testing a program that makes its services available to those as young as 13 — with their parents’ permission.

UberTeen service is being launched today on a test basis in Columbus, Phoenix and Seattle.

UberTeen is the result of a year of interviewing, development and testing, said Mike Lu, a product manager at Uber who oversaw the creation of the product.

historical operating results indicated doubt about the future of the company that started in the 1880s as a mailorder catalog business.

At a largely empty Sears store in St. Paul, Minnesota, where

the available parking far outstripped the number of cars in the lot, 85-year-old Jack Walsh and his 82-year-old wife, Mary Ann, said they have shopped at Sears their entire lives, buying items from curtains and window treatments to tires and tools.

“I bought my tools from Sears and I’ve still got

them,” Jack Walsh said.

The company known for DieHard batteries and Kenmore appliances has been selling assets, most recently its Craftsman tool brand. But it says pension agreements may prevent the sale of more businesses, potentially leading to a shortfall in funding.

“It’s a sad story. This is the place that created the first direct-to consumer retail, the first modern department store. It stood like the Colossus over the American retail landscape,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consulting firm. “But it’s been underinvested and bled dry.”