Sad. It would an interesting read if some MBA type did a thesis on why Sears climbed, stalled, spun, and is now just a few feet above the ground still in that spin.
They failed because they did not keep up with the times and their online sales can’t beat other companies
Interesting.
They should have been what Amazon is today.
Before internet ordering, there was mail ordering.
Failure to recognize your business model doesn’t fit the future.
Sears existed long before Amazon.com. Why didn’t Sears jump into the market right away? Because the 500 million being spent on executive leadership at Sears didn’t take the time or even had the expertise to recognize change.
In a way, you can say Sears was the first Amazon with it’s direct mail order.
Well I have and MBA and I worked for Wally in Bentonville, Arkansas for 5 years several years ago. Sears’ business model just doesn’t work. They are a mall store and have to pay those expensive mall rents at a time when malls - at least mid market malls have been dying. Customers instead more often go to big box stores which are a lot more convenient with easy parking and since they’re not paying mall rents, they can undercut Sears on price.
Sears tried several times to get their customers to buy higher margin textiles (remember the “softer side of Sears” campaign that failed?) but they just couldn’t pull it off. Their tire centers sell well and their Craftsman line of tools has always sold well but that stuff is low margin. The trend that has developed is customers will either pay a lot of quality.....Nordstrom and Nieman Marcus and Saks are doing just fine....or they don’t care about the name brand and just want something cheap - Target and Wally and even dollar stores are doing well. Many times its the same customer who will splash out the cash for a pair of gucci shoes but will take whatever toothpaste is cheapest that gets the job done. Those in the middle like Sears and JC Penney are screwed.
Sears catalogs - Look at the 1977 catalog. Many early video games. Compare to the 1937 catalog.
http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs
Radio Shack catalogs
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html
It was probably MBA's that did the company in, I watched them destroy Hughes Aircraft Company.