Article

2018-10-16 Economy

Sears, once dominant retail chain, files for bankruptcy

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Posted by Fred 2018-10-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11132 views ] Top

#1 One word. China.

Posted by Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365 2018-10-16 00:28|| 2018-10-16 00:28|| Front Page Top

#2 Another word. Amazon. Amazon took over the catalog sales market because for years its sales, unlike Sears, were not subject to sales taxes, and a 9% margin was a huge competitive edge.

Posted by Glenmore 2018-10-16 01:03|| 2018-10-16 01:03|| Front Page Top

#3 What role did Walmart play in Sear's decline?

Posted by boomerc 2018-10-16 05:34|| 2018-10-16 05:34|| Front Page Top

#4 I think they're still flushing out the final Sears obituary, boomerc, but I'm sure Walmart's ascendance wasn't a bit part in Sears' decline.

Posted by Raj 2018-10-16 06:59|| 2018-10-16 06:59|| Front Page Top

#5 One word. Suits.

One only had to look how IBM handled the explosion of PCs vs mainframes for the corporate model of how not to effectively dealing with significant change. No institution is immune. Just look what tablets and smartphones have done to MicroBorg 'one size fits all' Windows. Heck, if it wasn't for the bailout for Detroit, we'd probably only have Ford as an American car manufacturer. Suits.

Posted by Procopius2k 2018-10-16 07:02|| 2018-10-16 07:02|| Front Page Top

#6 More words - Sears always charged B+ prices for C+ merchandise.

Posted by Glealing Gruse9119 2018-10-16 08:19|| 2018-10-16 08:19|| Front Page Top

#7 Sears always charged B+ prices for C+ merchandise.

This.

Posted by regular joe 2018-10-16 10:16|| 2018-10-16 10:16|| Front Page Top

#8 Sears always charged B+ prices for C+ merchandise.

I was gonna say something about high prices and shoddy merchandise, shoddy merchandise from China no less. But, really, that was the suits who thought they could get away with it.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2018-10-16 10:35|| 2018-10-16 10:35|| Front Page Top

#9 Sears was the Amazon of its day during the start of the industrial revolution. Its catalogs and ability to get cheap factory goods to rural areas put a lot of mom and pop shops out of business. It brought the city's industrial revolution to the farm.

Fast forward 120 years and now the internet and Amazon does the same to them.

Posted by DarthVader 2018-10-16 11:06|| 2018-10-16 11:06|| Front Page Top

#10 But Darth, shopping malls are the wave of the FUTURE! you don't need to mess with that Sears has everything BS and can concentrate on all those high profit items.
Personally my giving up on Sears happened back in the 80's Iwas having trouble getting my car started and was pretty sure I just needed a new battery. Hey I'm just a short hop away from Sears so I pull into the auto shop to get a new battery. No problem we will test it for free. So right before closing they tell me my alternator is bad and they don't fix them. So I take it to a shop the next day and they say all I need is a new battery.
When I first started working at Amazon and a roll of chicken wire came down the line, all I could think of is all the Sears catalog sales execs that must be spinning intheir graves. BTW recently I had to check in Kenmore vacum cleaners so somebody has already bought the Kenmore name.

Posted by Thrise Shomble3667 2018-10-16 11:30|| 2018-10-16 11:30|| Front Page Top

#11 Sears failed to keep up. I think they thought they were too established to fail. They stopped their big catalog in 1993, determined to wring more money from their physical stores. Their big catalog, which had been a fascinating window beyond immediate surroundings for many, rural and urban, disappeared.

This was right around when Mosaic and later Netscape Navigator became available. Prior to that most things internet were labs and government islands. Sears did not take advantage of the internet; 'the world only needs one computer' kind of mindset.

Taiwan was more in-play than the PRC. All things have their day. Sears has passed its sell-by date.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2018-10-16 12:19|| 2018-10-16 12:19|| Front Page Top

#12 walked into a Sears store last Sunday and all the goods had banners and such about One Year Warranty. When I got home, asked Mama Ret if she had any idea who would be honoring those warranties, as I did not have a clue. Neither did She.

And I really like my Craftsman hand tools; power ones, not so much.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2018-10-16 20:05|| 2018-10-16 20:05|| Front Page Top

#13 Stanley bought the Craftsman line from Sears early last year, USN.

My 30+ year old socket and wrench sets still are my preferred.

Posted by Mullah Richard OTR 2018-10-16 21:49|| 2018-10-16 21:49|| Front Page Top

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