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Tears for Sears: The Rise and Fall of the Once Great American Retail Empire

Tears for Sears: The Rise and Fall of the Once Great American Retail Empire

In 1886 America was continuing the Westward Expansion. The Transcontinental Railroad could connect the East and West coasts bringing mail and goods from either direction. The South was still reconstructing after being defeated in The Civil War. People like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Billy The Kid, Nat Love, and Bat Masterson were growing legends in the Wild West. A new company emerged that year selling watches by catalog all over the growing and prosperous nation. Richard W Sears and Alvah C Roebuck started the Sears Watch Company. In 1889 Sears sold his business to become a rural banker in Iowa, but the venture fell flat. In 1892 he returned to Chicago to begin selling watches and Jewelry again with Roebuck. The Company was called the A.C. Roebuck Watch company until in 1893 it became the company that a lot of people would call it to even in the present day Sears-Roebuck.

Tears for Sears: The Rise and Fall of the Once Great American Retail Empire

The company expanded their catalog business by selling clothing, dry goods, livestock, sewing machines, groceries, houses, stoves, dolls, and even cars by catalogs. Sears was truly the Amazon of its day. In 1925 Sears opened its first retail store in Chicago. In the 1930's it introduced the Wishbook which would be a yearly Christmas staple until the 2000's. In the Rural communities of the South and Midwest, the children would often look at and circle things that they wished they could have but knowing the parents may not be able to afford it. During this time Sears also grew their store business with the opening stores in suburban and downtown areas which grew into the 1950's and 1960's shopping center and mall craze. Sears became the home of exclusive brands that became household names such as Die Hard, Kenmore, Craftsman, and Allstate insurance. Sears also dipped its toes in the water of banking and investment services with the founding of Dean Witter Reynolds Stock Brokerage firm and Coldwell Banker Real Estate company. in 1984 they partnered with CBS and IBM to introduce the first internet service available to American households called Prodigy. in 1985 they also introduced the Discover Card. It seemed like Sears was on a roll driving a gravy train with biscuit wheels. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently A lot.

Tears for Sears: The Rise and Fall of the Once Great American Retail Empire

The 1990's came along. Retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart were building stores in middle-class suburban neighborhoods. These stores offered deep discounts and in-store services Sears just couldn't offer such as In-Store Pharmacies. In 1993 Sears shut down its catalog operations for good and focused solely on stores. The discontinuation of catalogs hurt Sears business and in 2005 Kmart bought Sears and they merged into Sears Holdings. Sears tried to bounce back with the concept of a Superstore called Sears Grand which was their version of a Super Walmart or Meijer. However, this did not last as Sears entered the hypermarket operations too late. Kmart had troubles of its own as they had filed bankruptcy in the past as well and many stores were in disrepair. In the last few years, Sears has sold off its brands such as Allstate. Craftsman was sold to Stanley/Black & Decker and can be found sold in Lowe's and Ace Hardware stores.

So, what happens if Sears files for Bankruptcy?

Within the last few days, the news has been Sears is close to filing for Bankruptcy which stores have been closing left and right for the past 5 years. Sears Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert has stated he wants to buy the Kenmore brand. However, he does not have a good track record as he has not put any money into revitalizing the run down Sears and Kmart stores, nor has he invested much in the employees. He is hoping for a Chapter 11 which would see the closure of 150 stores immediately and keep 300 around till the end of the Holiday Season. However, most Americans and the creditors think Sears will be heading for Chapter 7 which means total liquidation. They are $143 Million in debt and only have $6 in their bank account. The debt is due on October 15th, which is Tomorrow. Several suppliers have also turned away from Sears saying they have not been paid for their products. Such was the case with Whirpool in 2017. 89,000 employees could lose pensions. Shop Your Way points could also be dissolved, and the warranties on Die Hard batteries and Kenmore appliances could become null and void. However, Sears says it's working on a plan to stand behind its product warranties. There is more in the link here concerning warranties. Home Depot and Lowe's would become the leaders in appliance sales.


As you can see on Friday Sears was trading for as low as 41 cents a share on the NYSE. I think it's time to do with Sears like what was done to Old Yeller. Take it out behind the woodshed and end it. I feel sorry for those possibly losing jobs and pensions, but at this point, it's been dying for over 20 years, and it needs to be put out of its misery.

Some of the stuff in the catalogs looks like its still in the stores 🤣🤣

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/timeline-the-rise-and-fall-of-sears.html

This is a interactive timeline with the History of Sears

This is from Sears 100th anniversary in 1986. Look at what all they owned and how massive they were! And the cheesy red 1980s sweaters and choir.

#RIPSearsandKmart

#Retailapocolypse

Tears for Sears: The Rise and Fall of the Once Great American Retail Empire
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