On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 15:13:06 -0500, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

On 1/6/2017 12:15 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 1/5/17 11:34 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
wrote in news:ij7u6ctqak1ll96a1qjl9p96drgn4pj8jq@
4ax.com:

On 06 Jan 2017 04:03:05 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

Sears struck me as a company that didn't realize who their
competition was. Prices/quality just aren't competitive with
other stores, especially on common hand tools like levels.

Puckdropper
You mean they didn't play the "compete on price only" game??? Sears
didn't kill sears. Nor did Walmart. Nor did the Internet. The North
American Public killed Sears. And are the poorer for it, when you
get right down to brass tacks.


Sears killed Sears. They might have gotten the North American Public
to do the actual work, but they got themselves into this mess.

Here's the thing: If you set yourself up just like the others playing
the compete on price game, people will respond like you're playing
that game. If your prices are higher for the same quality item, your
value is lower and people will go where the value is higher. How
does Sears make up the missing value? Well, it used to be momentum
and reputation... but that's good for only a decade or two.
"Guaranteed Forever" sold a ton of Craftsman tools, but they've been
shying away from that as well.

Are we poorer for it? Perhaps for a while, but if there's a demand
someone will fill the "Walmart/Lowe's" crossover store segment.
Thing is, I just don't see it with the way that Walmart & Lowe's are
all over the place.

Puckdropper


Like Radio Shack, they tried to stick with an outdated model and refused
to move from it until the market had passed them in the dust.

Sears was stuck in an "everything in one place" model that worked great
when people shopped once a week or less and had to plan a trip to do it.

When everybody became mobile and specialty stores started to dominate
the market, Sears stayed with their old, outdated model and were trapped
in denial. People no longer wanted to go to one store for everything.
They wanted to go to a clothing store (or several) for clothes, they
wanted to go to the huge electronics store for that stuff, they wanted
to go to the huge hardware store for tools, etc, etc.

What we complain about now, because we can do it all at home on Amazon,
was empowering and adventurous at the time. More choices, better
prices, price matching, all that stuff gave the consumer a sense of
having the upper hand. It was a game to win and you felt like you
accomplished something by driving around and finding the best deal.
Commissioned salespeople didn't help their cause either.

Sears never "got it" and never would. Even when Sears tried to play the
"price match" game, it was underhanded and deceitful. If they carried a
certain brand of widget, they'd force the manufacturer to change the
model number just enough (like adding a single digit suffix) so that
they could refuse to price match because "it wasn't the same model."

I would agree that the North American Public if it weren't for the fact
that all these other retailers were in the game, playing by the same
rules and they succeeded. No, Sears is just another wagon maker trying
to convince people they don't need a car.


Sears is not alone in failing to understand the current marketing needs.
I was in a well known store that has announced the closing of a lot of
stores. It is a huge mall store on multiple levels.

We tried to buy something and after wandering the hole floor actually
found one person at a cash register who could make the sale. They don't
understand that if there is no one to make the sale the sale will not
happen.

On the other side of this I don't think that the electronic store will
ever take over the world. It is just like the death of the Desktop.
While the PC does not have the market share they once have there still
is a demand for them.

The reason that that e shopping will never replace the store, is the
reason that we were out shopping this morning. I bought a garment of
clothing that was of a marked size. I have worn this size for decades.
That garment did not fit. We had to go to the store and try on several
different sizes to find the garment in a size that fits. You can not go
down to the store and buy a pair of pants, with out trying them on.

The same could be said for shoes, though a *lot* of people buy shoes
online. In fact, if it weren't for online shoe stores (Amazon,
mostly), I'd be barefoot. I haven't found a local store that sells my
size for over thirty years. Wearing shoes that were too small was
getting really old. e-tailers fixed the problem.


When it comes to hardware, many times the specification for the item are
incomplete or miss leading. They only way you can get what you want is
to see it "in the flesh" look at the item turn it around to find if the
item has what you want.

On this line I have seen some neat things on line. But when you actually
get it, the dimensions have been miss represented and it is just two
large/small for the purpose intended.