On Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 11:09:39 AM UTC-6, shiggins1 wrote:

Isn't it ironic that competition from mail order is what killed them, as
they invented it.


I would argue against mail order, or online ordering as you probably mean, killed Sears. I think competition was the main killer. Home Depot, Menards, Lowes in my town carry every tool Craftsman has and many, many more. They also carry every Kenmore appliance, other brands of course. Wal-Mart has all the clothes that Sears has. And furniture is carried by Wal-Mart and I think Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Sears was/is a do it all for everyone store. But now days you have too many competitors selling the same things. All different stores, not one store. But people don't want or need one store to do everything. Wal-Mart combining a grocery store and general merchandise store is a great concept. But that is a bit different than Sears. K-Mart does have grocery and general stuff in its stores. But K-Mart is basically dead.

Sears was started back in about 1900 when ONE store selling everything, except groceries, made sense. But does it make sense today to have ONE store selling tools, lawn mowers, refrigerators, clothes, wedding rings, watches, jewelry? And today with Wal-Mart you have one store selling most general stuff PLUS groceries. That does make sense. Leave out the specialty stuff for others to sell. Just sell the main stuff everyone needs frequently.