Sears failed to adapt to a changing marketplace. First thing to understand about Sears is that by the mid-seventies its primary business was no longer retail but rather finance. They still understood they needed to sell products their customers wanted at reasonable prices, but what really brought in customers was that Sears would extend credit to almost anyone at a time when credit was difficult to get. The first credit card I ever had was from Sears. Your could buy major appliances, get your car fixed or buy a tool you desperately needed, which could be a lifesaver for someone starting out. That built up a huge brand loyalty which the company's management later squandered.
By 1990, anybody could get as many credit cards as they wanted, which meant Sears needed to come up with a different business model than relying on the finance business. They were in a position to be the first retail company to take advantage of the internet, but they totally missed the boat. Even today, their website is a joke. So they lost market share to cheaper rivals (like Walmart) and online merchants like Amazon who understand how business is done in the 21st century.
It's likely Sears will not be in business one year from now. I'd like to say I will miss Sears, but the company American consumers once loved is already gone.
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Today's Featured Article - Harvestin Hay: The Early Years (Part 2) - by Pat Browning. The summer of 1950 was the start of a new era in farming for our family. I was thirteen, and Kathy (my oldest sister) was seven. At this age, I believed tractor farming was the only way, hot stuff -- and given a chance I probably would have used the tractor, Dad's first, a 1936 Model "A" John Deere, to go bring in the cows! And I think Dad was ready for some automation too. And so it was that we acquired a good, used J. I. Case, wire tie hay baler. In addition to a person to drive th
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