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Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

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Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#131

Post by artursapek »

mceldeen wrote: post #115
xigency wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this as well until I heard a counter-point [0] which was very convincing. The reason Amazon is successful is not because you can shop online (from a catalog) and receive items in the mail. The reason Amazon is successful is because you can do those things and receive your items within two days. Before Prime existed, Amazon had very quick fulfillment, and after Prime two-day it became even better. The Sears…

So what I'm hearing is "so big they had to fail".

I wonder if Amazon will ever get to that point. It's hard to imagine.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#132

Post by ams6110 »

neovive wrote: post #21

Even without the physical locations, the Sears brand will likely persist through the Kenmore brand and Sears home services.

What is the point of Kenmore now? They were never their own product, just a re-badged Amana, Whirlpool, or GE (variously) appliances.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#133

Post by ryanmercer »

I heard on a podcast this morning an ad stating 'Buy Craftsman tools at Lowes' and was like "Wow. Just wow." and yesterday I saw where Macy's is closing a store here in Indy and K-mart is also continuing to close stores.

I remember when malls had pet stores and arcades and Service Merchandise (oh man, entering stuff you wanted to buy into those terminals haha) now you buy everything from Walmart and from the comfort of your couch on Amazon.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#134

Post by baddox »

hgq wrote: post #34
daveFNbuck wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying employees more is supposed to work because it results in employees who do their job better. It seems Sears just increased the pay without increasing the expectations. I avoid Sears because when I go, despite there being no customers, the place is a mess and I can't find anyone to help me.

>Paying employees more is supposed to work because it results in employees who do their job better. I'm sure above certain threshold, which is probably low, raising wages doesn't make employees do their job any better. In other words, unless you pay your workers literally peanuts, they will do the same job more or less.

I think part of the point is that you pay more money to attract different people who will perform better, or to encourage people to stay at the job longer (and thus get better at it).

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#135

Post by ForHackernews »

artursapek wrote: post #131
mceldeen wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what I'm hearing is "so big they had to fail".

I wonder if Amazon will ever get to that point. It's hard to imagine.

As it grows larger, the "Amazon marketplace" is getting more and more filled with garbage knockoff products and fake reviews. There may eventually come a tipping point where they lose user trust.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#136

Post by sizzzzlerz »

erickhill wrote: post #3

Sears was my go-to place for tools for years. Then, at some stage, the quality noticeably changed and it started to feel like a cheap knock-off, like what happened to Stanley Tools ages ago. But I did very much appreciate their return-tool policy. I used that a few times. It was a great customer loyalty tactic.

Stanley now owns the Craftsman label (along with Porter Cable, Irwin, DeWalt, and others). Recent reports state that it will now be marketing Craftsman tools at Lowe's. When I was building up my tool kit, Craftsman hand tools were all that I'd buy. Other than some sockets, I haven't bought any more tools in years since the one's I own are working as well as the day I bought them.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#137

Post by gibolt »

xigency wrote: post #96
wombatpm wrote: post #5

Sears had everything. Global supply chain, check. Top notch distribution operation, check. System and infrastructure to take orders and handling billing, check. Name recognition and established customer base, check. They threw it all away, ending catalog operations in 1993 a year before Amazon.com opened in 1994. They owned part of Prodigy in 1984! Yet somehow thought it was a better move to expand into bigger box re…

I thought this as well until I heard a counter-point [0] which was very convincing. The reason Amazon is successful is not because you can shop online (from a catalog) and receive items in the mail. The reason Amazon is successful is because you can do those things and receive your items within two days. Before Prime existed, Amazon had very quick fulfillment, and after Prime two-day it became even better. The Sears…

While this is generally true, imagine if Sears had honestly realized their competitors potential and tried to compete. They had the country covered in stores and could have easily cut shipping times down by shipping from the nearest one.

Their stores were also a hodgepodge of junk all randomly mixed, and they never made their store a desirable place to stroll.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#138

Post by Aunche »

ticmasta wrote: post #48
threatofrain wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not disputing the CEO is a force of destruction, but ought not some businesses close? What’s the place of Sears in the modern age?

dig into the back story; aside from the public challenges of a traditional brick&mortar retailer, Lampert actively accelerated it's downfall to enormous personal gain. He literally destroyed the business (let the retail stores fall into disrepair) while he sold off it's most valuable assets like the brands and milked it for cash as a major creditor. He is a modern day robber-baron with none of the mystique or cachet…

> Lampert actively accelerated it's downfall to enormous personal gain.

What exactly did he gain? His hedge fund invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Sears, and it's not even clear that they broke even. Meanwhile, stocks were on their longest rally in history.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#139

Post by mark-r »

ben1040 wrote: post #97
reaperducer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying online and picking up from a store really isn't that advanced of a concept. You're right. Service Merchandise build an empire around it, just by mail or phone instead of computer. Other stores did it, too. JCPenny comes to mind. Even some local and regional chains. Amazon and others think they've invented something. But once again, it's just SV re-inventing something that worked last century.

And by the early 90s Sears had a century of experience as a catalog fulfillment company and had pretty much become synonymous with the concept.

That kind of experience breeds complacency. As noted elsewhere, they weren't prepared to offer delivery times that were competitive.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#140

Post by tjr »

rhino369 wrote: post #95
samfriedman wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, do you remember what the difference in power draw between the old and new microwaves was?

Standard microwaves are 1100 watt, but there are also 700 watt microwaves. Those extra 3 amps must have set off his circuit breaker.

Sounds about right. Also, this was an above-stove unit, limiting possible choices. Probably could have more easily found a standalone unit that worked.
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