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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

#201

Post by _dark_matter_ »

hrktb wrote: post #176
gibolt wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

We could say the same for other big box retailers. I don’t know any that even comes close to te amazon experience, short of Yodobashi.con in Japan. I think it requires something very special for an organization to accept to canibalize itself. Apple is the only exemple that I would see at a behemoth scale.

What is "The Amazon experience"? Ads being served as the first few rows of results? A review system that cannot be trusted? The same item listed multiple times by different sellers? Extreme price variance when choosing different colors and sizes?

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#202

Post by mark-r »

neurobashing wrote: post #25

My parents were young, and broke, and opened a Sears "charge card" to buy their wedding rings. "Craftsman, so it'll last forever!" I mean, intellectually, I get why Sears is going away, but it still kinda tugs at the ol' heartstrings a little, you know?

My dad worked a second job at Sears from when I was a kid to the day he retired. Our house was full of Kenmore and Craftsman.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#203

Post by dragonwriter »

alexhutcheson wrote: post #73
wil421 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is an upscale place to shop? I’ve never seen them lumped together with Whole Foods or even Apple. Edit: Wow I didn’t realize Costco’s profit margin was higher than Whole Foods, Wal Mart and almost a full percent above Kroger’s.

Costco's average customer is definitely higher income than the average American, although I've seen different attempts to quantify this. The first result from a Google search gives me this: https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/17/who-is-costcos-fav... A couple of factors act as a "filter" that makes Costco less worthwhile for lower income shoppers: - Buying in bulk requires a bunch of cash up front, which not every…

> A couple of factors act as a "filter" that makes Costco less worthwhile for lower income shoppers:

You missed a big one in many areas: buying in bulk requires facilities for storing inventory.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#204

Post by lotsofpulp »

melq wrote: post #76
bluGill wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are. You need to have a good amount of extra money to afford the membership and the cost of buying 6 months of toilet paper in advance. Those are cheap items that you will need, if you are not poor you probably don't even think about it. However when you are poor it doesn't matter if it is cheaper or not to buy in bulk because you don't have the cash to afford it. (you also are unlikely to have the storage space…

Membership at Costco is like 60 dollars a year. Not saying it's doable for everyone but its hardly something 'you need to have a good amount of extra money' to afford.

If you look at the locations of Costcos in any metropolitan area, they will not be near the poorer areas. Walmart is more frequently located near poorer areas, and what I was getting at, was that Walmart can't just up its pay to match Costco because many people that shop at Walmart don't have any extra money, whereas Costco can afford to raise prices to help pay for better wages.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#205

Post by openloop »

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…

Some bookseller with a bunch of land and rich friends is putting everyone out of business. You’re probably next. Enjoy Armageddon.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#206

Post by growlist »

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…

For me it's the speed of Prime, plus the fact I don't have to bother entering my card or PayPal details. It's almost annoying when I can't find what I want on Amazon and have to go elsewhere.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#207

Post by macintux »

w8rbt wrote: post #12

I wonder if this will impact the small Sears Home Town stores. These are great and I'd hate to lose them. http://www.searshometownstores.com/

Those aren’t impacted. A separate company.

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2019/01/biz-buzz-amid-sears-ba...

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#208

Post by philwelch »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #136
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.

That's pretty reassuring, if only because that means that the "Srap Tasmaner" reference in Seveneves won't become completely anachronistic.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#209

Post by etrautmann »

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…

My childhood home was purchased in a kit from Sears in the early 1900's. Such an interesting and expansive catalog operation, and a model that's starting to come back around with modular homes from Blu and other companies offering kit homes 100 years later.
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