I’m a lot younger, probably, than most people here, and yet I remember going into Sears as a child. It was actually a pretty cool place from what I remember. Lots of stuff. And all of my family’s portraits were done there when I was a child as well. I still even have the original portraits in the original Sears slip cases. So, while, on an objective, rational level, I know the answer to my query is likely, “No”, and that Sears has been the author of their own decline the nostalgic and sentimental part of me wonders…Is there any possible way they can turn things around, so as to continue existing, in some form?
well what they should of done is kept their position amazon of yesteryear ………when they quit the mail order business in the 80s they po’ed a lot of people
Also stayed away from the malls …… if they had kept their own stores they wouldn’t have to live and die by the mall fads ……… anyone remember the selena Gomez back to school campaign fiasco that they had 3 or 4 years ago?
they wouldn’t of had to worry about that as much if they weren’t in the malls chasing the 13-21 kids ….
They also let a lot of the things they were famous for fall by the wayside like their exclusive deals with Disney and other companies
Let their name brands go to hell……… they don’t own craftsman anymore and and Kenmore is about as useful as the inside matter of a port o pot at a swap meet
That and they should of stayed separate from k mart and stayed away from lampert whos wanted the whole thing to fail for years So he could sell off the parts for millions ….
They should sell vape pens and fidget spinners. But no I don’t see the decline stopping. They’ve been replaced by Walmart, the dollar stores and Amazon. Plus being tethered to the mall isn’t good in todays marketplace.
Which is sad, supposedly Sears helped usher in an age of affordable consumer goods available at a central location.
The original Sears Department Store is a kind of Mall. And you notice that Malls aren’t totally gone, just a contracting market. So Sears have 2 problems: they have to be best in a contracting market, and they are tied to locations that are no longer the best locations.
So /if/ Sears was actually good at being Sears, they would close bad locations, and would own good locations. And the Malls would be named “Sears” instead of “Westfield”. But (1) They aren’t good at their job: nobody would want to swap management of a Westfield site. And (2), if they were good at their job, the wouldn’t want to start from here: Westfield doesn’t want to take over the old Sears locations.
Could it be done? Yes, if the Lowy’s wanted to operate Sears, they could rescue the brand name. But no, the Lowy’s have better things to do with their money.
Technically, I’m sure there are options. But with all the bad publicity recently over various things, I don’t think anyone would be brave/foolish enough to try. It might be better to start something new, even if it’s some of the same people.
A successful retail format has multiple chains competing in that format (for example Walmart has Target, Home Depot has Lowes…) There are no other chains competing in the Sears format (the last one which comes to mind–Wards–died many years ago).
JCPenney and Macy’s still exists…
They don’t have power tools, appliances, lawn mowers, tire and battery shops, etc.
Yeah, it seemed to me that was always Sears’ distinctive niche: being the “manly department store,” the go-to place for car stuff and tool stuff and appliance stuff.
They might have to drop commission salespeople. I know decades ago a person could make a good living selling say Sears vacuum cleaners or tvs but truth is there is just too much competition for those items.
Seems to be similar to Canadian Tire (even though I’ve never been to a CT). When I was in Canada a month ago the CT I saw was a big box format like Wal*Mart. Perhaps Sears could enlarge its locations while still emphasizing larger goods like car stuff and appliances.
Maybe they could get back into the kit home business?
I’m not at all sure that they even still have salespeople on commission.
It seems to me that Sears Holdings (which also owns Kmart, which is also in its death spiral) has two remaining valuable assets:
- The real estate that its stores it on
- A handful of brands (Craftsman, Kenmore, etc.) which still have some equity among consumers
They’ve been regularly announcing store closings for both chains for years, and that’s still continuing – for example, there’s no longer a Sears in the city of Chicago (the company’s original home). They’ve sold off Craftsman, and they’re now selling Kenmore items through Amazon. They did no TV or print advertising for either chain during last year’s holiday sales season.
I strongly suspect that the only way that they’re still staying afloat is thanks to income from selling off assets (real estate, the brands), and from tax benefits related to operating losses. It’s seemed to me, for several years, that Ed Lampert is trying to wring every cent out of the corpse that he can.
Canadian Tire doesn’t sell clothing at all (well, maybe a rain poncho for camping); clothing has always been a mainstay for Sears AFAIK. No cosmetics either, unless lithium grease and grill charcoal count. 
And while tools have been a major item for both stores, Canadian Tire tends much more toward bargain-priced tools that make a guy like me say “Meh, good enough for what I need” - but they’re tools that might not pass muster for someone who’s serious about them.
Enlarging locations: Sears, being the age that it is, started out in locations that are now prime real estate, where expanding is expensive. But I wonder what proportion of today’s Sears stores are in that position - I expect that many of them have actually relocated since “back in the day”. (And then, does Sears have the money to spend on that anyway? I’m afraid many of the people involved will be in “let’s just cut our losses” mode.)
They could try expanding internationally. Specifically, serving markets in developing countries. They’d, of course, tailor their product mix by regional market. Abandoning the North American market might not be a bad idea in this situation.
Yes, at this point I don’t think Sears has any interest in “reversing” their decline. They know it will never come back.
Right, but if you wanted to start up a retail operation internationally, would you put a “Sears” sign on your stores, or something else?
Sears was, for decades, the most successful retailer in America. That ended a very long time ago, and the Sears brand isn’t an asset, it’s a liability.
That fact always puzzled me – they were poised to plunge into the Internet online market better than anyone. Their catalog department was doing almost the same thing for 100 years, selling everything from hives[sup]*[/sup] to houses. Why couldn’t they make the minor adaptation and do the Amazon thing? Were they just short-sighted?
- No shit. I bought 10 pounds of live Italian bees from Sears once, and it was delivered to my front door. With a queen. And at one time, you could buy all the pre-cut parts to build a kit house.
ISTR that one of the main ways to get onto the Internet back in the '90s was through Prodigy – whose service you could buy at Sears.
Re-branding may be a necessary part of keeping the corporate entity alive. Compared to all the other obstacles to their success, a name change is a minor thing. Major corporations have changed names before.