Sears, Which Began by Undercutting Prices and Putting People out of Business,

[MineralMan]

is now being put out of business by online retailing innovation. It is a classic story of irony.

I collect Sears catalogs. I have original Sears Fall catalogs for every decade from the 1890s through the 1970s. I find them interesting to look at, since they tell the history of that period through the items people used on a daily basis. It's my historical research tool for retail merchandise.

Sears Roebuck & Company was founded in the 1890s to compete with local retailers by offering lower prices for everyday goods and shipping those goods directly to consumers. It was a revolutionary concept at the time, and succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. It brought the power of shopping in the largest department stores in big cities to the living rooms (and outhouses) of rural America.

As the Internet began to be available to American consumers, Sears did not move into that new marketing venue. Instead, it opted to shut down its mail order empire and rely on its stores, which had multiplied into almost every regional market, with stores close to just about everyone. Apparently, Sears understood that mail order marketing was no longer how America shopped.

What the management of Sears did not understand was that people still wanted to order goods from their living rooms (and outhouses) and have them delivered directly. Amazon, and many other new ventures did understand that and online shopping became the new Sears Catalog very, very quickly. Sears probably could have become what Amazon became, but was locked into its old marketing methods and its new focus on its retail stores.

As Amazon and other Internet retailers burgeoned, Sears began to shrink. Now, its prices were being undercut by a new business model, which didn't bother with retail stores at all. Free shipping, low prices and availability of an enormous selection of products in every category sent people shopping on LCD screens, not paper catalogs or slowly emptying malls.

Sears is done. Many retail giants are done. They missed their opportunity and have no chance of catching up. Sears has announced the closure of 100 more retail stores. Other companies, from Macy's to Barnes and Noble are rapidly disappearing as well. The Internet won. It was predictable, but wasn't predicted by all of those now doomed companies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sears-is-closing-over-100-more-stores/ar-BBHSyYw?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp

[HAB911]

1. All will bow to our Amazon Overlords

what interests me is the Amazon move into Whole Foods and rumored Target brick and mortar ecosystem, seems a contradiction.

BTW were you aware vets can now purchase from AFES online, tax free?

[Aristus]

3. I didn't know AAFES still existed.

I grew up on Army bases around the country. And most on-post retailing was operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, including diners and cafeterias (represented by the 'Run-In Chef' logo).

By the time I joined the Army in 1986, private corporations had taken over most retailing on military posts. Where there was once a Run-In Chef burger bar, there was now Burger King. And so on.

I'll check out AAFES on-line. Thanks.

[HAB911]

4. Just answer a few service related questions to get an account

https://www.shopmyexchange.com/

[Aristus]

6. Thanks for the link!

[MineralMan]

5. The Whole Foods thing is all about home delivery

from online orders. Food needs distribution from local sources to ensure freshness. Food is expensive to ship, but local deliveries are growing in popularity.

The Target move is more complicated. If it happens, expect Amazon to shut down many, many actual retail locations, keeping those that can serve a much larger area. Those will be turned into combination retail outlets/distribution centers/product pickup locations. The buildings are there, the staff is there and can be transitioned to new roles. Here in Minnesota, there are Target stores within about a 10 minute drive from everyone in the big Twin Cities Metro area. That will probably change to just the largest stores, with a 20-30 drive time from the same locations.

You'll be able to order goods online, from the complete Amazon inventory and pick them up at one of those stores or have them delivered to your door, as you currently do. There's a new Amazon distribution center, now, just south of the metro area. The retail stores that remain (the largest of them) will still be open for in-person shopping, but that won't be the primary focus any longer. That's what I think will happen, anyhow. I'm still not sure that Amazon will follow through with that acquisition, though. It's just a rumor so far, I think. But that's what they'd do.

[DAMANgoldberg]

16. If that's the case with Target...

and they want to keep an urban/suburban strategy, wouldn't that be redundant with the Whole Foods purchase? Should they adopt that strategy, you have effective redundancy. The markets that Whole Foods are in are those population center markets for the most part that Amazon wants to target (pun unintended). It could have been at the time that they really wanted Target, or for that matter Kroger, but was too pricey for them, so they felt the pressure to buy Whole Foods to execute their retail delivery in-store warehouse distribution point scheme. Then again, to Amazon, places like Auburn-Opelika AL, Columbus IN, and Alexandria LA among a similar type of markets in other parts of the country aren't that important to them.

[MineralMan]

17. Whole Foods Is a Brand That Attracts a Market

People who shop at Whole Foods do not shop for groceries at Target. Ever. The Whole Foods customer base is relatively affluent and picky about what they perceive as quality. It's also heavy with millennials, who are the target market for just about everyone right now. Owning that brand could be important to Amazon. It won't matter where the actual food that is delivered comes from, of course. Deliveries will be made from distribution centers. It's the brand that matters.

[GeorgeGist]

24. I've shopped at both ..

so there's that. Your arrogance is showing.

[MineralMan]

25. I shop at neither. I shop at a typical supermarket,

where I can choose from the widest possible range of products. I don't care about brands. Target has limited selection. So does Whole Foods. I don't shop at either.

[Freddie]

40. I am scared that the traditional supermarket may be pushed out

By organic/trendy options and the Walmart Supercenter. I hate shopping at Wallys (especially for groceries!) and am totally unmoved by foufou healthy-organic-etc. I just want a regular supermarket where I can find a good variety of reasonably priced normal food as well as pet food, paper & cleaning products, etc. Giant is wonderful and I’m doing my part to keep them in business.

[MineralMan]

46. I don't know what will happen. I suspect that most areas will continue

to be served by at least one Supermarket chain. But, most markets aren't going to support more than one chain, I expect. In the Twin Cities, I'm betting on Cub. But, who knows? I hate grocery shopping at Walmart and Target, and simply won't do it. I have a favorite Cub near me. I know where absolutely everything is in that store, so I can make my list and get in and out very quickly. I don't do impulse buying. The store has a decent bakery and deli, and its produce includes high quality items, which I prefer. The meat department is not great, but I don't eat a lot of meat anyhow.

Prices for the things I buy seem to be about even in all of the local markets. I don't buy a lot of fancy stuff. I hope we don't lose the big supermarkets. I like them, and can count on them even when I'm preparing a fancy meal for guests.

[msongs]

45. whole foods sells pickles w/out HFCs, mayo w/out sugar. ugh sugar does not belong in mayo nt

[MineralMan]

49. Oh, OK. If I need those things ever, I'll remember that.

But, my local supermarket also has both of those things, so maybe I won't have to. I never use mayo and don't care for pickles, anyhow. If I do need mayo, I have oil, eggs and a whisk. Takes just a couple of minutes to whip up whatever amount I need.

I've been in a local Whole Foods. I like to go into new stores soon after they open and find my way around, just in case. I couldn't see any reason, though, to shop there when I visited.

[LisaM]

33. Unless I was disabled and had to shop from home, I can't imagine having someone else

pick out my food for me. I am confounded by today's shopping habits.

I don't think the assessment of Sears is entirely accurate, either. Yes, mail order brought available merchandise to rural areas, but it didn't put big department stores in cities out of business. It coexisted with them.

The CEO of Sears/KMart made it clear from the beginning that he intended to ruin their brick and mortar businesses and kowtow only to stockholders. That's the real problem Sears/KMart has. Until they closed our local KMart a few years ago, I shopped there all the time and when I was buying large appliances, lawnmowers, etc., I got them at Sears.

I stopped going to Whole Foods when Amazon bought them. Too bad, I miss it, but I don't want to give money to the company that is remaking the city I live in (Seattle) in its faceless, terrible way, and has ruined the book industry even as its CEO admits that to him, books are just widgets. I also can't stand predictive marketing.

However, I alone cannot save the retail world as I knew it. I miss it so, so much.,

[MineralMan]

34. Sears didn't really care about competing with big city department stores,

at least not in the beginning. It wanted rural America as its customers. It hurt local stores much more than the big city stores. Small town department stores, small retailers, traveling salespeople. In the early days of Sears, it sold virtually everything, from staple grocery items and drugs to farm equipment and vehicles. Guns, watches, jewelry...whatever you needed, Sears had it, and at far lower prices than an individual retailer, however large, could match, even with shipping.

It targeted small town America, specifically, and offered consumers access to the full range of goods at all price levels.

To look at the range, my 1963 catalog let you buy a motorcycle or a pet monkey. A pet monkey. I remember seeing that catalog as a senior in high school and marveling that you could order a monkey from Sears. I bought a copy of that catalog just for that page.

[LisaM]

44. Oh, and they sold houses.

I don't know that they put small town America out of business, though. We had a local hardware store when I was growing up, as did all the small towns I was associated with (in fact, I think it's still there) and Sears didn't target it.

I'm willing to go along with Sears changing the shape of retail, but I can't think of any specific industries it eliminated.

Be that as it may, I still don't want someone else picking out my tomatoes, onions, and lettuce.

[appalachiablue]

79. In a terrific NW DC neighborhood near Amer. Univ. and Tenleytown we lived

in a foursquare Gladstone 1925 Sears House that had been nicely upgraded, slightly and authentically. Loved and miss that home.

I won't shop at a box store unless there's absolutely no other alternative- the way it is.

And I think Amazon will likely get into the food production business, cuz they want it all...

[bettyellen]

91. Im shocked by the big move by clothing retailers to Amazon. There are also stores now where you

Shop on computer screens and they’ll pull the clothes for you to try on, so you don’t go through the racks. Some super trendy place in California. She told me she felt old (at mid thirties) for being the only one there who wanted to see and touch the literal garments before thinking of trying them on. There were clothes hanging, but most people stuck to looking at their screens. It’s really changed the industry.

[TeamPooka]

76. a spot on analysis

[haele]

22. They're opening the online PXs to non-retired vets now?

Oh, just looked it up - Vets with an honorable discharge can register through VetVerify.com for permission to shop online since Nov. 11th.
Too bad the basics like vitamins and household items can't be purchased online.

There's a lot of people who did two years and out who would just love to shop at the PX in high VAT states...now if they can only actually go on base and shop at the Commissaries - that will enable them to get quality produce and household/sanitary sundries at affordable prices.

Haele

[workinclasszero]

37. WOW thank you so much for that info!

I had no idea of that benefit! Thanks!

[HAB911]

73. Brand new, last November!

[workinclasszero]

74. Shocking that something useful to non billionaires was sneaked through

The Koch bros will be pissed off!

[RockaFowler]

2. I used to work for Sears in the 90's

I really loved that job. I worked in Electronics and it was really cool to see the latest TVs and equipment that would come out each year. We were all on commission and it made life really good. I made a lot of money there - especially during Christmas. Then they put all of us on hourly. It killed morale and heck it killed the store. The best salespeople went elsewhere and what you were left with were people who knew nothing about the products and really didn't care. The purchase of KMart made it even worse.

[Stuart G]

11. Thank You for posting this. It helps me to understand the demise of Sears..

[Mosby]

64. the sears auto center staff were also on commission

And they were ripping people off. There was some sort of investigation and/or class action law suit.

Eta - http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/23/business/sears-auto-centers-halt-commissions-after-flap.html

[Hoyt]

7. My granddad's bathroom when I was young (well, not the exact one), and Sears Catalog --

Sears really could have become Amazon if they had the vision and put the resources into it.

BTW -- those are corn cobs at lower left, no Charmin back then.

[MineralMan]

9. Sears' management simply did not have a clue.

It was already old-fashioned in its outlook. When they dropped the catalog, I knew it was the end for Sears. Sears WAS the catalog shopping giant. Without the catalog, it was just another overweight retail outlet that was competing with the malls. Ending catalog sales killed Sears.

Now, if it had jumped in with both feet on the Internet as soon as that opportunity became available, there would have been no room for Amazon. But, its management was old-school and completely unable to see the change that was coming.

Too bad for Sears. It missed the boat, and so did the rest of the mail-order retail industry. It simply couldn't adapt.

[Maeve]

42. The Sears WishBook actually drove sales at their stores

We'd look at the book for ideas and then head to the mall...Lazarus at one end (now Macy's, where they haven't closed them), Sears at the other, Penney's in the middle somewhere; okay, you can tell my best shopping memories are from the '70's and '80's when the shopping centers were just being roofed over and becoming malls.

When they started charging for the catalog, I knew the end of the era was a matter of time.

[MineralMan]

43. Absolutely. That was their second business model.

The actual stores did help sales, but later became liabilities, rather than assets. As competition grew from other retailers, sales dropped, while costs to keep stores open kept rising. KMart, Target, Walmart and other retailers horned into their markets, and diluted the customer base.

Finally, it came down to keeping the stores or keeping the catalog. The stores won, but Sears lost. That was at about the same time the Internet was first becoming a player. Sears could have dominated Internet retailing, but didn't even try until too late. It could have turned the Internet into its catalog, but decided to dump the whole catalog idea in favor of retail stores. Bad move.

[MineralMan]

10. That was the previous year's catalog, of course.

The current one was in the parlor on its own little table.

[meow2u3]

8. Karma's a bitch and she just bit Sears in the can

?v=3

[Hekate]

12. That is fascinating, MinMan.

You wove all those threads of history together in a way I won't forget.

[MineralMan]

13. Thanks.

I really appreciate your comment.

[zipplewrath]

14. Pretty much the history of retail

Sears (and Roebuck) lasted longer than most in my experience.

Zayers
Montgomery Wards
Woolworths
Marshall Fields
Burdines
Gilmores


Now I'm seeing Kmart, and Sears following these into history. Truth is I'm beginning to see weakness in the Target model. And i agree I think Macy's is in trouble, as is Dillards. Strangely, Niman Marcus, Bloomingdales and Lord and Taylor seem to be hanging on, although I think that last one is showing weakness.

In the end, retail is very fickle and reputation can mean as much as anything.

[Mosby]

67. target is moving to the "target express" store

They are much smaller, I hear they are planning to open about 300 of them. Right now there are only a couple.

[zipplewrath]

72. Everyone is trying to figure it out.

Everyone, including Amazon, is trying to figure out how to do "Brick and Mortar" in combo with online sales. I suspect the "express" concept is "we don't have alot of inventory, but we can be a distribution point for your order".

Ace hardware seems to be exploring this model.

[wishstar]

15. I am taking maximum advantage of great deals at Sears right now

Their online ordering works out well for me as everything, no matter how cheap, is shipped free to nearby store for pickup (They ship free to our house anything $25 and up). They repeatedly give me around $15 in free points, often with no minimum purchase required, so I have restocked our entire wardrobes, shoes and bedding items over the past 2 years for next to nothing and donated car loads of items to charity. Just this morning I ordered some excellent men's shoes that cost about $100 everywhere else for just a few bucks.

But our store, despite being one of top selling stores in the country, is reportedly on chopping block within a year because 2 years ago Sears sold the property to a developer who plans to tear it down for new movie theater, smaller retail plus apartments. Sears didn't even bother to fix the nonfunctioning escalators over Christmas season and they no longer stock electronics. Plenty of high quality but very discounted clothing, in fact a much better selection of good clothes at great prices than any other department store around. They have option to move into new development's retail space at half their current size but I am afraid they will be bankrupt and totally gone by time new retail space is ready.

[MineralMan]

19. Yes. Take advantage of closeout savings while you can.

That's being a smart consumer.

[hunter]

18. My great grandma's two room cabin on the family homestead didn't have indoor plumbing.

You had to walk to the outhouse. You had to go outside to fetch water.

My mom's cousin lived in the larger ranch house with his wife and kids. To please his wife he ordered an electric well pump from Sears, a kitchen faucet, and all the pipe and wiring required to install it; the beginnings of indoor plumbing. He was proud of his work, I remember him showing it off to my dad.

My great grandma was furious. She was convinced these temptations in the Sears catalog would bankrupt the family.

I'll bet this was a drama played out throughout rural U.S.A..

[MineralMan]

20. That's a great story!

Thanks for sharing it!

[PoliticAverse]

27. They even sold entire house kits in the catalog. n/t

[Demsrule86]

87. Hell My Mom's family didn't have running water and went to the 'crick' ...and they had an outhouse.

Grand - Dad built a house himself with family help with running water and indoor plumbing...still stands there today. Mom had us late in life after she had been a nurse and in the navy and all. She hated farms and wouldn't even plant flowers. My Grand-dad kept his family going with a small farming operation and a job in the garment district. MY Grandma worked there too after the kids were in school...poor women have always worked outside the home.

[EllieBC]

21. I'll admit I'm more than a little jealous of your catalog collection.

Catalogs were my favorite mail when I was a kid and I still get excited when the smaller versions from various stores come in occasionally.

I really don't understand how Sears executives could not grasp how important the internet and internet shopping was going to become. It's just like their catalog! How could they not see it?

[MineralMan]

23. You can find them on eBay, from any period.

However, they're not cheap. You can pick up mid-century and later Fall catalogs for around $25, usually. Historical year catalogs can run over $100. Really old ones, pre-depression, are pretty much rare and hard to find. The reason is that nobody kept them. They were either discarded when the new one came out or sent to the outhouse to be recycled.

Sears management, in the 1980s, was already fading it its ability to understand marketing trends. Upper-level management had been around since the depression, sitting in their executive suites. The expansion of Sears stores into mid-sized cities had started to cut into catalog sales. Those huge catalogs were quite expensive to publish and distribute, and the profit generated by them had started to slip in to negative territory.

Add the pressure from Walmart and Target and the big box home supply stores a few years later, and Sears was in trouble. Their answer, stupidly, was to eliminate the catalogs, which had become a cost center rather than a profit center. What they didn't realize was that people were still using the catalogs to shop, but were going to the stores to pick up their merchandise, rather than ordering it by mail. Once the catalogs were eliminated, Sears no longer had the eyes of shoppers, who responded by going to whatever retailer was nearby, instead of choosing items in the catalog and then heading to Sears to buy.

Then, along came the Internet. Boom! There was no longer any reason to bother with Sears any longer. Besides, there wasn't that constant reminder of the Brand sitting in your living room. So, people stopped going to the Sears store, pretty much. They'll walk through the one at the Mall, but went on to shop elsewhere in the mall, instead of shopping in the Sears anchor store.

Adios, Sears! By the time they got it, it was way, way too late. In fact, Walmart and Target have waited too long, as well. Amazon is on a path to literally own retailing in the United States. Truly.

[muntrv]

36. Sounds like what happened to Borders Books, another victim

of Amazon.

[MineralMan]

38. Yeah, Borders was the first mall-style bookstore chain to

close due to Amazon. I remember the one in the California town I lived in closing. I used to buy books there, too.

[Cartoonist]

47. Book stores

I don't blame Amazon for killing book stores, I blame a changing society gone digital.

Edited to add I don't think that's a bad thing.

[Freddie]

50. Yes

I’m a constant reader (except when I’m here on DU) and haven’t bought a physical book in years since putting a kindle in my tablet. Why buy things that take up space and kill trees if you don’t have to?

[Codeine]

57. I even went digital for my comics.

No more piles of comic books scattered all over the house waiting to be bagged, boarded, and boxed.

[MineralMan]

51. I'm of two minds on bookstores.

I like them, but I rarely shopped in them. I have probably 1000 books on my shelves, and finally decided to stop buying more. Until the Kindle, I just used the library. After the Kindle, I was able to get old out of print books that I had wanted to read for free, and the latest best-seller for less. I pretty much switched to reading books on it.

When I need a paper book these days, for research or something, I generally go on Amazon and buy a used copy from one of their many vendors. I read a lot of books, but only once, so owning a paper copy isn't really what I want. I've been selling books from my own library that have any monetary value, and will probably donate the rest to a thrift store in the next year. I'm trying to scale down my possessions, especially heavy ones I don't need.

[Codeine]

56. Im like you. All my new books

are purchased on the Kindle, and if I can’t get them that way I buy them used from Abebooks. Usually ends up about a buck cheaper than used on Amazon from the same used book vendors, and they don’t pay the same cut they do if I use Amazon.

[PoliticAverse]

54. And in digital form for free on the Internet in several places...

For example catalog # 112 (1902):
https://archive.org/details/catalogueno11200sear

[MineralMan]

55. Thanks! I'll check that out.

[kcr]

41. I still like thumbing through the few catalogs I still get

A holdover from the old days.

[Freddie]

48. Especially when they had millions of people with Sears credit cards already

A built in customer base, click-click-spend. Back then a Sears card was easier to get than a regular Visa and it was many people’s first credit when just starting out, including myself. I still have it although it’s turned into a “regular” credit card, not just useable at Sears.

[GulfCoast66]

82. Do you remember when they were called charge cards

Because we were expected to pay them off every month. Then the big banks realized how much they could make by having people carry a balance.

[PoliticAverse]

26. The irony is that Sears was originally just a listing of products (catalog) and a giant warehouse

and someone (Amazon) brought back the no store giant warehouse model to beat them.

[MineralMan]

29. Yes. Exactly the same model, based on existing technology.

By eliminating the retail store, both were able to cut prices dramatically. Amazon IS Sears Version 2.0.

[SWBTATTReg]

28. same thing happened to JC Penney's too

I don't know if they kept their catalogs as long as Sears did, but all of these retail guys truly missed the boat here...

[MineralMan]

31. Actually, J. C. Penney kept their catalog even longer.

But, they didn't change their business model until it was too late, just like Sears did.

[TexasBushwhacker]

69. JC Penney has a good website though

Sears website seemed like it was trying to compete with Walmart and Amazon, offering tons of products, making the site slow and difficult to navigate.

[MineralMan]

70. My wife occasionally orders from the JC Penney website.

It works pretty well, and she can return items to the store. However, more recently, I haven't seen anything delivered from there. I think she has shifted most of that shopping to Amazon at this point. I'll check with her.

[Orangeutan]

30. This viewpoint could form a dynamite NYT op/ed piece, full of irony.

And you sound like just the guy to write it.

[MineralMan]

32. It's already been done. More than once, too.

I'm just rewriting it for DU, really.

[kysrsoze]

35. Let's not forget Sears' recent practice of stealing inventions and screwing the producer

There are numerous cases where Sears took an American-made product, had an offshore producer copy it and undercut the original supplier. This is the most famous case:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/business/popular-wrench-fights-a-chinese-rival.html

Fuck that company and their horrific management team.

[Lee-Lee]

39. Moving Craftsman tool production to China was when I knew they were done

They basically shit on the last hard-core customer base they had left- people who wanted quality, American made consumer grade tools.

People who valued good quality tools who wanted better than the junk at Wal-Mary but didn’t do the work professionally where they had access to tool truck brands. Home handymen who wanted one source for quality tools for carpentry and and mechanic work.

My dad was one. He made a living with his tools reprint textile machinery and swore by Craftsman as his only brand because it was quality American made tools that were reliable and if one did break he could swap it no questions asked at any Sears in any town he was working in.

The day he saw them swap tool production to Vhina was the last day he ever stepped foot in Sears. He won’t even warranty broken tools anymore, he gives them to his neighbors son who goes and warranties them and he goes and buys whatever brand they sell at Lowe’s because he says if he’s getting imported stuff he may as well buy from the place that convenient to go swap it at instead of across town.

Now I just saw that Stanely had bought the Craftsman line from them and they are moving production back into the USA and it will be sold at Lowe’s. I am going to call him and let him know, that will make his day even if he will start telling me that Trump did it...

[MineralMan]

52. If I want Chinese-made tools, I go to Northern Tool and Equipment.

But, I have pretty much all the tools I will ever need, anyhow. I'm not doing so much of that kind of work any more at age 72. If we move, I'll be having a big-assed garage sale and they'll all be out there at amazingly low prices. I'm not packing them again. I'll assemble a set of must-have stuff and let the rest of it go.

[RKP5637]

77. I use them and Harbor Freight. If I were using them everyday it would be different, but I've gotten

some pretty good stuff. I like Harbor Freight because I can see the stuff. Now, I often look at my garage and wonder, WTF am I going to eventually do with this stuff. I've done some major stuff in my time. I've gotten some really good stuff in garage and estate sales. I always look at it as pass it down/along. And the prices are great.

[guillaumeb]

53. Amazon, like WalMart,

is based on a low wage, minimal pay and minimal benefit business model where the owner is a billionaire, and the mass of the workers are paid a minimal wage. Thus the business model creates a customer base for the many low priced items that are offered.

And the low wages mean that these companies externalize their costs onto the surrounding communities, and the taxpayers.

[MineralMan]

58. All retail businesses are like that, frankly.

However, Amazon offers decent pay for workers at its distribution centers. We have one here that advertises regularly for employees. In Minnesota, pay starts at about $16/hr. That's higher than the prevailing minimum wage in the area by quite a bit.

The work is hard and the pace is blistering for those workers. No question about it. But Amazon is hiring. Every day.

All businesses in that industry have jobs. Wages are not great for retail workers, in general, but Amazon is no different from other employers in that regard, although it is paying higher wages than most around here. It's also an absolutely equal opportunity employer. Amazon doesn't care who you are, as long as you show up on time and can handle the pace.

Automation is a huge part of Amazon's business model, but human employees are still needed in rather large quantities. While robots go get the products, humans pack every last box that gets shipped. Sounds like boring work to me, but there it is. Most work sounds boring to me, except the work I do.

[guillaumeb]

61. Agreed on your "most work sounds boring" part.

And I would argue that one cannot build a healthy economy when there is constant downward pressure on wages and benefits. What is actually being created is a third world economy with a hugely rich upper layer and millions of indebted workers.

[MineralMan]

63. Amazon is actually creating pressure on other businesses

in this area to raise wages, by paying its employees a higher wage than others. That's upward pressure on wages.

Subthread. Final reply.

[guillaumeb]

65. Living wage is different from a higher wage.

[appalachiablue]

81. Got it. Farewell Middle Class, meet The New Order, post-democracy Old Order redux.

Terrific if you're on the right side.

[randr]

59. Sears is now a majority holder of asphalt parking lots

The reuse of which will be a very important factor as we develop strategys to combat atmospheric carbons.

[MineralMan]

60. Very interesting.

[randr]

62. I like to think that our capitalistic system is likely to come up with an appropriate

and profitable solution to most every problem we encounter. Sort of a roll with the punches and move on type of survival strategy that has evolved along with our need for more stuff.

[MineralMan]

66. I see every asphalt parking lot as a potential solar energy

source. Cover them with a canopy of solar panels and double the use of the space. If there aren't enough cars to fill the space, set up a public market under the canopy or some such thing.

[randr]

75. I read somewhere that by removing the asphalt and leaving the earth exposed allows

the absorption of enormous amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Not only that but it would look better.
The malls of America will someday become neighborhoods.

[crazycatlady]

68. My take on Sears

I'm a lot younger than you. When I was a kid (80s) my stepgrandmother was addicted to buying my sister and I clothes. A lot of them came from Sears. My mother didn't like shopping at Sears because they didn't take (major) credit cards (not sure how true it is as I didn't understand credit cards then). I just remember asking to go into a Sears and my mom gave that as her reason for no.

Now the Sears near me are half occupied by a European store called Primark. The parking lots in the Primark half (top floor) are full where the Sears half are not. Sears does not sell clothes anymore. Primark is mostly clothes but has some home stuff. They have very low prices and pretty cute merchandise. They're aimed at the millennial and Gen Z generations.

[Freddie]

71. Back in the 90s

When my kids were little I used to get all their clothes at Sears. They had a program called KidVantage with frequent-shopper discounts, plus the clothes were good quality. Then my daughter started middle school and had to have all the right name brands, so that ended that.

[Raine]

80. True about the credit cards, Sears had their own card Discover.

My father worked for Sears and my boyfriend wanted to shop there for that reason but couldn't use the credit cards he had. Boyfriend applied for their card but was turned down even though he had good credit. So they lost any sales he would've made there.

[PoliticAverse]

84. The problem was it seems Sears decided it was really just going to be a financing company....

making money off interest charged to people on their Sears or Discover card instead of from
the margins on retail sales. This hurt them in the long run.

[elehhhhna]

89. That's when I never went back. That was soooo stupid.

[Pope George Ringo II]

78. I have terrifying thoughts occasionally

And here is today's: "Original Sears Fall catalogs" made me think, "Wait, somebody actually makes reproductions?"

Yes, somebody makes reproductions.

[Awsi Dooger]

83. Sears online is still laughably complicated

I get emails from them all the time, touting "Surprise Points" with emphasis not to let them expire. And I have gotten some fantastic deals from Sears within the past 15 months by utilizing those Surprise Points in combination with special sales, ones I see mentioned on Slickdeals, which I check every day.

There is no way I could have gotten those prices anywhere else. Mostly I got garden tools/supplies and lots of golf training stuff like practice nets that they were practically giving away.

It is store pick up, as other have mentioned. I don't mind doing it because the Sears in question is an old classic one in downtown Coral Gables, where my parents and I frequently shopped in the '60s and '70s. It's like a nostalgic trip, even if I'm saddened by all the empty shelves and lack of employees. In its heyday that Sears was jumping. It was my favorite local store during the holiday season. We even bought our Christmas tree there several times, in the lot out front.

The pick-up is well coordinated, convenient and rapid.

But to apply those Surprise Points I have to dip and dodge. Not every department or type of item is eligible for the points. I have regular points via purchases and then the bonus Surprise Points. Even though I've done it so many times it still takes me time and mistakes to figure out the process. They force you to click a few times during the checkout process to apply the points.

Every time I do that I'm thinking to myself, "Sears, how stupid are you?" Nobody wants Surprise Points, even if the bottom line is lower. How could the problem be so obvious for so long yet you still don't have a competent website or online model?

Customers want a good value price, top notch website design, great Search capability, simple checkout process, and quick shipping. Free shipping is best but quick is the priority. I've sold enough items on ebay for 15+ years to know that buyers will contact you immediately to know when it will ship, how it is shipped, and when they can expect it. It's unbelievable that so many major corporations blundered the transition to online, when so much of it was blatantly obvious.

J.C. Penney has indeed improved its website in recent years. Very good Search engine. Far superior to Sears in overall design and simplicity. But not the match of Amazon or Walmart, and probably too late for most customers to notice or care.

Just like customers in the old days drove to a specific store, now they head to the specific site. No good to be the backup plan.

[DrDan]

85. well - actually only 39 Sears stores are closing - there are also 64 KMart stores in that total

[Demsrule86]

86. Our last Kmart is closing. With net neutrality gone...not sure what will happen with internet

shopping. I like going to stores.

[Victor_c3]

88. It seems to me that there has been a revitalization of Main Streets in the last 5-10 years

Maybe it’s just the areas that I’ve been to, but it seems to me that Main Streets in many towns are coming back.

You still don’t have the stores you used to have long ago, but tons of specialty shops, artist galleries, studios, restaurants, and professional offices occupy the once vacant spots. These mainstreet areas in my local area always have different events going on throughout the year and are great for bringing people together and building a sense of community.