Yes and Not Yes

Another article on Sears (SHLD), this one from The American. Keeping in line with majority sentiment, the article is mostly negative on Sears’ future. However, I like the article for the fact that it describes the history of Sears and how it once was like the Walmart of the early 20th century, a true innovator in business and retail.

Along with his partner, Alvah Roebuck, Richard Sears opened one of the first mail-order businesses. In 1895, they rolled out their first catalogue, a 532-page behemoth containing thousands of items, enough to supply every need a family could have. Sears was a master marketer, an apostle of advertising, and it pioneered such innovations as the money-back guarantee. By the 1920s, Sears was selling everything from houses (now highly desirable collector’s residences) to violins. Local merchants couldn’t compete, and the culture of mom-and-pop stores was devastated by modern marketing and low prices.

Sears soon branched out to retail stores, which had already started emerging due to growing consumer demand stimulated by the mail-order business. By the eve of World War II, more than 600 Sears department stores dotted the American landscape. Production and distribution systems evolved and multiplied; thousands of smaller producers whose products were carried by Sears found themselves expanding beyond their dreams, providing employment for tens of thousands more workers.

I would agree with the article that Sears has been a victim of its own success and failed to innovate and keep up with its competition, but I also believe there is still some hope that Lampert and management will be able to turn Sears around.

Disclosure: I own SHLD and I also used to work for The American