[Bricejm]

Agreed. I worked at Sears in college (~15 years ago) loading dock/warehouse. It was a great job at the time. Good pay, plenty of hours, and generally good managers. The downfall of Sears had very little to do with wages, but Amazon crushing all brick and mortar stores. We were dependent on foot traffic, and sales flyers in the Sunday paper - things that don't do much today.

[technofiend]

IMHO Sears would have an opportunity now if they hadn't sold off their brands. Cobranding (for instance) Anker products as Craftsman would have me buying it there instead of Amazon for one reason: commingled inventory and fakes.

[jpindar]

They had SO MUCH customer loyalty from Craftsman, I can't believe anyone would throw that all away.

[abakker]

the mismanagement of the craftsman brand will one day be a case study in all business schools. It is incredible how much I spent on tools with them over the years, and incredible how I'm not even sure where to buy them anymore.

IMO, the biggest mistake Sears ever made was NOT buying Home Depot when they had the chance.

[fjsolwmv]

That's a funny comment because the reason Craftsman died is thay Sears commingled it with fakes by selling the name to junk makers.

[Tsubasachan]

True. Amazon, and ecommerce in general, took off because they beat old retail in prices and inventory. I can buy a pair of shoes right now and have it delivered for free in 12 hours. The margins web stores operate on are razor thin. Efficiency is king.