Pondering the demise of the original "internet stores"(mail Order)

[GB]

Those of us born before the 4th quarter of the 20th century remember the days when Sears and Wards and JC Penny were where most people who lived outside the "Big City" shopped. You could buy anything from them. Guns, chickens, farm equipment, even a house! (My first job, after leaving Law Enforcement, was a sales job at a Sears Catalog Store in the late 80s) It was a big time of the year when the new "Big Book" came out and hundreds of people came into the store to pick it up. (The last Sears Big Book was Spring - Summer 1993. I kept mine because the folks I still knew at the store told me it would be the last!)

Then all of a sudden Al Gore invented the internet and slowly the big names in the catalog stores started to fade. People like Sam Walton came along and changed everything in the big box world and Amazon figured out a business plan to sell on the WEB. Wards didn't even last into the internet era but Sear and Pennys did but were unable to comprehend that the concept that was originally theirs was still viable! Catalog = Website. Still works the way it always did except you don't have the week wait from the time you mail the order form to get your order shipped. The Brownell family figured it out. They still put out a catalog but I bet 90% of their business is done via the WEB. Walmart also is big in the online arena. What has happened to American business? Seems like nobody wants to invent a better mouse trap to grow a business, they just want to buy another company, rename and repaint the product, raise the price and shout from the roof tops that they have a better mouse trap!

OK, Rant over. Please resume your previous activity.

 

[DWalt]

The big battle is beginning between Amazon and Wal-Mart as to who will dominate internet sales. Wal-Mart seems to be making large strides there. They currently offer many items on their website which they do not carry in their stores, and they also offer free shipping to stores where purchasers can pick them up, something Amazon cannot do.

I well remember the days when Sears had catalog stores in smaller towns where you went in and ordered what you wanted from the Sears catalog. You could do the same thing in regular Sears stores if what you wanted was not stocked in the store. No store could carry everything in the Sears catalog.

 

[muddocktor]

You know GB, I've been saying for at least 15-20 years now that if Sears had held on with the catalog stores for a few more years and let the internet grow up a little bit, they had the best chance of becoming their version of Amazon.com. They already had a country-wide distribution setup with their catalog stores and back then they still had quality products being sold under their name brands. You could have gone on Sears.com, shopped like with the catalog, ordered and had it shipped to your catalog store in your home town. Instead, they shut down all the catalog stores and concentrated their business in high overhead large retail stores which even back them were on their way out. Heck, by 1995 the internet was growing by leaps and bounds and internet sales were a viable proposition. So, by shutting down the catalog stores and the catalog down only 2 years earlier, Sears laid the format for their demise.

 

[walkinghorse]

Regarding the previous posts, some very good comments and thoughts made.
The American business model has always been, instantaneous profits, immediate goals, and to heck with the long term. No downturns allowed.
Another issue is to bring in a big name to run the business, even if the name doesn't know the particular business they are now running. They did it elsewhere, so they can do it here. Then give the big name a BIG salary, and/or BIG stock options, and above all else a BIG BIG Golden Parachute if they are removed for cause or for any reason! Make sure the company Board Of Directors is stacked with highly paid people, whose only involvement for their money is to show up for a Directors meeting, with all expenses paid. Etc., Etc.

 

[Watchdog]

One of my simple pleasures back in the early eighties into the early nineties was looking through the Christmas catalog from L. L. Bean and ordering my winter wardrobe. Twenty-odd years later, I'm still wearing some of their flannel-lined hurricane cloth shirts that I bought back then.

Even though it was really just a mail-order catalog, there seemed to be an almost tactile feel to the photographs of the clothes. And the snowy scenes and Christmas decorations went a long way in reinforcing my love of Winter and the outdoors.

Ordering online is quick and easy now, but like so many other things from bygone days, it just isn't the same any more.

 

[ancient-one]

In the Depression Days they were the poor mans toilet tissue. They also provided reading to help you forget about the cold and heat. I am glad those days are gone.

 

[DWalt]

There have been many business school case studies written about all the the blunders committed by Sears.

 

[hostler]

I get upset whenever I think about Sears. Sears was THE store to get anything when I grew up, I used to love going there with my dad.
Sears really dropped the ball on the whole internet thing.They already had a thriving and well established catalog business, delivering orders to either their stores or homes or businesses. It would've been a piece of cake to transition from written catalog to digital, and be the first store to do it. What a shame, they missed it all together.

 

[pharmer]

Sears used to stand for quality. We had Kenmore washer and dryers that lasted a quarter of a century. Craftsman tools had "no questions asked" lifetime warranty that was infrequently used. My dad bought a 2hp electric edger and an air compressor that I'm still using regularly. He died in Jan of 1996. Joe

 

[DWalt]

When I was a kid, the Sears store was the main place in town to buy guns and ammunition, closely followed by Montgomery Wards. After those were two hardware stores and one pawn shop, but they didn't stock much of a selection. The pawn shop as I remember sold only what they took in. MW also sold some milsurps, but Sears didn't.

 

[photoman]

Sears used to stand for quality. We had Kenmore washer and dryers that lasted a quarter of a century. Craftsman tools had "no questions asked" lifetime warranty that was infrequently used. My dad bought a 2hp electric edger and an air compressor that I'm still using regularly. Joe

...and that's why nobody sells quality any more.

Sell a quality product that will last for generations and put yourself out of business due to lack of demand for your product.

 

[pawngal]

Sears/Kenmore as been my "go to" for home appliances for 50 years.
Still have a "Hometown Sears" store. For how Long? who knows.

 

[Watchdog]

The old Sears store in town was less than a mile from my house as a kid. Went there a lot with dad, then more often when my friends and I were old enough to go by ourselves...we'd walk, of course.

The store was actually two buildings. One for the "department store stuff" and the other for automotive, appliance, and gardening items...actually across the street from the main store. It was still set up that way when I was a teenager...I got a part-time job there selling Christmas trees when I was 15-years-old. They made me wear a shirt and tie. Thought I was something, too.

Going with dad, I remember downstairs there was a guns and hunting department. I remember seeing 1911s in display cases for sale...course at six-years-old, I didn't know they were 1911s.

The store had the best toy department. Permanent setups of Lionel and American Flyer trains. Cap pistols and BB guns galore. You could get a quarter-pound of those little Spanish peanuts for a dime...came in a little red and white striped bag. Hot and salty, couldn't beat 'em.

Even when Sears stores moved outward into area malls, they remained popular, also became a bit more upscale.

It's kinda hard to believe that most Sears stores are only a memory now.

 

[muddocktor]

pawngal, you do know that most all the present "Kenmore" brand appliances are now made in China by foreign companies, right? AFAIK, none of the Kenmore products are now made by Whirlpool any more.

 

[Watchdog]

Sears used to stand for quality. We had Kenmore washer and dryers that lasted a quarter of a century. Craftsman tools had "no questions asked" lifetime warranty that was infrequently used. My dad bought a 2hp electric edger and an air compressor that I'm still using regularly. He died in Jan of 1996. Joe

My dad bought a Craftsman 100-foot garden hose from Sears...one of those heavy duty black ones. Twenty-odd years later, it sprung a leak. Dad coiled it up, took it back, and they gave him a new one no questions asked.

 

[pawngal]

pawngal, you do know that most all the present "Kenmore" brand appliances are now made in China by foreign companies, right? AFAIK, none of the Kenmore products are now made by Whirlpool any more.

Mine are are older. What appliances are truly "Made in America"?
Maybe Maytag, Sub-Zero. GE, Whirlpool??

 

[Iggy]

I hated the Sears Catalog. They were made out of John Wayne paper. They din't take **** off of nobody.

Besides that, my Mom always tore out the "interesting pages" before she took it out to the two holer out back.

 

[susieqz]

sears no longer even tries.
i ordered some appliances/ .
they charged my card instantly.
after a month i started complaining.
there was no native english speaker to talk to.
i was shunted from department to department
after 6 weeks, u had my bank dispute the charges/
when i told sears to cancel, they said i couldn't since
the items were on the way.
after weeks longer, they refunded my money.
all i can think is they wanted to use my money for 2 months interest free.

 

[pharmer]

...Sell a quality product that will last for generations and put yourself out of business due to lack of demand for your product.

That almost sounds like a bad thing, maybe. Joe

 

[mtgianni]

You know GB, I've been saying for at least 15-20 years now that if Sears had held on with the catalog stores for a few more years and let the internet grow up a little bit, they had the best chance of becoming their version of Amazon.com. They already had a country-wide distribution setup with their catalog stores and back then they still had quality products being sold under their name brands. You could have gone on Sears.com, shopped like with the catalog, ordered and had it shipped to your catalog store in your home town. Instead, they shut down all the catalog stores and concentrated their business in high overhead large retail stores which even back them were on their way out. Heck, by 1995 the internet was growing by leaps and bounds and internet sales were a viable proposition. So, by shutting down the catalog stores and the catalog down only 2 years earlier, Sears laid the format for their demise.

Sears Execs had grown up with the idea of commissioned sales making more sales and could not grasp the concept that people might know what they wanted. Selling a warranty, income #2, was thought of as another loss that would occur.