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fujiyamasan

(1,216 posts)

28. A series of bad decisions made over the span of decades

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Sun Dec 28, 2025, 07:34 AM

Dec 28

Had they played their cards right they could have dominated or at least been a major player in online retail and e commerce. Back in the early ‘80s they co owned Prodigy (pre AOL). It includes a lot of what AOL would later feature including online shopping.

I’m not sure how they didn’t capitalize on that. I’ve read they never invested adequately in IT and when they did it was too little, too late.

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Sears on verge of fading away after closing more than 3,000 stores [View all] Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Dec 27 OP

I find it incredibly sad. hlthe2b Dec 27 #1

I loved the sears catalog UpInArms Dec 27 #2

one bathrm in house, yikes! msongs Dec 27 #11

Trust me you can survive 😄 zeusdogmom Dec 27 #23

We had 5 in the house with 1 bathroom, dad would be in there dem4decades Dec 28 #33

Most houses had only one bathroom until maybe the '60s. Ocelot II Dec 28 #34

Sears was a victim of bad management Keepthesoulalive Dec 27 #3

You Ain't Kidding! ProfessorGAC Dec 28 #41

I worked for Sears when I was moniss Dec 27 #4

When we were first married (dinosaurs still roamed the earth), Sears was where you went to get everything. Vinca Dec 27 #5

Same here. We bought appliances, tools and housewares there until the mid-80s. Ocelot II Dec 28 #35

Funny, I was thinking about this again and it occurred to me that when I was a teenager, I'm pretty sure Vinca Dec 28 #37

We bought a lot of Craftsman tools, which was Sears' store brand. Ocelot II Dec 28 #39

The acquisition by K Mart was not a very good idea MichMan Dec 27 #6

Was Kmart sandbagged with a goal in mind? bucolic_frolic Dec 27 #7

Lampert Lost A Few Hundred Million.... ProfessorGAC Dec 28 #42

General Motors UpInArms Dec 27 #17

Some of us may remember using a outhouse with a Sears catalog Kaleva Dec 27 #8

Sear grew into a marketing suburban powerhouse after WWII bucolic_frolic Dec 27 #9

Sears should have been looking Greg_In_SF Dec 27 #10

Yep, they had everything in place to give them a leg up on it misanthrope Dec 27 #15

Yup. Sears should have been Amazon. Captain Stern Dec 28 #25

I just read yesterday that they co owned Prodigy back in the day along with IBM fujiyamasan Dec 28 #26

Wasn't it Sears that had the Ayn Rand-worshipping dickhead CEO Aristus Dec 27 #12

That's makes no business sense to me JI7 Dec 27 #14

Or to anyone else with a functioning brain. Aristus Dec 27 #19

Eddie Lampert fujiyamasan Dec 28 #27

Also asking how they can be a CEO anywhere after blowing it. The Madcap Dec 28 #31

Didn't they go out of business a few years ago ? JI7 Dec 27 #13

I sure thought so. News to me. B.See Dec 27 #16

Sears did themselves in. I recalled when I worked for JCPenney's, that Sears, the opposite anchor store in our local SWBTATTReg Dec 27 #18

The Sears Christmas Catelog was the boomers Google Norbert Dec 27 #20

Loved that. maveric Dec 28 #43

Sears holiday portraits were a tradition Danmel Dec 27 #21

I thought they already went out of business. Jacson6 Dec 27 #22

Sears went down not to one bad decision... Xolodno Dec 27 #24

A series of bad decisions made over the span of decades fujiyamasan Dec 28 #28

Sears catalogs were... BH liberal Dec 28 #29

I had no idea they still existed. GoCubsGo Dec 28 #30

Successful thriving public companies don't sell out to vulture capitalists MichMan Dec 28 #32

Don't forget the Trump connection.... LPBBEAR Dec 28 #36

Fascinating! Sears Roebuck & Co. Changed How America Shopped MineralMan Dec 28 #38

It's really sad and it didn't have to be this way. They were intentionally gutted and destroyed themaguffin Dec 28 #40