While I've read the various arguments over the last year or so about how Sears really wasn't terribly mismanaged by Eddie Lambert, the dingus who bought it and K-Mart in the mid-2000s, I continue to believe that he bears a huge share of responsibility for the company's collapse.
Yes, brick-and-mortar retail is in trouble. Yes, all department stores are in various stages of decline. But Sears fell very hard and very fast, and made uniquely terrible decisions like "we don't need to invest in infrastructure and upkeep because we have a great loyalty program" and "our various departments will do better if we make them fight one another for ever-decreasing resources" and "hey, we'll make some quick short-term profit if we sell off our world-famous captive brands like Kenmore, Craftsman, and Diehard that have literally brought people into our stores for decades."
Sears should really be in at least as good shape as competitors like Dillard's, Nordstrom's, Best Buy, or even Macy's -- the latter of which is arguably not in good shape, but for all their faults, they haven't been doing the corporate equivalent of bashing themselves in the face with a big rock for ten years.
Yes, brick-and-mortar retail is in trouble. Yes, all department stores are in various stages of decline. But Sears fell very hard and very fast, and made uniquely terrible decisions like "we don't need to invest in infrastructure and upkeep because we have a great loyalty program" and "our various departments will do better if we make them fight one another for ever-decreasing resources" and "hey, we'll make some quick short-term profit if we sell off our world-famous captive brands like Kenmore, Craftsman, and Diehard that have literally brought people into our stores for decades."
Sears should really be in at least as good shape as competitors like Dillard's, Nordstrom's, Best Buy, or even Macy's -- the latter of which is arguably not in good shape, but for all their faults, they haven't been doing the corporate equivalent of bashing themselves in the face with a big rock for ten years.