re: #163 lawhawk

There are two Sears department stores in Northern NJ. Both are being shuttered and turned into something else.

Sears is a wasteland thanks to the incompetence of a billionaire owner whose views on running a business involve profiting from layoffs and selling off parts to others, and then watching his own value diminish because he’s wasted away whatever value was left.

Destroy brands like Lands End, Craftsman, and Kenmore. Hope that selling the real estate will cover his costs, and maintain his net worth (it hasn’t).

It’s a circle the drain situation, and JC Penney is doing pretty much the same thing.

It didn’t have to be that way. Both companies were industry leaders in mail order, and they completely overlooked the Internet. Had they taken to the internet quickly, they would have had the edge on Amazon because they already had the distribution chain to do everything from same day service to handling durable good sales.

Sears, Pennys, & K-Mart will be the next generations “What NOT to do to Succeed In Business!” touchstones. A close second would be Borders Books.