)re: #355 Marsupial

Hey, the name can be the most valuable part of a business. I think it would take a bunch of warehouses full of merchandise to equal the value of the name Sears. (Some Chinese online gray-market retailer is going to have to pony up some big bucks for that name!)

I’d agree; the Sears name is still a valuable asset. Face it, Sears is an icon of not only retailing, but Americana as well. Sears is largely responsible for creating - and fulfilling - the dreams and aspirations of the middle class. They were, through their real estate holdings in the 1950’s and 60s, one of the drivers of the suburban shopping mall.

In the year I was born (1969), they were the largest retailer in the world, with well over 300,000 employees. They constructed Sears Tower (now Willis Tower, though I’m sure most Chicagoans still call it “Sears Tower”) which itself is an iconic American building.