In SEARS case… just going back to what they originally did. They were Amazon before the internet. You got a catalog in the mail, sent in your order and payment, and they would ship you the product. It’s literally the exact same business. It’s not even like Amazon came out of nowhere to be as big as it is today, it was on a clear trajectory, at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
It’s not even that, they could’ve easily kept their store locations. They just needed to move their catalog online and it would’ve been a done deal.
There are a couple of stores that I have seen that used to be brick and mortar or catalog based and made the transition to online but their website is terrible.
McMaster-Carr comes to mind. I’m never really sure if I have found the part I’m looking for whenever I shop on their website.
Maybe it’s a skill issue, sure, but online shopping should not require an onboarding process.
I think McMaster’s transition from catalog to website is brilliant. I’ve had younger crew be amazed when I gave them an old catalog; like keep it in the break room and flip through it while looking at McMaster on their phone.
I do wonder why they kept the black and white pictures.
I still have Craftsman tools I bought in the '80s, and some I inherited from my Dad. My only complaint is whatever they made some of the old screwdriver handles out of has degraded ever-so-slightly and off-gassed something that makes my toolbox smell like somebody puked in it. No idea what’s up with that…
Man, I’ve smelled tool boxes with that vomit smell and always wondered wtf that was. The most recent one was one my ex inherited from her grandfather. We could not get the smell out.
Books-A-Million and Barnes & nobles have one advantage, people that really like books like picking up the books and looking at them. It also helps that you can usually get coffee and read your acquisitions and there are board games and all sorts of things that they sell to kind of balance out the mix.
Sears and Kmart are such great examples of not evolving with the times.
In SEARS case… just going back to what they originally did. They were Amazon before the internet. You got a catalog in the mail, sent in your order and payment, and they would ship you the product. It’s literally the exact same business. It’s not even like Amazon came out of nowhere to be as big as it is today, it was on a clear trajectory, at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
It’s not even that, they could’ve easily kept their store locations. They just needed to move their catalog online and it would’ve been a done deal.
If they had come up with a good interface.
There are a couple of stores that I have seen that used to be brick and mortar or catalog based and made the transition to online but their website is terrible.
McMaster-Carr comes to mind. I’m never really sure if I have found the part I’m looking for whenever I shop on their website.
Maybe it’s a skill issue, sure, but online shopping should not require an onboarding process.
I think McMaster’s transition from catalog to website is brilliant. I’ve had younger crew be amazed when I gave them an old catalog; like keep it in the break room and flip through it while looking at McMaster on their phone.
I do wonder why they kept the black and white pictures.
McMaster-carr is amazing for technical parts. I love it.
They were sabotaged. Toys R us too.
Yeah I thought it was corporate raiding and massive leverage that killed them. Like most success name brands that made it to the 80s.
Bain Capital was well known for that kind of bullshit.
Fuck Bain capital. Read so much scummy stuff done by them.
“Internet shopping is just a fad!”
Ridiculous when they were already known for *catalog shopping
Yet every 3rd garage in North America has Craftsman tools
In Canada we have Mastercraft tools.
Sold by our lovingly pet named Crappy Tire stores (Canadian Tire)
That’s a friendlier name than I usually hear
Do tell.
Crappy tire is what my dad used to call it.
He also called McDonald’s ‘choke n puke’.
Not that creative: Shitty Tire
I still have Craftsman tools I bought in the '80s, and some I inherited from my Dad. My only complaint is whatever they made some of the old screwdriver handles out of has degraded ever-so-slightly and off-gassed something that makes my toolbox smell like somebody puked in it. No idea what’s up with that…
Man, I’ve smelled tool boxes with that vomit smell and always wondered wtf that was. The most recent one was one my ex inherited from her grandfather. We could not get the smell out.
Mastercraft has similar quality. Some great stuff for the average joe
Great, I always wondered if a dog or kid hit my toolbox at some point and how it keeps smelling after decades
Tbf, Craftsman is owned by Stanley Black and Decker (though only since 2017)
Also funny to point out Sears and Kmart as not adapting to the times since they merged in 2005 (like a dinosaur merging with a Neanderthal…)
I honestly thought B&N would join them 10 years ago. I’m amazed that they managed to hang on
Books-A-Million and Barnes & nobles have one advantage, people that really like books like picking up the books and looking at them. It also helps that you can usually get coffee and read your acquisitions and there are board games and all sorts of things that they sell to kind of balance out the mix.