11 ms·

I doubt it's purposeful - more just that retail in the Amazon era is difficult and he has demonstrated no particular talent or qualifications for running such a

I doubt it's purposeful - more just that retail in the Amazon era is difficult and he has demonstrated no particular talent or qualifications for running such a business. He used to get talked up as the next Warren Buffett, but I don't really think his skills as an investor have held up to scrutiny either.

goshab 8y ago
I thought it was widely known he was doing some longterm liquidation of Sears’ assets, specifically their real estate and top brands.
- aczerepinski 8y ago
  I think the original plan was to use Sears to acquire more top brands, not sell them off. He made a failed bid for Restoration Hardware early on, and talked about building a portfolio of strong all-American brands. The liquidation strategy was a reaction to his plan failing as far as I'm aware. In the early years all the talk was on building a bigger conglomerate, possibly using Sears "super valuable" real estate to fuel it. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-11-21/the-next-warren-buffett https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-11-21/the-next-...
fhood 8y ago
1. Invest in online retail services 2. Invest in nostalgia brands like Craftsman, that can't be purchased on amazon, and come with a built in consumer base. 3. Use previously considerable resources to position yourself as the best place to shop for X product, and make sure that several brands of X product are only available through you. 4. Still probably fail, but at least it looks like you tried.
- harryh 8y ago
  re #2: Craftsman 450-Piece Mechanic's Tool Set https://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-450-Piece-Mechanics-Tool-Set/dp/B077BW8S66/ https://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-450-Piece-Mechanics-Tool-Se...
  - ericd 8y ago
    IIRC they sold the Craftsman brand off for some short term cash.
  - fhood 8y ago
    Owned by renowned bastions of quality black and decker now.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      To be fair, so is Dewalt, and that doesn't seem to have hurt their reputation.
      - FireBeyond 8y ago
        Out of curiosity, as someone who is looking to have on hand some quality tools, who would you recommend?
        mywittyname 8y ago
        Bosch is good quality and they go on sale on Amazon occasionally. I have an 18v drill, impact wrench, circular saw, sawsall, and jig saw from them and they are all top-notch. The only one I don't love is the circular saw, but that's mainly because battery powered ones are just not as good as corded.
        emodendroket 8y ago
        I've always looked at Dewalt if I wanted something nice, but I usually buy the cheap Ryobi tool and only think about replacing it if it's not meeting my needs. Easy to spend more than you need to on tools as a home owner.
        fhood 8y ago
        There are a ton of options as far as tools are concerned, and it really depends on frequency and type of use. For most people, cheap stuff is fine. Harbor Freight is far less "disposable" than people make it out to be, and tons of professionals happily use their tools. (No, really. Go visit your local mechanic or machinist. It is pretty likely they have that one 12in disk sander, if nothing else) If you want to spend money, DeWalt and Milwaukee are still the industry standards, and I think that reputation is deserved. I've had pretty much exclusively positive experiences with their performance and longevity. One thing to remember is that a cheap drill with a good bit is often going to outperform a good drill with a cheap bit. So it is worth spending a little extra on that sort of things, particularly if you see yourself working with metal at all. Also, get some type of Dremel or similar. One of the most useful tools when you don't really have the correct tool for the job.
- thrower123 8y ago
  Craftsman used to be valuable, because they had a strong reputation and a rock-solid replacement policy. That's no longer the case, and you're better off spending less money for Harbor Freight tools that are now good quality and fully warrantied.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    Craftsman used to fill a void. It was for the home hobbyist who needed something that would last, but wasn't as expensive as snap-on or bluepoint. Now if I'm looking at craftsman, I'm either going to an estate sale to buy older items, or I'm going to harbor freight for a disposable. There doesn't seem to be a company to fill that home hobbyist niche anymore.
    - jdironman 8y ago
      Until now. Introducing my new line: 'Craft Harbor'
    - radiorental 8y ago
      Hazard Fraught is moving up the food chain in a number of tool lines. They're definitely filling that void. The business model appears to be to sell reasonable quality tools and nail consumers with low quality consumables. I avoid HF if I can but their new line of welders is getting rave reviews at a 1/4 the price of the American brands. At this point, I would buy HF over Crapsman.
      - Loughla 8y ago
        Honestly, I avoided harbor freight for anything unless I knew I was going to destroy whatever it was in short order. I now have a woodshop full of HF clamps that carry a better warranty than bessey and work just as well. I also have the HF wood lathe that is super cheap for the quality.
        hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
        At Harbor Freight, every Indian-made tool I've used has been junk (wrenches). Every Chinese-made product has been acceptable to good. Every Taiwanese- and American-made (yes, they have a few!) product has been excellent. The chrome and stamping on the sockets is every bit as good as my ~2000 era Craftsman sockets, and far better than the last Craftsman tool I bought around '07.
- cpeterso 8y ago
  Best Buy's retail stores have been surprisingly successful. Sears can probably learn some lessons from Best Buy. Turn your competitor's strength into a weakness, e.g. people want to see and try big appliances before they buy them. You can do that at Best Buy and Sears, not Amazon.
FLUX-YOU 8y ago
>more just that retail in the Amazon era is difficult and he has demonstrated no particular talent or qualifications for running such a business "Right, I'm smart enough to realize that Amazon will crush us, and I can't outsmart Bezos, so why not enrich myself, say fuck the world, and go retire with a cool billion?"
- jonnycomputer 8y ago
  I would have no problem with this if so many people didn't get hurt along the way, losing jobs, pensions, and so on.
  - acct1771 8y ago
    Where do you think the billions come from?
nradov 8y ago
The irony is that Sears could have been Amazon themselves. They already had all the necessary pieces. But they didn't even bother to try.
- lacker 8y ago
  In a sense Sears was the Amazon of 100 years ago. They started life in the 1800's as a mail-order catalog, when the communication and distribution technology of the time had just become advanced enough to make mail-order a possibility. Like Amazon, they only opened physical stores decades after they started as a company. It's pretty hard to ride all the business trends correctly for over 100 years so I forgive Sears for missing out on the internet.
  - fhbdukfrh 8y ago
    Indeed it's hard to stay on top, but missing the internet killed them, so i wouldn't go so far as forgiving them. They had the better part of 20 years to adjust to the new reality but just kept plugging along with dirty, inefficient retail stores poorly stocked and staffed. How could the same company that sold mail order houses a 100 years ago look at selling over the internet in the late 1990's and say "nah, it will never work - it's just too crazy"?
    - ericd 8y ago
      Is any company the "same company" after 100 years? That's like 4-5 generations of people.
  - phlakaton 8y ago
    It still blows my mind that you could buy an entire house from Sears through their catalog, and many people did. And not just a mobile home or shed either – we're talking full-on bungalows and multi-story residences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog_Home https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog_Home
    - mywittyname 8y ago
hef19898 8y ago
That's what I wonder, so. Is it really that difficult? Amazon is opening brick and mortar stores, invested in whole foods and is constantly increasing its logistics food print with all the clst zhat comes along. All traditional retailers need to do is getting some kind of e-commerce unit up and running and we are looking at mich more level playing field. After all, every single exiating store can, by all means, be considered a fulfillment center as well. And from that perspective traditional retails geographic coverage is not bad at all. No idea why most fail to do so. Walmart being the exception having bought jet.com (?). After all Amazon is making the majority of its profits from AWS.

goshab 8y ago

I thought it was widely known he was doing some longterm liquidation of Sears’ assets, specifically their real estate and top brands.

aczerepinski 8y ago
I think the original plan was to use Sears to acquire more top brands, not sell them off. He made a failed bid for Restoration Hardware early on, and talked about building a portfolio of strong all-American brands. The liquidation strategy was a reaction to his plan failing as far as I'm aware. In the early years all the talk was on building a bigger conglomerate, possibly using Sears "super valuable" real estate to fuel it. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-11-21/the-next-warren-buffett https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-11-21/the-next-...

fhood 8y ago

1. Invest in online retail services 2. Invest in nostalgia brands like Craftsman, that can't be purchased on amazon, and come with a built in consumer base. 3. Use previously considerable resources to position yourself as the best place to shop for X product, and make sure that several brands of X product are only available through you. 4. Still probably fail, but at least it looks like you tried.

harryh 8y ago
re #2: Craftsman 450-Piece Mechanic's Tool Set https://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-450-Piece-Mechanics-Tool-Set/dp/B077BW8S66/ https://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-450-Piece-Mechanics-Tool-Se...
- ericd 8y ago
  IIRC they sold the Craftsman brand off for some short term cash.
- fhood 8y ago
  Owned by renowned bastions of quality black and decker now.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    To be fair, so is Dewalt, and that doesn't seem to have hurt their reputation.
    - FireBeyond 8y ago
      Out of curiosity, as someone who is looking to have on hand some quality tools, who would you recommend?
      - mywittyname 8y ago
        Bosch is good quality and they go on sale on Amazon occasionally. I have an 18v drill, impact wrench, circular saw, sawsall, and jig saw from them and they are all top-notch. The only one I don't love is the circular saw, but that's mainly because battery powered ones are just not as good as corded.
      - emodendroket 8y ago
        I've always looked at Dewalt if I wanted something nice, but I usually buy the cheap Ryobi tool and only think about replacing it if it's not meeting my needs. Easy to spend more than you need to on tools as a home owner.
      - fhood 8y ago
        There are a ton of options as far as tools are concerned, and it really depends on frequency and type of use. For most people, cheap stuff is fine. Harbor Freight is far less "disposable" than people make it out to be, and tons of professionals happily use their tools. (No, really. Go visit your local mechanic or machinist. It is pretty likely they have that one 12in disk sander, if nothing else) If you want to spend money, DeWalt and Milwaukee are still the industry standards, and I think that reputation is deserved. I've had pretty much exclusively positive experiences with their performance and longevity. One thing to remember is that a cheap drill with a good bit is often going to outperform a good drill with a cheap bit. So it is worth spending a little extra on that sort of things, particularly if you see yourself working with metal at all. Also, get some type of Dremel or similar. One of the most useful tools when you don't really have the correct tool for the job.
thrower123 8y ago
Craftsman used to be valuable, because they had a strong reputation and a rock-solid replacement policy. That's no longer the case, and you're better off spending less money for Harbor Freight tools that are now good quality and fully warrantied.
- Loughla 8y ago
  Craftsman used to fill a void. It was for the home hobbyist who needed something that would last, but wasn't as expensive as snap-on or bluepoint. Now if I'm looking at craftsman, I'm either going to an estate sale to buy older items, or I'm going to harbor freight for a disposable. There doesn't seem to be a company to fill that home hobbyist niche anymore.
  - jdironman 8y ago
    Until now. Introducing my new line: 'Craft Harbor'
  - radiorental 8y ago
    Hazard Fraught is moving up the food chain in a number of tool lines. They're definitely filling that void. The business model appears to be to sell reasonable quality tools and nail consumers with low quality consumables. I avoid HF if I can but their new line of welders is getting rave reviews at a 1/4 the price of the American brands. At this point, I would buy HF over Crapsman.
    - Loughla 8y ago
      Honestly, I avoided harbor freight for anything unless I knew I was going to destroy whatever it was in short order. I now have a woodshop full of HF clamps that carry a better warranty than bessey and work just as well. I also have the HF wood lathe that is super cheap for the quality.
      - hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
        At Harbor Freight, every Indian-made tool I've used has been junk (wrenches). Every Chinese-made product has been acceptable to good. Every Taiwanese- and American-made (yes, they have a few!) product has been excellent. The chrome and stamping on the sockets is every bit as good as my ~2000 era Craftsman sockets, and far better than the last Craftsman tool I bought around '07.
cpeterso 8y ago
Best Buy's retail stores have been surprisingly successful. Sears can probably learn some lessons from Best Buy. Turn your competitor's strength into a weakness, e.g. people want to see and try big appliances before they buy them. You can do that at Best Buy and Sears, not Amazon.

FLUX-YOU 8y ago

>more just that retail in the Amazon era is difficult and he has demonstrated no particular talent or qualifications for running such a business "Right, I'm smart enough to realize that Amazon will crush us, and I can't outsmart Bezos, so why not enrich myself, say fuck the world, and go retire with a cool billion?"

jonnycomputer 8y ago
I would have no problem with this if so many people didn't get hurt along the way, losing jobs, pensions, and so on.
- acct1771 8y ago
  Where do you think the billions come from?

nradov 8y ago

The irony is that Sears could have been Amazon themselves. They already had all the necessary pieces. But they didn't even bother to try.

lacker 8y ago
In a sense Sears was the Amazon of 100 years ago. They started life in the 1800's as a mail-order catalog, when the communication and distribution technology of the time had just become advanced enough to make mail-order a possibility. Like Amazon, they only opened physical stores decades after they started as a company. It's pretty hard to ride all the business trends correctly for over 100 years so I forgive Sears for missing out on the internet.
- fhbdukfrh 8y ago
  Indeed it's hard to stay on top, but missing the internet killed them, so i wouldn't go so far as forgiving them. They had the better part of 20 years to adjust to the new reality but just kept plugging along with dirty, inefficient retail stores poorly stocked and staffed. How could the same company that sold mail order houses a 100 years ago look at selling over the internet in the late 1990's and say "nah, it will never work - it's just too crazy"?
  - ericd 8y ago
    Is any company the "same company" after 100 years? That's like 4-5 generations of people.
- phlakaton 8y ago
  It still blows my mind that you could buy an entire house from Sears through their catalog, and many people did. And not just a mobile home or shed either – we're talking full-on bungalows and multi-story residences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog_Home https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog_Home
  - mywittyname 8y ago

hef19898 8y ago

That's what I wonder, so. Is it really that difficult? Amazon is opening brick and mortar stores, invested in whole foods and is constantly increasing its logistics food print with all the clst zhat comes along. All traditional retailers need to do is getting some kind of e-commerce unit up and running and we are looking at mich more level playing field. After all, every single exiating store can, by all means, be considered a fulfillment center as well. And from that perspective traditional retails geographic coverage is not bad at all. No idea why most fail to do so. Walmart being the exception having bought jet.com (?). After all Amazon is making the majority of its profits from AWS.