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> Sears' customer service has been terrible for a couple decades, but [...] was great in its heyday. Wouldn't "worse customer service" be the change that allow
by jakelazaroff 8y ago
> Sears' customer service has been terrible for a couple decades, but [...] was great in its heyday.
Wouldn't "worse customer service" be the change that allowed other retailers to eat Sears' lunch, then? You say Sears' clientele were not willing to pay a premium for whatever extra Sears was offering, but by your own words they haven't actually offered anything premium for a long time.
More expensive and better is a viable value prop; more expensive and worse is not.
- lotsofpulp 8y agoYes, but I think it takes a while to switch a company's atmosphere, and they also have or had a ton of defined benefit pension liabilities on the books that other retailers didn't. Sears catered to the giant American middle class, and while I'm sure that mismanagement was a huge part of its demise, I also think the declining spending power of the American middle class also contributed.