You had to be there. And I was. It’s kind of hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s stores like Sears were magical places. They were places that had everything you needed all right in front of you, presented in a friendly way. You could walk into one store and get a hammer, a pair of pants, and even get your picture taken or get a pair of glasses. We have stores like Walmart and Target today, of course, but Sears was different. Sears was full service. It wasn’t just go to a rack and hope they have your size. There were people there, real people who were really there to help. And your feeling was that you needed those real people because honestly, there was so much stuff there that you needed help finding it.
If you want to know how Sears looked and felt in 1977, go to YouTube. I don’t know what we’d do without this repository of everything from our past– take a look at one family’s journey, presumably from their home movies:
R.W. Sears and A.C. Roebuck started a mail-order company in 1893 to help people who didn’t have large stores in their hometowns. Unless you were in a big city, chances are there wasn’t a retailer who could get you what you need. Back then it was common for traveling salespeople to come into town with a small stock and that’s about what you could hope for.
To say that the Sears catalog was a disruptor is putting it mildly. It became one of the first mega-businesses, ever. There was a time when it was referred to as the “consumer’s bible” and that’s no exaggeration. Sears sold everything for your home. In fact, they sold homes! You could buy a pre-cut, pre-packaged set of materials along with blueprints from Sears, and a lot of folks did. Take a look at this catalog of Sears Modern Homes. Chances are you’ve seen these houses in your city or town. All this stuff would just show up and you would build it yourself!
Sears didn’t have retail stores until 1925. Before that they operated “catalog showrooms” where you could look at some of the products and order what you wanted right then and there. You didn’t take anything home with you, you ordered and waited. I don’t know if there are any of these left anymore but I do know of one that was still out there in the 1990s. It was kind of weird actually.
Long story short, Sears kept growing and growing through the 1970s when this video was shot. They were everywhere. They had everything including some of the largest buildings in the world. It seemed like nothing would stop Sears.
Here’s the part of the story most of us know already. By the 1980s, Walmart was expanding throughout the country. There were self-service department stores before Walmart, of course. Most of them are mere memories now, though, since Walmart’s vertical integration and aggressive price cutting put most out of business. Walmart offered products very similar in quality to Sears’, but at lower prices. They did this by cutting out most of the customer service. It seemed like a good deal at the time. If I knew then what I know now, I might not have felt the same way.
Sears made a series of missteps throughout the last 40 years in the name of trying to salvage itself. They expanded into internet service, financial service, and other niches. They opened smaller, more focused stores as well as stores that mimicked Walmart’s discount approach. They tried it all, but in the end Sears lost the battle of public perception. They never progressed past the view people had of them in the 1970s, and that made them seem dated.
Apparently somewhere in the country there are still 10 Sears operating out there. I don’t know where, as my local Sears shut down sometime around 2017. I hadn’t been there in years, as it had become nothing but a depressing shadow of its former greatness.
I see the real benefit in Sears’ customer service approach. Their service was never as good as the top department stores like Bullocks or Jordan Marsh, but they offered a dignified and fun way to shop that average people could afford. There aren’t that many companies that offer great customer service anymore. I’m glad to work at one of them. Don’t believe me? Call 888-233-7563 and let us take care of you.
The post FUN FRIDAY: A trip back to Sears appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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If you want to know how Sears looked and felt in 1977, go to YouTube. I don’t know what we’d do without this repository of everything from our past– take a look at one family’s journey, presumably from their home movies:
The rise of Sears
R.W. Sears and A.C. Roebuck started a mail-order company in 1893 to help people who didn’t have large stores in their hometowns. Unless you were in a big city, chances are there wasn’t a retailer who could get you what you need. Back then it was common for traveling salespeople to come into town with a small stock and that’s about what you could hope for.
To say that the Sears catalog was a disruptor is putting it mildly. It became one of the first mega-businesses, ever. There was a time when it was referred to as the “consumer’s bible” and that’s no exaggeration. Sears sold everything for your home. In fact, they sold homes! You could buy a pre-cut, pre-packaged set of materials along with blueprints from Sears, and a lot of folks did. Take a look at this catalog of Sears Modern Homes. Chances are you’ve seen these houses in your city or town. All this stuff would just show up and you would build it yourself!
Sears didn’t have retail stores until 1925. Before that they operated “catalog showrooms” where you could look at some of the products and order what you wanted right then and there. You didn’t take anything home with you, you ordered and waited. I don’t know if there are any of these left anymore but I do know of one that was still out there in the 1990s. It was kind of weird actually.
Long story short, Sears kept growing and growing through the 1970s when this video was shot. They were everywhere. They had everything including some of the largest buildings in the world. It seemed like nothing would stop Sears.
The fall of Sears
Here’s the part of the story most of us know already. By the 1980s, Walmart was expanding throughout the country. There were self-service department stores before Walmart, of course. Most of them are mere memories now, though, since Walmart’s vertical integration and aggressive price cutting put most out of business. Walmart offered products very similar in quality to Sears’, but at lower prices. They did this by cutting out most of the customer service. It seemed like a good deal at the time. If I knew then what I know now, I might not have felt the same way.
Sears made a series of missteps throughout the last 40 years in the name of trying to salvage itself. They expanded into internet service, financial service, and other niches. They opened smaller, more focused stores as well as stores that mimicked Walmart’s discount approach. They tried it all, but in the end Sears lost the battle of public perception. They never progressed past the view people had of them in the 1970s, and that made them seem dated.
Apparently somewhere in the country there are still 10 Sears operating out there. I don’t know where, as my local Sears shut down sometime around 2017. I hadn’t been there in years, as it had become nothing but a depressing shadow of its former greatness.
As I get older though…
I see the real benefit in Sears’ customer service approach. Their service was never as good as the top department stores like Bullocks or Jordan Marsh, but they offered a dignified and fun way to shop that average people could afford. There aren’t that many companies that offer great customer service anymore. I’m glad to work at one of them. Don’t believe me? Call 888-233-7563 and let us take care of you.
The post FUN FRIDAY: A trip back to Sears appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
