Insights and Learnings from the Fall of a Retail Empire  

Retailers are having a tough time lately (with a few exceptions), but some have struggled longer than others. One of the most tortured retail brands has been Sears/Kmart. Founded in 1886, Sears became a pioneer of American retail by publishing a catalog to serve rural customers (selling homes, cars, farm supplies and more traditional items) and buying real estate in locations soon to emerge as thriving suburban locales around which malls developed. With over 1,000 locations worldwide and maintaining status as the top retailer historically through 1989 (when Wal-Mart took that title), Sears was at the forefront of the industry, introducing private labels/national brands, credit cards, holiday wish books and more. The company was the first American retailer to go public with an IPO (initial public offering) and created open-selling formats while other stores relied on shop girls and clerks to service customers.  They were also the first retailer to cater to both men and women with hard and soft goods. Sadly, after decades of reinventing retail, Sears ran into financial difficulty.  The decline began in the late 1990s, and the chain is still spiraling downward with more than one hundred store closings scheduled for this year.

What went wrong?

How can a brand that created icons like Craftsman, DieHard, Kenmore, and Toughskins and launched service brands to its customers like Allstate Insurance and Discover Card fail? For one, Sears did not remain competitive nor differentiate enough from Wal-Mart; for another, while Sears was an early adaptor of loyalty programs, it failed to translate the brand in the digital space. Sears could have and should have evolved into what Amazon has become — an everything store and mass marketplace. Is it too late for Sears to prevent its own final demise and become relevant again?

The irony about Sears is that in being considered archaic, it is actually more current than most people realize. What other store is located in prime real estate locations, off key infrastructure with ample surface parking? In what other store can someone get a car fixed, replace tires, fix shoes, have keys made, get a watch fixed and receive an eye exam all while browsing clothing, accessories, appliances, and tools? Imagine if Sears would just market to these features. Nowadays, many of these everyday chores require an inconvenient trip.  Instead of embracing its uniqueness, however, Sears spent years trying to keep up with Macys, JC Penney, Kohl’s, and other retailers, stripping itself of merchandise categories, going after nationally saturated brands, and trying to “elevate” the consumer base — in sum, emulating what has become an ailing business model for retailers.

While I’m rooting for Sears to find its way back to yesteryear, I realize that the company can never relive its past, but instead must learn from it and move on, a lesson that is applicable to every company and to everyone individually. A famous designer of a luxury lifestyle brand would often say, when asked how he has maintained his brand relevance for so many years, that one needs to keep the heritage but lose the history. In other words, you should remember from where you came, but you don’t have to stay there.

How can the journey of Sears be applied to our own lives?

First, we should embrace our differences and resist the urge to homogenize and blend in. Too many people and businesses see success in others and then try to copy their formula, and while this may work for a while, it suffocates innovation and lacks the authenticity for sustainable long-term growth.

Second, work through challenges and don’t abandon course every time you hit a setback. Sure, it is easy to blame failed progress on any number of things and lose focus, but staying true to a brand/personal vision will keep you on track, regardless of  the current terrain. Of course, if you hit a dead end, you need to adjust your journey, but you don’t have to abort it altogether. Progress is rarely achieved through a straight line.

Third, almost everything old becomes new again. In marketing we often say that there really is no such thing as a new idea; it is just an old idea revisited and applied differently at a different time.  The popular home delivery retail is the reinvention of the Fuller Brush or Avon model. Food direct is the milk man. Subscription businesses are the book of the month/music tape club. Showroom retail businesses are green stamps, and the list goes on. The next time you reach a crossroads in your professional or personal development, look to your past and see how you can reinvent yourself — just do it before someone else does (consider Blockbuster and Netflix).

Too many great brands and too many talented people become obsolete over time.  Remember that the horse and carriage was a wonderful means of transportation until the auto industry surfaced. However, if you stay true to yourself, embrace your roots and move forward, you will find a way to reinvention. Wells Fargo did it (it was a carriage delivery company until it morphed into a money movement and management business); Waste Management is doing it (shifting from garbage disposal to waste energy); CVS is doing it (from generic convenience store to health and wellness center); and Nike does it all the time (from sneaker to athletic apparel to fitness lifestyle brand and now integrated/connected sporting community). How can you do it? How can you take your passions, preferences, and skills and evolve them to maintain your own relevancy? Aerobics instructors can become yoga teachers, writers can become content developers, and artists can become digital designers, to suggest a few.

It is easy to get stuck in old ways, to find comfort in conforming, and to look to others for inspiration. However, the only true path forward is the one that you are already on. Just stay focused on your destination, allow for detours/delays, and overcome obstacles along the way. The next time you drive by a Sears store, take a moment to reflect on how Sears got there and everything that Sears could be or will again be one day.  Then ask yourself the same questions.