The best Sears product came with a 126-year warranty

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Post Partisan Opinion

The best Sears product came with a 126-year warranty

By Megan McArdle
Columnist
October 15 at 8:16 PM

It’s always wistful news when a big retailer dies, but the Sears bankruptcy announced Monday feels borderline tragic. Sears is the foundation of so many fond memories for Americans: the autumn trip to buy new school clothes, the tires for that first car, the brand-new washer-dryer combo hauled home by beaming newlyweds. ... Where you grew up almost didn’t matter, because Sears was everywhere. From Portland, Maine, to San Diego, it was the local retailer of mid-price goods to a middle-class country. But even if you were in one of the few islands isolated from its bourgeois charm, you may still feel like you’ve lost a little piece of yourself. Because in so many ways, the history of Sears is the history of America.
....

What Americans bought there was certainly not glamorous; one might even call it boring. But what it lacked in flash it made up for in reasonable prices and solid quality that lasted. ... The performance was so good that one could almost expect a sudden twist, an unprecedented fourth act for an American legend. But while the company may reorganize in bankruptcy and keep going for a while, that can only temporarily stave off the inevitable liquidation. America has moved again, onto the Internet. And this time, Sears didn’t go with them.
....

Which of course gives people something to point to and say, “See! This is their own fault!” Many people are pointing that finger now. But how many of those folks could have completely reinvented a firm not once but twice? Should we really judge Sears because the company didn’t have yet one more amazing breakthrough left in it?

Instead let’s point out all the things that Sears did right in its remarkable 126-year history. It brought comfort and a little bit of urban style to the remotest parts of America; convenience and affordable quality to its cities and suburbs. It gave America the world’s tallest building for many years. But it also gave us something considerably more mundane, and much more important: something worthwhile that we all had in common.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist and the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success." Follow https://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo

There was this comment:

wiredog 5 minutes ago
The first subdivision in McLean Va was a group of Sears houses shipped in on the railroad. Built right here: https://goo.gl/maps/HpAFhiaoAEU2

There's still a few left that haven't been replaced with McMansions. One is occupied by the son of the original owner.

[GeorgeGist]

1. the irony ...

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Yeah. That really stood out. NT

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "What most people don't know is just how radical the catalogue was in the era of Jim Crow."

Last edited Tue Oct 16, 2018, 03:09 PM - Edit history (1)

VeryHiddenGeniusHat Retweeted

Whoa

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In my history of consumption class, I teach about #Sears, but what most people don't know is just how radical the catalogue was in the era of #Jim Crow. #twitterstorians

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The catalog undid the power of the storekeeper, and by extension the landlord. Black families could buy without asking permission. Without waiting. Without being watched. With national (cheap) prices!

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Southern storekeepers fought back. They organized catalogue bonfires in the street.

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These general stores often doubled as post offices. The owners would refuse to sell stamps to black people, or money orders, to use the catalogue services.

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Happened enough that sears instructed customers to evade the postmaster and directly speak to the mail carrier:
“just give the letter and the money to the mail carrier and he will get the money order at the post office and mail it in the letter for you.”

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In an attempt to undermine #Sears, rumors spread that Sears was black (to get white customers to stop buying from him). Sold by mail “these fellows could not afford to show their faces as retailers”
Sears, in turn, published photos to “prove” he was white.

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These rumors didn’t affect sales but show how race and commerce connected in the countryside. And how dangerous it was to the local order, to white supremacy, to have national markets.

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So as we think about #Sears today, let's think about how retail is not just about buying things, but part of a larger system of power. Every act of power contains the opportunity, and the means, for resistance.

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Wow. So much response! If you would like to know more about the larger history of Sears and resisting white supremacy, check out this video from our series on the history of capitalism. #thread. Also #JohnHenry and #webDubois.

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Hi! you can read it here: Thread by @louishyman: "In my history of consumption class, I teach about , but what most people don't know is just how radical the catalo […]" #Sears #Jim https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1051872178415828993.html …
Share this if you think it's interesting. 🤖

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[OnlinePoker]

4. I wonder if the Sears retirees will be screwed over like they were here in Canada

Underfunded pension plan and the retirees had their pension cut by 30% in August. They also lost all their health benefits 3 months after the company went under.