Most people think Sears is gone. Force into bankruptcy. Inventory liquidated. All stores closed. However, this is not true. Sears lives on with both an e-commerce presence and a few stories. It has made an extremely modest comeback.
Sears was founded in 1892. Slightly less than a century later, it was the largest retailer in America. At the same time, its name was on the tallest skyscraper in Chicago.
The beginning of the end occurred in 2004. Sears merged with another large retailer, which was Kmart. The theory behind the combination was that similar companies could share costs and cut overhead. The reality never matched that. Burdened by debt, the merged company began to lose money in 2010. Revenue started to drop in double digits year over the previous year.
What killed Sears as a large retailer? Most blame Chairman Eddie Lampert who engineered the combination with Kmart and failed to upgrade stores, mainly to save money. He bought in several CEOs who contributed to the problem.
Another easy excuse is one used by many failed retailers. They were overwhelmed by the online prowess of Amazon, which was on its way to becoming the second-largest company in America. On the ground, bricks-and-mortar champion Walmart, America’s largest company, helped to finish off weaker rivals.
Sears continues to operate, but barely. It has a website and 11 open stores. It is reasonable to ask, why bother? The answer is that there is no apparent reason.
The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)
The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.
But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.
Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.