esrosedotblog

EATING UP

I can't believe that K-Mart bought Sears!

K-Mart was Kresge's Five and Ten. Sears was the behemoth with the catalog and the dependable appliances and the world beater of retail.

Kresge's sales are smaller by half but they have a profit; nearly 8 times Sears in the last nine months. They made moves that Sears could not; closing stores, ruthless redesign of the market they served. All that.

Poignant that this is the time of year we would get the Sears Christmas Wish Book. I would peruse it cover to cover and make my choices clear to all who would listen. Reach could equal grasp.

I knew Sebastian Kresge when I was a kid. He had a summer place near where we lived. He went to our church. He was a nice guy. He strongly influenced modern philanthropy. He invited the challenge grant. Match his money and it was yours.

He had a very pretty younger wife. They said that they swam nude in his pool on the estate. Shocking. She was like a porcelain doll and very smiling and unassuming.

It is all kind of hard to process. I am sure it can all be explained. This is part of a huge shakeup in retailing. I think it starts with Wal-Mart kicking everyone's ass. Unamerican as it is.

Boy I wish I had one of those Christmas catalogs to look at again.