https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/ideas-work/sears-case-study-business-failure
an interview with Mark Cohen, Columbia Business School retail studies director and former CEO of Sears Canda.
What will be the epitaph on Sears’ headstone?
Cohen: This business should not have suffered and died as it did with Eddie Lampert at its helm.
@2Hkge+164ELffk You bumped a thread from August of 2020 just to write that?
Eddie Lampert, a case study in failure as a human being
@1oci+164ELffk Eddie and Leena voting in every thread lol
Mark and Eddie should collaborate together on a book. Eddie Lampert: Lessons Learned - How not to be the worst CEO in history. It's the best thing he can do for future generations.
(In case you can't tell, the post about myGopher etc is irony. I'm being sarcastic. Of course Cohen is right and Lampert has been a disaster. Can't imagine my post would be getting two upvotes! Guess irony is lost on some)
Cohen is hilarious. A failed leader of Sears Canada who cannot get another job in retail. He does what all failures do... He teaches.
Those who can, like Eddie, do. They build Sears.com and Kmart.com. They launch Simply Styled, myGopher, Home & Life, and more.
They build brands and businesses that Make Moments Matter.
Then there are those who can't. They go to teach because they can't make things work in the real world.
There's a reason why Sears Canada after Cohen is gone and closed up, while Sears USA under Eddie is still fighting the good fight. It isn't because Cohen knew what he was doing.
Why no “Poison pill” to protect from hostile takeovers?
And
Homelife
Sears Grand
Sears Hometown
Sears Outlet
Imagine today
Sears with
Allstate
Dean Witter
Western Auto
Discover
Sears credit
Catalog and Specialty Catalogs converted to the internet.
Sears Tower
Penske
Martha Stewart
Die Hard
Craftsman
Kenmore
Top appliance brands
Quality Products, Knowledgeable Sales Associates and Financing
Product services at one time did more business than the next 6 competitors combined.
WTF
Alan Lacy was the wheelman that set Sears up to be taken over by old “Eli”
Selling of sears credit made them vulnerable
Buying of the third rated Kmart stores At premium price and getting dogs of store
But he left with his thirty pieces of silver and set Sears to be taken over by a third rate kresige company.
One for the books
Thanks for posting. I agree that Eddie was not the only problem... his predecessor, Alan Lacy also contributed greatly to the decline. He got a big bonus for selling Sears Credit, unfortunately the Credit business generated a nice profit at the time. So, even if Sears didn't make a ton selling appliances, they could make some money on the customer financing.
Cohen has been one of Lampert's sharpest critics over the years. He's frequently quoted in major media stories about Sears and Lampert's oversight.