Sears did a lot of things wrong. But the heaviest blow was getting stuck in a feedback loop where people don’t want to shop at Sears because it’s a failing company, and it’s a failing company because people don’t want to shop at Sears.
Once sales fall there’s less money to invest in stores, then the stores get ragged, sales fall even more because it’s depressing to go inside a Sears that hasn’t been updated since the ‘90s, investment falls even more, then websites start writing stories about how ugly and dilapidated your stores are, then you wouldn’t be caught dead telling your friends “I’m going to Sears,” and the die is cast.