A shopper browses clearance racks of clothing displayed outside a Sears Holdings Corp. store in Montebello, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. Sears Holdings Corp., the struggling U.S. chain owned by hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, is preparing for a bankruptcy filing as soon as Sunday, according to a person familiar with the plan. The company faces a critical debt maturity next week. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
A shopper browses clearance racks of clothing displayed outside a Sears Holdings Corp. store in Montebello, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. Sears Holdings Corp., the struggling U.S. chain owned by hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, is preparing for a bankruptcy filing as soon as Sunday, according to a person familiar with the plan. The company faces a critical debt maturity next week. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

Sears, a major US retailer goes bust – lessons for the world

This weekend, Sears Holdings, the parent company that owns both the Sears and Kmart brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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By Felicity Duncan

Sears stores got their start in 1892 in Chicago. Initially a mail-order catalogue company, Sears expanded into physical locations in 1925, opening enormous department stores that sold a mix of clothes, appliances, hardware, and building materials. And this weekend, Sears Holdings, the parent company that owns both the Sears and Kmart brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It's just the latest huge, iconic American retailer to fail, undone by a failure to adapt to the changing world. As Amazon has forged ahead into online retail, Sears, with its thousands of physical locations, has struggled. This must be a lesson for the rest of the world. The future of shopping is online. It turns out that, in general, people do not want to spend hours wandering around a big, poorly laid out store looking for the items they need. People want to shop efficiently, conveniently, and quickly. Failure to adapt to that reality will be the last mistake any retailer makes.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

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