Sears Was Amazon Before Amazon. So Why Did It Quit?

For a hundred years, Sears let America shop from home. You picked it from the catalog, you sent the order, and the box came to your door. By 1990, Sears was even part-owner of an online service where you could order from the Sears catalog on a computer screen. Then, in January 1993, Sears shut the catalog down. Seventeen months later, a man in a garage in Bellevue, Washington, started Amazon. This is Case File #2 on Main Street Morgue. We put Sears side by side with its twin and follow the paper trail to a cause of death. If your family ever circled toys in the Sears Wish Book, subscribe. We open a new case file on a name America used to love. Chapters 0:00 Case File #2 · Sears 1:47 The Patient 5:01 The Official Story 6:28 First Symptom 8:12 The First Invention 10:16 The Fatal Decision 12:46 The Twin 14:20 The Spread 16:21 Time of Death 17:26 The Verdict 18:41 The Living Sources UPI, Jan. 25, 1993: Sears to close catalog, 113 stores, 50,000 jobs Deseret News, May 28, 1993: Sears closes catalog book after nearly a century Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 29, 1993: The End of the "Wish Book" Prodigy (online service) history — Encyclopedia.com, Deseret News (1996) Kmart–Sears merger filings, 2004–2005 — SEC EDGAR Seritage Growth Properties transaction (2015) — Transformco press release Stanley Black & Decker: Craftsman acquisition (2017) Fortune, Oct. 15, 2018: Sears bankruptcy filing Photos: Wikimedia Commons (individual credits on screen) · Catalog pages: Internet Archive · Footage: Pexels This video is commentary and analysis based on public filings, company statements and news reports. It is not financial advice. #Sears #SearsCatalog #WishBook #Amazon #MainStreetMorgue