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Sears Roebuck Catalog - 1896
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:52 am
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:52 am
We were at the children's museum in Gulfport over the weekend. One of the exhibits is supposed to be an old time hotel room and dining area. Scattered about is a replication of a few pages of a Sears catalog from 1896.
In it was a page talking about the company. Basically, the goal of the company was to be able to ship to any individual or business owner, pretty much any item they needed in life, quickly, and as a cost cheap enough to account for the additional time needed to receive it, compared to going directly to a general store to buy it. Further, they wanted to be able to ship these goods all over the world. It also said that their growing size would allow them to be able to get closer to these goals.
As I was reading this, it just struck me that, these words could have been pulled from a document written by Amazon in 2019.
These two businesses, 120 years apart, are trying to accomplish the exact same thing. The only thing that has changed is that instead of reading a catalog, filling out a paper form, and sending in cash, you read on a computer, fill out a virtual form, and send in your credit card information. Oh, and the shipping is probably a little bit quicker as well.
In it was a page talking about the company. Basically, the goal of the company was to be able to ship to any individual or business owner, pretty much any item they needed in life, quickly, and as a cost cheap enough to account for the additional time needed to receive it, compared to going directly to a general store to buy it. Further, they wanted to be able to ship these goods all over the world. It also said that their growing size would allow them to be able to get closer to these goals.
As I was reading this, it just struck me that, these words could have been pulled from a document written by Amazon in 2019.
These two businesses, 120 years apart, are trying to accomplish the exact same thing. The only thing that has changed is that instead of reading a catalog, filling out a paper form, and sending in cash, you read on a computer, fill out a virtual form, and send in your credit card information. Oh, and the shipping is probably a little bit quicker as well.
7
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:52 am to LSUFanHouston
The difference is that is hard to wipe your arse with Amazon’s webpage.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:53 am to LSUFanHouston
I can’t wait for Amazon to go out of business.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:54 am to teke184
quote:
The difference is that is hard to wipe your arse with Amazon’s webpage.
Plus it makes viewing your screen a tad unpleasant----make that real unpleasant.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:55 am to LSUFanHouston
You used to be able to buy a whole house from Sears Roebuck
SR>>>>>Amazon
SR>>>>>Amazon
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:58 am to OldHickory
quote:
I can’t wait for Amazon to go out of business.
I mean, I'm all for buying local when possible, but I also don't cheer for American businesses to fail. Also, more than half the internet runs on AWS so there is that.
This post was edited on 7/31/19 at 10:59 am
Posted on 7/31/19 at 10:58 am to LSUFanHouston
Sears Catalog used to be one of the few places a young baw could see pictures of women somewhat nekkid.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:00 am to upgrayedd
I have my great granddad's single shot .22 rifle he bought from Sears & Roebuck back in the day. Thing has to be close to 100 years old and still accurate as heck.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:00 am to LSUFanHouston
Sears could've beaten Amazon to the punch, and same for Blockbuster and Netflix. Both had universal brand recognition and consumer trust.
Short term profit at the expense of long-term vision killed both companies.
Short term profit at the expense of long-term vision killed both companies.
This post was edited on 7/31/19 at 11:02 am
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:01 am to LSUFanHouston
Sears catalog would send me an entire fricking house to my house.
Will amazon ship an entire house to my house?
Sears > amazon
Will amazon ship an entire house to my house?
Sears > amazon
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:05 am to The Spleen
quote:
I have my great granddad's single shot .22 rifle he bought from Sears & Roebuck back in the day.
Yes! One of the pages that was reproduced in this booklet was for rifles! You could buy a gun from Sears via mail-order.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:07 am to LSUFanHouston
That is why it was so bad when Sears started its dive. No other established company was better set up to pivot into the modern era of shopping. They had the inventory, the warehouse space, the distribution channels, and the manpower. What they did not have was the vision to put it all together in a single package that appealed to people today.
Sears easily had the worst online presence of any comparable store over the last decade or more. Well, Toys-R-Us was pretty bad, as well.
Sears easily had the worst online presence of any comparable store over the last decade or more. Well, Toys-R-Us was pretty bad, as well.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:07 am to beerJeep
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:09 am to LegendInMyMind
You can also easily get your hands on a reprint of that catalog today. It is a good one to kill time or learn about antiques and such. There are a couple years available.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:09 am to OldHickory
quote:
I can’t wait for Amazon to go out of business.
Why?
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:10 am to colorchangintiger
quote:
Also, more than half the internet runs on AWS so there is that.
Nobody understands this true power of Amazon.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:11 am to Day Wisher
Because Jeff Bezos is a clown and I just don’t care for their business practices. Also, I don’t buy much shite.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:21 am to OldHickory
quote:
Because Jeff Bezos is a clown
Hate Amazon business practices all you like but dismissing Bezos as a clown is just silly.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:24 am to GetCocky11
Over 80% of Amazon profits come from Amazon Web Services and the business of selling stuff breaks even or loses money.
Posted on 7/31/19 at 11:25 am to GetCocky11
quote:
Nobody understands this true power of Amazon.
Same with Alphabet and Microshaft. Between those three companies (and BookFace to some extent) they own just about all of the underlying infrastructure that the internet's content is housed on.
It's why I laugh when people suggest to just "start your own YouTube if you don't like what they're doing."
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