Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Company, colloquially known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1892, reincorporated (a formality for a history-making consumer sector initial public offering) by Richard Sears and new partner Julius Rosenwald in 1906. Formerly based at the Sears Tower in Chicago and currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the operation began as a mail ordering catalog company and began opening retail locations in 1925. The first location was in Evansville, Indiana. The company was bought by the management of the American big box chain Kmart in 2005, the Kmart management formed Sears Holdings upon completion of the merger. In terms of domestic revenue, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States until October 1989, when Walmart surpassed the record. As of 2017, Sears is the 23rd largest retailer in the United States. Sears had divisions in Canada (which folded in January 2018), Mexico and Puerto Rico, but were sold as well as several other subsidiaries within its brand.

Why it's Failing

 * 1) They never bothered to remodel their stores, this is because they do not have any money to remodel all their stores.
 * 2) They have struggled with employee relations. One notable example was the shift in 1992 from an hourly wage based on longevity to a base wage (usually between US$3.50 and US$6 per hour) and commissions ranging from 0.5% to 11%. Sears claimed the new base wage, often constituting a substantial (up to 40%) cut in pay, was done "to be successful in this highly competitive environment". In early October 2007, they cut commission rates for employees in select departments to anywhere from 0.5% to 4% but equalized the base wage across all Home Improvement and Electronics departments. In 2011, commission rates on non-base items were cut by 2% in the electronics department. In late 2009, the commission on sales of "base items" from the electronic department was cut to 1%. As of 2017, appliances is the only remaining department where compensation is based entirely on commission. Other departments give a base pay plus commission. In many stores, jewelry department associates receive a low base salary with 1% commission on their sales.
 * 3) The products they sell are in horrible condition, so bad, even goodwill has better products.
 * 4) There is barely anything in the electronics section, if you can call it that.
 * 5) Nowadays, almost all of their exclusive products can be found at other stores, which means there is no reason to go there anymore.