PRESS PLAY>>TO VIEW THIS MONTH’S WELCOME VIDEO
BREAKING UP A GREAT BRAND!
It was reported this week that Eddie Lampert, CEO of Sears Holdings, was pushing to 
have his separate company purchase the Kenmore and Sear Home Improvement brands/businesses from his troubled retail operation. This is yet another step in the demise of what was once one of the premier brands in American business and certainly one of the legendary brands in the retail industry. The beat continues to go on. Sears and its other struggling retailer have been on a slippery slope ever since Lampert bought the companies several years ago. The only news from the stores has been how many are closing in our markets on a regular basis. It’s long been known that the only value the company has are its real estate holdings. Customers have long forgotten them as a viable option for their shopping dollars and certainly as a place to shop (period).
What is really sad is that the company, in addition to having two of the strongest retail brands for decades and 
millions of loyal customers, also had some of the strongest product brands in the country. Kenmore set the standard for home appliances and when I was at Circuit City a couple decades ago, it was the number one choice for homeowners in appliances and also at the top of mind awareness for most appliance categories. The quality of the brand still is one of the best according to Consumer Reports (thanks to Whirlpool’s manufacturing expertise) and it has expanded distribution beyond its parent company’s stores. However, the lack of branding has certainly taken its toll in the past few years.
Sears was once the place for the things you need for home improvement projects and for the service before and after installation. That, too, has faded away as Home Depot and Loew’s continue to flourish and be the first choice in product and reliability. The company has already sold of its Craftsman Tool Brand (to Stanley/Black & Decker) and it continues to have a strong brand loyalty but was so tarnished by Sears that the private label brands on the big two DIY stores (and Harbor Freight) that the demand has diminished. DieHard batteries became the replacement of choice for auto batteries and flourished when Sears automotive service was a preferred choice. Bad decisions and dishonest practices killed the business and hurt one of the top brands in the industry. I could go on, but suffice it to say that putting a financial person at the top of most retailers is (as the late guru Peter Glen used to say) the first step to failure, while putting a marketer at the helm can bring success.
Sam Walton’s successor, David Glass, used to say that a good retail leader must have a passion for the business and that passion is usually reflected in a strong brand strategy. Sears (and Kmart) will soon disappear from the retail market place and it will be up to those who buy the brands that they created to disregard everything that the stores have done in the past few years to destroy them. There is still hope if the new brands go back to the customer and build a relationship and loyalty that once existed.
Recent Comments