I agree with you completely. Their catalog sales was so far ahead of its time that it really is uncanny. It worked too. The other thing coming full circle here is Amazon considering clicks and bricks.
Rebranding Sears into Amazon wouldn’t be as far-fetched as it sounds. Before long, you’ll be able to pick up Sears for the price of a Central Park hot dog. Amazon picks up all the real estate cheap. They gut the stores and remake them in a brand new way - like they were going to anyway.
That might work in our largest metropolitan areas, but they better be careful about going into too many areas. Amazon is still not profitable. Online sales is their thing and they better not monkey with it too much.