Sears once had a distribution chain that could deliver to any town in the entire country. Had they put their catalog online early and focused on that, they would be where Amazon is today.
They focused on competing with every other peddler of cheep Chinese crap in a mall and now they’re hosed.
My Dad loved Sears for the tools and appliances, lawnmowers, a hot water heater, etc. If something blew, you went to Sears for a new one. Everyone did.
When I was first setting up house, I went to Sears for all of that stuff, too. I still have some of my original Craftsman tools.
I loved JC Penney as a teen - they had good prices that Mom liked, and clothing styles that I liked. Mom also bought a lot of curtains and table cloths, bath towels, etc. from JCP.
We never did shop Neiman Marcus or J. Crew. Too ‘high end’ for us at the time. ;)