Suppose Sears had done this instead. Make Craftsman (and Kenmore) top-of-the-line brands, of the highest quality. No cheap parts. No shortcuts. Only the best.
And offer free 15-year warranties on everything...on tools, on washing machines, on microwaves, etc.
Of course that would make everything more expensive, maybe by 25%. Would that work? I think so. Not every consumer is looking for cheap junk.
Sears lost their focus a long time ago. They were the pioneers in mail-order merchandising, yet in the electronic age, when legions of consumers are moving from brick-and-mortar to mail-order (via technology), they’re stuck in crumbling dusty stores that are largely deserted. For pete’s sake, they wrote the BOOK on catalog sales! And Amazon ate their lunch.