Come See the Softer Side of Sears
August 25, 2016 10:29 AM Subscribe
In the wake of Sears Holdings' reorganization of its assets, which included the liquidation of several of its brick-and-mortar outlets (including its former flagship store in Chicago), the Canadian arm of the retailer announced it was following in the stead of Yahoo! by revealing an in-house redesign of its logo as a reflection of the future, and its expected perseverance amid online competition.
Michael Richardson, partner, creative with Toronto design firm Jacknife Design, describes the logo as "milquetoast," neither exciting nor offensive. "[I] wish it stood for something, somehow evoked something other than clean, modern, simple," he said via email. "It could use some personality."
I so desperately want to believe that this is that Michael Richards, in character, puffing thoughtfully on an enormous Cuban cigar while sitting behind an enormous mahogany desk at a marketing company where he's bluffed his way into VP.
And now you're reading "It could use some personality" in exactly the same inflection I am.
posted by Mayor West at 10:34 AM on August 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
I so desperately want to believe that this is that Michael Richards, in character, puffing thoughtfully on an enormous Cuban cigar while sitting behind an enormous mahogany desk at a marketing company where he's bluffed his way into VP.
And now you're reading "It could use some personality" in exactly the same inflection I am.
posted by Mayor West at 10:34 AM on August 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
Also, if someone were to hijack the MarketingMag domain and replace all of its content with Markov chains, how long do you think it would take the industry to notice the difference between "the key factors in the brand turnaround would be the quality of its online customer experience, its ability to expand its new store concepts and how well it manages the closure of low-performing stores to enable investment into growth areas" and machine-generated copy?
posted by Mayor West at 10:36 AM on August 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 10:36 AM on August 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
How about just a bunch of deck chairs arranged to spell out 'Sears.'
posted by Flashman at 10:36 AM on August 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 10:36 AM on August 25, 2016 [11 favorites]
From the Annals of MeFi: All this talk of their failing business model reminded me of something. It's not that the model is failing so much as a lack of vision to develop a new model.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 10:39 AM on August 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by a lungful of dragon at 10:39 AM on August 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
Well none of this makes sense if you think the purpose of a company is to make money by exchanging goods and services, but since companies don't that anymore it makes total sense since the goal is to extract as much value from an established property and enrich your friends before moving on to the next business.
posted by The Whelk at 10:45 AM on August 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 10:45 AM on August 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
Its interesting that Sears downtown Oakland location will become the HQ of Uber next year.
posted by bitdamaged at 10:47 AM on August 25, 2016
posted by bitdamaged at 10:47 AM on August 25, 2016
I think they're attempting to evoke a worthwhle Canadian initiative.
posted by Kabanos at 10:47 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Kabanos at 10:47 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Maybe they should move away from the whole beige dystopia vibe they've been rocking for the last 30 years.
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:53 AM on August 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:53 AM on August 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
It's not that the model is failing so much as a lack of vision to develop a new model.
Everything linked in there could just as easily be said about Eaton's. They were perfectly perched to become the dominant force in Canadian online retailing, if only they had the vision for it, and had been able to hold on just a little longer (which they probably could have). But a lack of vision, a staid old enterprise stuck in managerial mode, and a lot of heirs too busy doing other things.
As for Sears Canada -- I still go there regularly. It's all solid, dependable stuff, at reasonable prices. Which is part of the problem: Canadians are cheap, and are getting cheaper. Sears itself is bleeding money, particularly through a number of large, legacy stores they can't afford. The last time I bought a suit there, I was amazed by the selection -- but astounded by the thought that all this stuff has to go out the door, and how's that going to happen when there's no-one here, no-one buying, no-one working? Multiply that by department after department, and...
I wouldn't at all be surprised if this redesign happened in-house because they simply do not have the money to go elsewhere. It works, but probably not well enough. Granted, they saw the need to revamp their image, but it may simply be too late. Which is too bad -- Canadians are increasingly being left without a mid-range alternative. Everything is either cheap and unreliable, or too high-end for a lot of people. It may not be Sears' fault they're going, but they are going.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:57 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Everything linked in there could just as easily be said about Eaton's. They were perfectly perched to become the dominant force in Canadian online retailing, if only they had the vision for it, and had been able to hold on just a little longer (which they probably could have). But a lack of vision, a staid old enterprise stuck in managerial mode, and a lot of heirs too busy doing other things.
As for Sears Canada -- I still go there regularly. It's all solid, dependable stuff, at reasonable prices. Which is part of the problem: Canadians are cheap, and are getting cheaper. Sears itself is bleeding money, particularly through a number of large, legacy stores they can't afford. The last time I bought a suit there, I was amazed by the selection -- but astounded by the thought that all this stuff has to go out the door, and how's that going to happen when there's no-one here, no-one buying, no-one working? Multiply that by department after department, and...
I wouldn't at all be surprised if this redesign happened in-house because they simply do not have the money to go elsewhere. It works, but probably not well enough. Granted, they saw the need to revamp their image, but it may simply be too late. Which is too bad -- Canadians are increasingly being left without a mid-range alternative. Everything is either cheap and unreliable, or too high-end for a lot of people. It may not be Sears' fault they're going, but they are going.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:57 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
That's a weirdly unbalanced logo. The maple leaf is just the wrong size. At least with the old one, the maple leaf is about half the height of the lower case letters, which is sort of harmonious, but with this new logo, it just looks wrong. Who decided it should be that big?
posted by ssg at 10:58 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ssg at 10:58 AM on August 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
> Its interesting that Sears downtown Oakland location will become the HQ of Uber next year.
I sort of hope they put up a big sign with the company name over it, cause a big "UBER" sign would go well with the big "KAISER" sign on the Kaiser-Permanente skyscraper a few blocks over.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:58 AM on August 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
I sort of hope they put up a big sign with the company name over it, cause a big "UBER" sign would go well with the big "KAISER" sign on the Kaiser-Permanente skyscraper a few blocks over.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:58 AM on August 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
I miss Sears. it had good underwear for good prices.
cheaper than the Bay, better quality than Walmart.
posted by jb at 11:00 AM on August 25, 2016
cheaper than the Bay, better quality than Walmart.
posted by jb at 11:00 AM on August 25, 2016
Surely this will buy Brandon Bird another road trip to paint all the Sears stores.
posted by klausman at 11:12 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by klausman at 11:12 AM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Interesting article. I worked at an outlet store for years. We were busy and a successful store. What I take away is Sears oblivious model of all most everything. Being a worker you adapt to the seemingly inane procedures. For example, I worked customer service and had to know the credit system well, had too, there was a terrible customer service credit card system for Canadians to use their card in store. (We had a lot of Canadian shoppers, the best, IMO)
One customer from Canada spoke mostly french and the card was rejected. So I called the direct credit line and paged Anna to the front because she spoke french. 15 minutes later, we had a happy customer and a 500$ sale.
And I still got yelled at.
posted by clavdivs at 11:15 AM on August 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
One customer from Canada spoke mostly french and the card was rejected. So I called the direct credit line and paged Anna to the front because she spoke french. 15 minutes later, we had a happy customer and a 500$ sale.
And I still got yelled at.
posted by clavdivs at 11:15 AM on August 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
Ugh. "Put a leaf on it" is the laziest, shittiest, stupidest thing that every single business in Canada does when they're all out of ideas. Who do they think they're fooling? Sears bought up how many Canadian retail institutions and shut them down, and they expect us to think they're the Canadian department store because they put a fucking maple leaf on their sign? Fuck off. The other department store at every single mall is the Hudson's Bay Company, which literally created Canada, and which sells all the same stuff as Sears, and then some, and better, and cheaper. You're going to have to do better than a leaf, Sears.
That said, the hollowed-out leaf with no connection to its roots is a pretty great metaphor for what Sears has done for Canada.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:21 AM on August 25, 2016 [8 favorites]
That said, the hollowed-out leaf with no connection to its roots is a pretty great metaphor for what Sears has done for Canada.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:21 AM on August 25, 2016 [8 favorites]
Canada being so spread out; we had not only Simpson-Sears and Eatons but also Consumer's Distributing, all catalogue based retailers that either delivered to your home or their distribution outlet in your town. One catalogue retailer that's still doing well is Lee Valley tools but they're a privately owned specialty manufacturer/retailer and don't go after the bottom of the market. They could at least see the opportunities out there for them.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:52 PM on August 25, 2016
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:52 PM on August 25, 2016
When I was growing up it seemed my parents bought everything from Sears. Applicances, clothes, furniture. We used to joke that my father would buy a car from Sears if they sold them. I noticed a lot of them closed down in Toronto in the last few years but I avoid malls at all costs so have no idea what's replaced them. With the decade + wages freeze that's been going on I'm not surprised that a populace with extremely weak purchasing power would affect the sales of any business but those that cater to the wealthy.
posted by juiceCake at 5:05 PM on August 25, 2016
posted by juiceCake at 5:05 PM on August 25, 2016
Heh, yeah. 40 years ago Sears had a repair center the next suburban enclave over. My memory is that that's where you took your vacuum cleaner, icebox, and gas lawnmower you bought from Sears when it hiccuped or broke. It was like a Post Office counter. We used to go there and the wacky old lady who my mom grew up next to (where old lady still lived, 30 miles away) would saunter on in, giving us pennies for the gumball machine and catching up with my mom. Can you imaging Target having a repair center?
I liked the new Sears from 5-10 years ago when it was run by the guy who did the single-pricing thing. I have a lamp shaped like an owl I bought for $50 there because I was aware of that change in leadership (and I needed a lamp), so I all aboard for *bam* that's the price. I still have that lamp. I love it. Then like 6 months later they pronounced the strategy a failure and turned the one by me into a crypto-Mervyn's.
Just commit to something, people.
posted by rhizome at 7:06 PM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I liked the new Sears from 5-10 years ago when it was run by the guy who did the single-pricing thing. I have a lamp shaped like an owl I bought for $50 there because I was aware of that change in leadership (and I needed a lamp), so I all aboard for *bam* that's the price. I still have that lamp. I love it. Then like 6 months later they pronounced the strategy a failure and turned the one by me into a crypto-Mervyn's.
Just commit to something, people.
posted by rhizome at 7:06 PM on August 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Our local sears is weird. Half of their clothing racks are devoted to clearance items - I picked up almost an entire suburban dad wardrobe of ugly xmas sweaters, "work on the car" t-shirts, swim trunks, and cargo shorts for $3 a piece last week. They recently remodeled the store, and now the electronics section has 3 TVs, some HDTV antennas, and a few xbox games that are 3 years old. Their "outdoor living" section is now half of the store, with furniture, gazebos, grills, etc taking up an ungodly amount of square footage, while the tool section (the only thing I'd actually go into the store for) has been reduced to a few poorly stocked aisles in the corner.
Every time I go in there, I wonder how they stay in business, since the single cashier never has a line.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 9:22 AM on August 26, 2016
Every time I go in there, I wonder how they stay in business, since the single cashier never has a line.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 9:22 AM on August 26, 2016
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