Description: A caption on top of the picture says “Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed themselves to be endless.”
Underneath is a picture of an abandoned store, on five slabs of concrete the name “Sears” is still visible.
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Maybe I am outing myself as young or as a European but what the hell is/was SEARS? And yeah I could probably google it, but I figure I can upset some people
Basically Amazon before Amazon. Except it was a physical store, and a paper catalog instead of a website.
Sears was a mail order/catalog company that operated out of Chicago as far back as 1892. To expand their business, they added storefronts, typically at malls, throughout the 20th century, but eventually saw their business consumed alive by Walmart which placed stores in suburban and rural areas and slashed prices and salaries to compete. Eventually, online merchants like Amazon delivered the finishing blow. All that remains of Sears is memories.
Ah I see, quite interesting to see that it died in the USA, but there are similar companies that still exist outside of the USA - though by going with the times and going online.
They shifted too hard into the retail market. They refused to do an online store and actually discontinued their mail catalog in the 90s.
They had the infrastructure in place, the experience, and more. They should have taken over the online world, but left the door open for Amazon.
People would mail-order houses from them in their prime.
Sears was Amazon a century before Amazon. Their mail order business drove the lions share. They thought they were invincible.
It’s also worth noting that the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world for over two decades. They were once so apparently dominant, and now almost nobody even thinks of them anymore.
People still refuse to call it the Willis Tower.
Department store.
An offshoot of the Sears empire migrated to - and still thrives in - Mexico. The stores are owned by Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, whom I suspect bought the local rights to Sears back in the 90s NOT because of Sears, but because of their ISP business, called Prodigy, which dominates Mexico’s internet landscape to this day.
Like Phoenicians migrating their center of power and culture away from the conflictive Levant, in favor of the remote and calm lands of Carthage, I suppose.
Ruminating on the subject a little further in light of this information, Kmart is also owned in the USA by the same (allegedly crazy) Illinois-based person who sank his own business empires.
But Kmart is still going strong in Australia, isn’t it?
Looking up Sears in Wikipedia, Carlos Slim owns 80% of the Mexico side of Sears, while the remaining 20% goes to Sears Holdings in Illinois. With such an overwhelming majority stake, I imagine that Slim can run Sears Mexico with no interference, but then also all Illinois has to do is kick back and reap the benefits that 20% stake, and the same should also apply for Kmart Australia.
Then again, after their collapse through incompetence, and liquidating their USA chains, I would suppose the Illinois office is probably still up to its’ neck in rolling debt.
The circle of life: The Starbucks company headquarters is located in the old Sears building Sodo Seattle.
All Hail Starbucks.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Five vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the parking lot. . . . Near them, on the concrete,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And weathered lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
Welcome to Sears;
Where America Shops!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level mall halls stretch far away.
Which AI did you use?
Bravo!
Fantastic!
Beautiful ❤️
The monoliths of SEARS have mystified scholars and travellers for years. Who built these ancient structures? What purpose did they serve? Some speculate it was a meeting ground for commerce, other believe it to be a site for mating rituals. No one knows for sure.
Interestingly enough on the winter solstice the light highlights runes that spell out SEARS. Some think this is by design but no one knows the purpose.
Aliens
The remnants of the amazon fresh near me, get fucked amazon
There IS hope for this world!
