The author has done a wonderful job of condensing nearly 100 years of Sears catalog growth as it paralleled the growth of cities, towns and infrastructure throughout the United States. This book covers a lot of time in the development of The Big Book in an ever changing demographic and economic America .As technology changed, so did the impact of the Big Book. And the impact of competition and shrinking of time and space to get the delivery of goods to the customer go hand in hand. The impact of retailing and the marketplace itself which ultimately killed off the Big Book are very interesting in the impact they had upon one another. As the author so clearly stated, when the customer many decades back had little to choose from in terms of local retailers, the Big Book opened a new world to their eyes. And Sears easy credit and "satisfaction guaranteed" simply removed all the obstacles from purchasing sight unseen.
Richard Sears was a wonderful sales promoter. But he played loose with descriptions and Roebuck had to finally reel him in. Along came Rosenwald who saved Sears from himself and finally the General and the advent of the retail store slowly put an end to the unparelled progress of the book. Of course the marketplace changed as well. Expectations of the customer and their unwillingness to wait for the arrival of a package and improved vehicular and social mobility stimulated the growth of stores in shopping centers, malls.
This book not only is a study in buying habits of the general public over decades of rapid change and economic mobility, but it is also a social studies work across the same span of time.It's a great story of the changing times of the American economy. And for a time, the Sears catalog was the greatest show on earth.
It is a interesting read for those who enjoy nostalgia and reading about how things use to be. The marvelous Fall and Spring catalogs opened the world of fashion and change to millions of customers who had yet to purchase a TV or had the money to travel and experience new and different things. You can just imagine the commotion of ladies bust cream when it first appeared in the general catalog. And all the kids who read the Big Toy Book every October and used the toys shown to compose their Christmas gift list to Santa. I know of one boy who listed his "want list" by Sears catalog numbers. And the wonderful people who took the catalog orders over the phone and manned the counters in the many Sears retail stores. The catalog was such an efficient way of doing business. Back then it was analogus to Amazon today and the many specialty catalogs we receive in our mail each week. Can you imagine the impact on the catalog sales organization had it hung on until the web was up and running and those 200,000 Sears items in full color appeared on your monitor? But then location, location and location are everything. And rarely mentioned is the equally important adage "timing is everything." In Sears case, the success and failure of the company rode on the backs of timing and location. And it was a great ride for over a century. But now it will never regain the prominence it once enjoyed in the retail-catalog industry. Thus passes the glory of the once famous Sears. It is now a tired and broken store. But what a history it had developed over the decades. Its glory has passed but it memory lives on. Sears, Roebuck, Rosenwald, General Wood have left their mark on posterity. What they built up in nearly 75 years, the younger generations of Kelstadt, Metcalf, Telling and Brennan lost forever. Ole "Jumpin" Joe Moran is surely unsettled in his final resting place. And all the hundred of thousands employees who made Sears once a great company will never forget its final days. And now the catalog is gone and the store is but a shell of its once glorious self. This book will reveal the rise and the fall of America's greatest store, the once proud Sears, Roebuck and Company.
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