Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone, Powered by NAFCU

The other day I was listening to an episode of "Stuff you missed in history class," one of the new podcasts I've stumbled upon. 

This one featured an interview with Sears historian, Jerry Hancock.

It was a fascinating discussion, as I never really knew much about how Sears started. Today, many look at the company with a touch of disdain or sadness. It almost seems as if we're simply waiting for the day when Sears calls it quits.

But the story of how it started was a swashbucking tale of hustle and innovation. They started selling watches and quickly expanded into THE mail-order business. They then progressed into retail stores. Oh, and they started Allstate insurance. 

This year-by-year chronology is pretty amazing. At least for a while. And then the chronology stops listing innovations and only seems to mention changes in ownership structure.

It got me thinking....

• I wonder what the founders of Sears would think about what is happening today?
• I wonder if folks at Amazon or Facebook ever look back at the history of companies like Sears. It seems hard to imagine that companies like Amazon or Facebook could become dated and dated. But then again, just look at Blackberry, Yahoo and Blockbuster.

If anything, it all serves as a great reminder. If it happened at Sears, it can happen to anyone, I would think. Part of our jobs is to make sure it doesn't happen where we are while on our watch.