When Retail Was Such A Different Trip

As baby boomers segue into the twilight, we’re finding ourselves in a vastly different world than the one in which we grew up. Despite the great advances in technology and being able to order goods online and have them in 24 hours, there’s a certain euphoria that goes with the thrill of an in-store buying experience.

Touching. Smelling. Taking it all in. Carrying it to the checkout and being greeted with a smile. Or…ordering something mail order out of the SEARS catalog and watching for the mail carrier.

Do you remember that?

I certainly do…

I think of SEARS, Montgomery Ward, W.T. Grant, Woolworth’s, S.S. Kresge, Hecht’s, Mervyn’s, Famous-Barr, and a host of other retail giants that are gone today.

The thrill of waiting…the anticipation…is gone…

We’ve suffered the unfortunate loss of great retail names never to return. SEARS is easily the greatest American retail tragedy considering the potential it had and what it might have been given leadership with vision and an interest in the greater good.

SEARS invented mail order buying more than 100 years ago. This is what gave SEARS the edge over Amazon decades ago. SEARS already had the home court advantage because it knew the turf and how to dominate the market.

SEARS made it easier for those living in rural communities to get what they needed without having to drive to the city. In fact, there was a euphoria that went with waiting a couple of weeks for a mail order purchase to arrive. You had to wait – and the anticipation was enormous. As a kid, it was like waiting for Christmas Morning. Raw anticipation was good – and it taught us to be patient and how to wait.

We don’t know how to wait patiently anymore.

Amazon Prime gets it to you yesterday. What’s not to like about that – right? I can tell you…this is not a good thing despite our obsession with immediate gratification these days. This approach to retail has inspired us to be impatient – unwilling to wait.

It has become a form of addiction.

We want what we want when we want!

This is not a good thing either. Why? Because, long term, retailers we’ve come to know will be gone due to tough competition and Amazon will be the sole survivor along with Walmart. It will swiftly become a “Don’t like our lousy service? Too bad…” Bedford Falls becomes Potterville and the buying public, long accustomed to getting it now, becomes royally screwed. This is the time to become independent and be willing to wait.

Best we prepare for coming monopoly and return to the old- fashioned approach to retail buying and be willing to wait. Blow the dust off your car’s dashboard, or your favorite catalog, and try buying the way we all remember.