hings to people besides watches. They started to sell flour, especially to farmers, because they bought in bulk and were able to sell it cheaper. They became known with the motto "Shop at Sears and Save." "In 1895 was producing a 532-page catalog with many other items. This book offered shoes, women's garments and millinery, wagons, fishing tackle, stoves, furniture, china, musical instruments, saddles, firearms, buggies, bicycles, baby carriages and glassware, in addition to watches and jewelry." Since then they have added many new products including an entire clothing line, Craftsman tools (Private branding), appliances featuring Kenmore, computer and office supplies, and lawn and garden mowers and utilities. What Sears has Done I believe that Sears has re-addressed its target market to increase penetration in the market and expand in new markets. Sears has refocused its market concept. In the past Sears was where your grandparents shopped for quality product. As they sat back and enjoyed the comfort of their brand name and reaped the benefits, other companies sliced away at the market with new concepts in advertising until about five years ago, when Sears woke up to a lagging profit margin. Sears began a recovery to regain market shares lost through the last couple of years. To do this, they gathered their staff and began to focus on new innovative techniques, which would help them to focus towards the needs of their consumers. First they looked at the production that was well established but had to be reengineered. Some items could be eliminated or replaced by other brand name products to give the consumer a broader choice of items. For example, they sold the Advantis computer branch to IBM when the projected competition, which would limit revenues in this area. They also negotiated beneficial contracts with brand name companies for the exclusive retailing rights for their products. An example of this is the Nordic Track ...
