Why is Sears dying?

[Joe Wooten]

Which brings up another issue that might be more appropriate for a different thread - why did the SEC fall asleep at the wheel (or enable the whole mortgage-loan derivatives process) and how is it that so few (if any) of the big players in the whole AIG conspiracy to commit massive criminal negligence go to prison?

The SEC and the rest of the federal government were in bed with the big banks/investment houses on this particular item, and still are.

[Applewood]

Montgomery Ward also had big, thick catalogs. I've seen one from 1895 or something, you could even order a memo pad through the mail for a nickel or a dime or something. Guns, wagons and just about anything delivered by mail.

I remember Ward.  The store wasn't a huge presence in my area, but a Montgomery Ward was an original anchor store at Century III Mall when the mall first opened.  For some reason, it didn't last long -- maybe a couple of years at best.  Eventually, the whole chain went under.

And now Century III itself is a dead mall.