Sears Roebuck

"Sears Roebuck, the largest American retail and mail order chain (eight hundred and fifty stores and a catalog distributed in eighty million copies), offered Michelin in 1965 to sell its tires, because it refused, it explained, “to have cheap tires like its competitors and instead wants to consider the clientele.” Sears set only one condition: the Michelin car and truck tires it would distribute not only by mail order but also in its shopping centers must bear the group’s brand in this field: “Allstate.” To conclude the deal, Andy Bush, the buyer responsible for tires at Sears, came to Clermont-Ferrand. Before giving his agreement, François Michelin requested a fifteen-day reflection period. The company had never, unlike many of its competitors—especially American ones—accepted selling tires under a brand other than its own. Ultimately François Michelin accepted. America is well worth a mass. Sears is the third American business in the replacement tire market (after Goodyear and Firestone). It sells about ten percent of all tires purchased by American motorists. And one in four families has an open account with Sears."

"In 1977, the opportunity arises to acquire Galeries Anspach, a poorly controlled chain of stores whose activity is chronically unprofitable. Between 1971 and 1976, the world's leading distributor, the American group Sears Roebuck of Chicago, failed to improve its profitability."