The Rise & Fall of Montgomery Ward and the Rise of Sears

 During the earlier days of America, shipping goods to general stores was extremely expensive, but a company called Montgomery Ward changed that. They built railroads through their warehouses and connected them to the main railroad system, then used the U.S. Mail to ship items. However, as time passed, more people began to live in urban areas than in rural areas. An executive correctly realized that in order to survive they would have to make their won stores and was promptly fired for his very astute observation. Another company, Sears, began opening its own chain of stores. Montgomery Ward followed suit. As more time passed and malls began to exist, another executive again correctly realized that they should open stores in the malls. He too was fired. Sears again got to it quicker then Montgomery Ward. Montgomery Ward did open new stores in malls, but ultimately it was too late and the company went out of business. Sears saw how the times were changing, and changed accordingly. It survived, but Montgomery Ward didn't see the times changing until they had changed, and thus failed.