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Homes As A Retail Funnel
- Richard Sears positioned new houses as a way to sell more household goods to newlyweds and younger families.
- The Modern Home Program aimed to fill new homes with new things — from Sears catalogs — not just sell structures.
Catalog Shaped How Houses Were Furnished
- Sears marketed houses with staged floor plans that specified spaces for consumer goods, shaping how Americans furnished homes.
- The catalog effectively taught buyers how to populate rooms with items sold in Sears' broader catalog.
Mortgages Bypassed Redlining
- Sears mortgages bypassed redlining and enabled many immigrants, people of color, and single women to buy homes.
- The company offered simple, widely obtainable loans that increased access to modern amenities like indoor plumbing.