Sears (the man) was a brilliant marketer. He deliberately made his catalog slightly narrower and shorter than the Montgomery Ward catalog – his competitor – so that a tidy person would naturally put it on top when stacking them.

Apparently, when he and his partner discovered that their catalog was enabling black people to buy things that in-person retail wasn’t permitting them to buy, he said, in effect, “Why not?” and took steps to make it easier. For business reasons, but it turned out to benefit people as well.

Originally shared by Keith Wilson