My father-in-law did a managerial stint with Sears once, and he always spoke highly of them.

He always told a story about a local entrepreneur who asked if they would consider carrying his product in the store. They told him to leave it, and they would get back to him.

A couple of weeks later they asked him back.

They told him they would like to sell his product, but could not agree to the wholesale price he was asking.

His face (said my father-in-law) fell to the floor. He mumbled that he didn't see how he could cut his price, and that he was pricing it on the barest of profit margins that he could stand.

The executives at the meeting smiled and said: "No, that's not the problem. We are worried that you could not meet our demands based on your price, and want you to consider raising it. We can sell this for a profit, and we want to make sure that you will remain in business so that can happen."

True story, as long as I can believe my father-in-law...and he had no reason to lie to us.

What are the chances that Sears would look out for the supplier these days?