You have a very rosey view of the past. Sears was the number 1 retailer in this country for 40 years (worked there when I was in college). An amazing business accomplishment. It was so dominate it controlled a lot of the American manufacturers who supplied Kenmore and Craftsman. It squeezed those companies like an orange to stay on top. You never made a great salary in retail. People in my neighborhood were a little better than most because Sears had a stock plan and the stock went up every year, not like a Google but still positive every year. They were surpassed in the 80's by Kmart who as we know was beaten by Walmart. Walmart revolutionized distribution and sourcing from China. When you worked for any of these companies you generally did not make what we would call a very comfortable middle to upper middle class salary. The profit margins are too thin to pay a lot of salary in retail.