作者:A. Cooke、A. Friedman
DOI:10.1093/jdh/14.1.53
日期:2001.1.1
Several companies in the early 1900s offered high-quality, pre-cut and prefabricated houses in a great variety of styles. The most successful of these companies, in the years before the Second World War, was sears, Roebuck and Company. sears sold houses via mail-order catalogue and through their sales offices nearly 100,000 clients between 1908 and 1940. Despite their widespread success, however, Sears' Home Construction Division ultimately failed. The reasons for this failure can be understood in the context of their design flexibility, marketing strategy, approach to financing and the process of selling, delivering and erecting the houses. Sears' concept of packaging and shipping high-quality pre-cut materials and precise instructions directly to the client was sound. It was especially effective when combined with their ability to maintain flexibility and to offer a wide variety of designs. The company's marketing strategy was very skilful, and they were successful in convincing thousands of Americans that a Sears house would bring them the comfort and security of their dreams. Financing decisions and short-sightedness rather than poor marketing strategies or a substandard product caused the downfall in Sears' Home Construction Division. Their liberal financing policies did not take into account the possibility of economic recession nor did they allow for the reduced need for housing after 1924. Even so, their experiences in their prefabrication contributed to the current design and packaging of homes.
20 世纪初,有几家公司提供各种风格的高质量预切割预制房屋。在第二次世界大战之前,这些公司中最成功的是西尔斯、罗巴克和公司。1908 年至 1940 年间,西尔斯通过邮购目录和销售办事处销售了近 10 万套房屋。尽管取得了广泛的成功,但西尔斯的房屋建筑部门最终还是失败了。失败的原因可以从其设计的灵活性、营销策略、融资方式以及房屋的销售、交付和建造过程等方面来理解。西尔斯公司包装和运输高质量的预切割材料并直接向客户提供精确指导的理念是正确的。这种理念与他们保持灵活性和提供各种设计的能力相结合,尤其有效。公司的营销策略非常娴熟,他们成功地说服了成千上万的美国人,让他们相信西尔斯的房子会给他们带来梦想中的舒适和安全。造成西尔斯住宅建筑部衰落的原因是融资决策和短视,而不是营销策略不当或产品不合格。他们宽松的融资政策没有考虑到经济衰退的可能性,也没有考虑到 1924 年后住房需求的减少。即便如此,他们在预制方面的经验还是为当前的住宅设计和包装做出了贡献。