1998 Volume 121 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

umbrella name for a host of
home improvement services,
from roofing and siding to
kitchen cabinet refacing. The
company's leading $3 billion
share in the $160 billion
home service industry is expected
to grow significantly
by the year 2000. Costello says
the 821 Sears department
stores will continue to be the
foundation of the enterprise.
They are located in some of
the best malls in the country
and a $4 biQion, five-year
modernization program will
keep them looking fresh.
When Costello says marketing
will become even more
challenging in the next two
years, he's talking about more
than just Sears. To survive in
the '90s and beyond, he says,
marketers face five key challenges:
a fragmented customer
and retail base,
fragmented media, an evolving
price-value relationship
(i.e. today's customers expect
high quality and low price), a
wider array of product
choices and distribution
channels, and the speed of
change itself. Competitive advantage
is now measured in
weeks instead of years.
Change, in many cases, is
not driven by marketers but
by technology. The personal
computer, for example, has
emerged as a entirely new
medium, although Costello
doesn't see the Internet replacing
stores anytime soon.
"It [on-line commerce] will
grow but will supplement instore
buying," he says. "In
many cases, there is no substitute
for touching and seeing
the product."
Costello works hard not to
become too inwardly focused
in business. He makes a special
point of visiting Sears
stores to talk to customers
and sales associates, who, he
says, provide him with some
of his best ideas. When he is
talking about "focusing on
customers" and "finding different
ways to reach them,"
Costello may sound like he is
quoting from a Marketing 101
textbook. But whether it be
teaming up with Michael
Jackson to sell Pepsi or telling
the world about the "softer
side" of Sears, Costello has put
such principles to test time
and again.
"To be successful," says
Costello, "you need to understand
your target customer
and determine how your
company or product can meet
her needs. Your company has
to offer more than your competitors
do. You surround
yourself with a team of the
very best people you can find,
act decisively, and don't be
afraid to take risks."
O Footnotes
Syracuse: Edgar Billups,
'56, was installed as Canon
Precentor of the Cathedral
Church of Saint Paul in San
Diego on Sunday, November
23.. Billups is in his
twenty-third season as organist-choirmaster
at Saint
Paul's. Canon Billups becomes
the first lay canon to
be seated in the Diocese of
San Diego. Southwest
Texas .Charles Seay, UT
Austin '36 , has had a
new medical building
built in his name. The
Seay Biomedical Building
will be an important asset
to the University and
its students Wabash: Bill
Hays, '37, was honored
by Wabash as the school
dedicated its newest
building to him.
Banta Library: Planned Invasion of Japan
The United States, in an effort to
obtain "unconditional" surrender
from the Japanese in World
War II, considered invading the
island nation in November,
1945. This book looks at the Siberian
weather systems that
could play a role in this attempt.
H.S. Yoder, Chicago '42, served
as a meteorologist on a U.S.
Navy expedition to Siberia. He holds a doctorate from MIT
and honarary degrees from the University of Paris and the
Colorado School of Mines.
American Philosophical Society,
Independence Square,
Philadelphia, Pa.
Beneath the
Horse's Eye
By Dale Jacobs
This collection of poetry by
Dale Jacobs, Alberta'87, shows
us scenes of coming of age in the Great Central Plains. The
poems talk of baseball, horses, guns, and the special moments
of a boy becoming a man. The poetry in the book is filled
with vivid imagery that often evokes emotion. This is the first
published collection of Jacob's work . $14.95, Spotted Cow
Press, 4216 -121 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6J 1Y8
www.spottedcowpress.ab.ca.
Bud Ruddle's Fishing Tips Rui RutiMB
Curtis S. "Bud" Ruddle
A "down home" book dedicated
to one of the world's favorite pastimes
by Phi Bud Ruddle, LaFayette
'51. The book explores a wide range
of fishing information including
knot tying, lure selection and presentation
and fish locations in various
water depths and temperatures.
The author weaves in humorous
anecdotes about fishing experiences
$10.95, Pentland Press, 5124 Bur Oak Circle, Raleigh,
N.C. 27612.
http://www.phidelt-ghq.com
SPRING 1998 THE SCROLL 11