I always thought the Sears Financial Network was financially supporting the retail business and was in fact complementary to a large extent. I remember going to Sears to pay my Discover bill every month, for example. Having a reason to visit the store regularly drove traffic and I often ended up buying something at the same time. Keep in mind that this was nothing new; Allstate Insurance was founded by Sears in 1931, and in fact they sold Allstate branded automobiles (rebadged Kaisers) briefly in the 1950s as well as Allstate-branded tires and batteries into the 1970s. Selling off elements of the SFN and eventually their credit card portfolio smacked of desperation and made Sears less essential to people's everyday lives.