MEXICO CITY — On my travels, I often run into brands I figured had died. Each one of these discoveries fills my mind with Technicolor memories, where I relive them over and over.

Take Sears Roebuck , for example.

With more than 3,500 stores once, Sears was among the giants of U.S. retail; it sold appliances, tires, tools and almost anything else a consumer might need. But Sears (and its catalogue) became a “zombie brand” when the Chicago-based retailer proved less nimble, less stylish than rivals like Target and Kohl’s, which found space and profits in the multibillion-dollar consumer market.

So, here was Sears in the heart of this city, a block from Chinatown. On the outside, it looked like a full-blown Sears store, like its stores from my boyhood. Still, I doubt Sears will be what i

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