Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Founded late 19th Century
Richard Sears worked for the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad company since he was seventeen. Sears worked as a station agent first in Minneapolis and then in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. A local Redwood Falls jeweler refused a watch shipment, so Sears disposed of
Sears moved to Chicago and in 1893, met Alvah C. Roebuck, a watch repairman, who joined him in the business. Recognizing the need that people in rural areas had for reasonably priced supplies and merchandise, Sears and Roebuck created a catalog of merchandise featuring sewing machines, sporting goods, bicycles, and clothing, all with a money-back guarantee. Two years later Sears sold his watch company and moved to Iowa, with the intentions of becoming a rural banker.
Sears returned to Minnesota and established a new mail-order firm selling watches and jewelry, with Roebuck as his partner. This A.C. Roebuck & Company later became Sears, Roebuck and Company and in 1893 moved to Chicago. In 1895, Julie Rosenwald, a clothing manufacturer, became part owner and, a year later, the Sears catalog grew to more than 532 pages, including shoes, women’s clothing and millinery, wagons, fishing tackle, furniture, china, musical instruments, buggies, baby carriages, glassware, refrigerators, dolls, stoves, and groceries. The company’s reputation for quality products and customer satisfaction was the key to their success.
In 1895 Roebuck sold his interest in the firm to Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald contributed his administrative skills which proved a successful complement to Sears's creative marketing. As a result of a disagreement over an advertising budget, Sears resigned as president in 1909. He thereafter, lived on his farm in the north part of Chicago. Julius Rosenwald's ran the company with skill and success. He became one of the richest men in the world.
Sales increased between 1908 and 1920, and in 1911 Sears began offering credit to its customers at a time when banks would not even consider lending. Rosenwald retired as president in 1924. He was succeeded by Charles Kittle, a former Illinois Central Railroad executive. In 1925 Sears began to take on its current shape when it opened its first retail store in Evansville, Indiana, thanks to the effort of then vice president Robert E. Woods, who realized that with the invention of the car and modern roads, the catalog business would decline as people made more frequent visits to the nearest city. Wood’s long career in merchandising had earned him the reputation of a genius.
Retailing became so successful for Sears that by 1931 the stores topped the catalogue in sales. As the company grew, Sears began to develop its own brands, including Craftsman (tools), Kenmore (appliances), Allstate (tires), and Diehard (batteries). In 1931, Sears launched Allstate Insurance Co., a subsidiary that sold automobile insurance. In 1933, Sears promoted the advertising campaign “Come See the Softer Side of Sears,” which promoted the quality and comfort of Sears’ products. During the early 1950s Sears began to stock more clothing as durable goods sales decreased. Between 1951 and 1960 Sears acquired virtually complete control of Warwick Electronics, which made televisions, radios, phonographs, and tape players. In 1961 it effected a merger between fifteen of its soft goods suppliers and created the Kellwood Company.
Robert Wood retired in 1954 at the age of 75, and died in 1969. A series of caretaker chairmen followed after him. The company had become big enough to justify its own shopping center development subsidiary, Homart Development, which had been formed in 1960. In 1973, the new headquarters opened in downtown Chicago, making the Sears Tower the tallest building in the world.
Up until 1980, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States with stores in Canada, Central and South America and Europe. However, during the 1980s, Sears also went through a major restructuring. It acquired the Dean Witter Financial Services Group and the Caldwell Banker Real Estate Group and closed many underperforming retail stores. In the 1990s, Sears sold its real estate and financial services business and returned to its retailing roots.
Another success story in the late 1990s was the Sears credit card, which contributed greatly to the company's revenue by attracting 6.4 million new cardholders in 1996 alone. In 1998, Sears introduced a new product website: Wishbook.com, which brought back the Sears Catalogue in an online format. One year later, Sears launched the company’s website: Sears.com. During 2004, Sears merged with Kmart stores to become the Sears Holdings Corporation. Sears, Roebuck & Company changed the way of life for many Americans. In doing so, it essentially became the central warehouse for the culture, assessing the needs of the common folk, and presenting them with exciting new products which were delivered to America's doorsteps. As a result, Sears became one of the most trusted economic institutions in U.S. history and eventually grew to be the seventh largest corporation in the world, during the twentieth century.
