Sears, Roebuck & Company

Circa-1897

In 1886, Richard Warren Sears established the R.W. Sears Watch Company in a former railroad station, in North Redwood, Minnesota. In 1887, he moved operations to Chicago and hired Alvah Curtis Roebuck as a watch repairman. The first mail-order catalog was issued in 1887, with the Sears Roebuck & Company moniker being established in 1893.


Richard Warren Sears (1863-1914) was born in Stewartville, Minnesota. He eventually founded "The Cheapest Supply House on Earth."
Photo from Sears, Roebuck & Company Annual Report 1940


The North Redwood railroad station, in Minnesota, housed the original R.W. Sears Watch Company.
Drawing from Sears, Roebuck & Company Annual Report 1940


Alvah Curtis Roebuck (1864-1948) hailed from Tippecanoe County, Indiana. He was hired by Richard Sears to repair watches and eventually became a co-founder of the Sears enterprise.
Photo from Sears, Roebuck & Company Annual Report 1940  

Soon after the turn of the century, Sears followed Montgomery Ward's lead by establishing an unconditional money-back guarantee. Between 1908 and 1920, business increased six-fold, outstripping Montgomery Ward, by then Sears' primary competitor.

To facilitate Sears' burgeoning mail order business, a national network of Merchandise Buildings was established. Each of these distribution plants eventually housed a Sears Retail Department Store. The first opened, at the Chicago Merchandise Building, on February 2, 1925. 

Kansas City Merchandise Building was dedicated on September 20, 1925. In total area, it covered 1,500,000 square feet, with the Retail Department Store encompassing 2 levels and 98,000. Said store sold "anything from a paper of pins to a $10,000 residence." On the second floor was a full-size model home, complete with furnishings from the Sears Catalog. 

Circa-1921


Sears' first Retail Department Store opened in February 1925. It was installed in the company's Merchandise Building headquarters & distribution center, in Chicago. By late 1925, there were also Sears Merchandise Building plants in Kansas City, Dallas and Seattle.
Photo from Sears, Roebuck & Company


The first freestanding Retail Department Store began business, in Evansville, Indiana, on October 5, 1925. It was installed in a former hardware store and was promoted with this logo. 
Graphic from Sears, Roebuck & Company