Sears, Roebuck and Co.

In 1886 Richard Warren Sears founded the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to sell watches by mail order. In 1887 he relocated to Chicago and hired Alvah Curtis Roebuck, a watchmaker, to repair watches. The first Sears catalog was published in 1888 and only featured watches and jewelry. In 1889 Sears sold the company and founded Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1893 with Alvah Curtis Roebuck. In 1896 the first large general catalog was published. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald, a wealthy clothing manufacturer, bought out Roebuck’s interest, and reorganized the mail-order business while Sears wrote the company’s catalogs. In 1906 Sears opened its catalog plant and the Sears Merchandise Building... more.