Jump to content

Sears

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Sears Roebuck and Company)
This article is about the American chain of department stores. For the defunct Canadian chain of department stores, see Sears Canada. For the Mexican chain of department stores, see Sears Mexico. For other uses, see Sears (disambiguation).

Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1886 (138 years ago) (1886) (as R.W. Sears Watch Company)[1]
1892 (132 years ago) (1892)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Founders
Headquarters
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
,
U.S.
Number of locations
9 (September 2024)[2]
Area served
United States
Products
  • Clothing
  • footwear
  • bedding
  • bath
  • furniture
  • jewelry
  • beauty products
  • electronics
  • appliances
  • housewares
  • tools
  • toys
  • auto repair
RevenueDecrease US $10.52 billion (2024)[3]
Decrease −US$ -1,936.00 (2018)[4]
Parent
Websitesears.com

Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears (/sɪərz/ SEERZ),[6] is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago.[7] Through the 1980s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States.[8] In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box discount chain Kmart, which upon completion of the merger, formed Sears Holdings. In 2018, it was the 31st-largest.[9] After several years of declining sales, Sears's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018.[10] It announced on January 16, 2019, that it had won its bankruptcy auction, and that a reduced number of 425 stores would remain open, including 223 Sears stores.[11]

Sears was based in the Sears Tower in Chicago from 1973 until 1995,[12] and was later headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois from 1993 until 2021, the year when it announced that it would be selling its Hoffman Estates headquarters complex.[13] On December 12, 2022, Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC, and affiliated debtor Sears Hometown, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and on December 26 announced the liquidation of the 115 largely owner-operated Hometown stores.[14][15]

As of November 2024, there are nine Sears stores remaining, with eight in the mainland U.S. and one location in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.[2]

History

[edit]

Beginnings

[edit]
Sears' founders
Richard Warren Sears
Alvah Curtis Roebuck

Richard Warren Sears was born in 1863 in Stewartville, Minnesota, to a wealthy family which moved to nearby Spring Valley.[16] In 1879, his father died shortly after losing the family fortune in a speculative stock deal.[16] Sears moved across the state to work as a railroad station agent in North Redwood, then Minneapolis.

While he was in North Redwood, a jeweler refused delivery on a shipment of watches. Sears purchased them and sold them at a low price to the station agents, making a profit. He started a mail-order watch business in Minneapolis in 1886, calling it the R.W. Sears Watch Company. That year, he met Alvah Curtis Roebuck, a watch repairman. In 1887, Sears and Roebuck relocated the business to Chicago, and the company published Richard Sears's first mail-order catalog, offering watches, diamonds, and jewelry.

In 1889, Sears sold his business for $100,000 ($3 million in 2021 dollars) and relocated to Iowa, planning to be a rural banker.[17] He returned to Chicago in 1892 and established a new mail-order firm, again selling watches and jewelry, with Roebuck as his partner, operating as the A. C. Roebuck watch company. On September 16, 1893,[18] they renamed the company Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and began to diversify the product lines offered in their catalogs.

Before the Sears catalog, farmers near small rural towns usually purchased supplies, often at high prices and on credit, from local general stores with narrow selections of goods. Prices were negotiated and relied on the storekeeper's estimate of a customer's creditworthiness. Sears built an opposite business model by offering in their catalogs a larger selection of products at published prices.

By 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages, including many new items, such as sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods and automobiles (later produced, from 1905 to 1915, by Lincoln Motor Car Works of Chicago [no relation to the current Ford line]).[19] By 1895, the company was producing a 532-page catalog. Sales were over $400,000 ($12 million in 2021 dollars) in 1893 and over $750,000 ($20 million in 2021 dollars) two years later.[20] By 1896, dolls, stoves, and groceries were added to the catalog.

Despite the strong and growing sales, the national Panic of 1893 led to a full-scale economic depression, causing a cash squeeze and large quantities of unsold merchandise by 1895. Roebuck decided to quit, returning later in a publicity role. Sears offered Roebuck's half of the company to Chicago businessman Aaron Nusbaum, who in turn brought in his brother-in-law Julius Rosenwald, to whom Sears owed money. In August 1895, they bought Roebuck's half of the company for $75,000 ($2.7 million today), and that month the company was reincorporated in Illinois with a capital stock of $150,000 ($5.5 million today). The transaction was handled by Albert Henry Loeb of Chicago law firm Loeb & Adler (now Arnstein & Lehr); copies of the transaction are still displayed on the firm's walls.[21]

Early 20th century

[edit]
The exterior of the former Sears Merchandise Building Tower, now the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Tower
Former Sears Catalog Distribution Center and Retail Store in Memphis, Tennessee

Sears and Rosenwald got along well with each other, but not with Nusbaum; they bought his interest in the firm for $1.3 million in 1903 ($44.1 million today).[22] Rosenwald brought to the mail-order firm a rational management philosophy and diversified product lines: dry goods, consumer durables, drugs, hardware, furniture, and nearly anything else a farm household could desire.

Sales continued to proliferate, and the prosperity of the company and their vision for more significant expansion led Sears and Rosenwald to take the company public in 1906, with a stock placement of $40 million ($1.4 billion today). They had to incorporate a new company to bring the operation public; Sears and Rosenwald established Sears, Roebuck and Company with the legal name Sears, Roebuck and Co., in the state of New York, which effectively replaced the original company.[23] The current company inherits the history of the old company, celebrating the original 1892 incorporation, rather than the 1906 revision, as the start of the company.

Sears's successful 1906 initial public offering (IPO) marks the first major retail IPO in American financial history and represented a coming of age, financially, of the consumer sector.[24] The company traded under the ticker symbol S and was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1924 to 1999.

In 1906, Sears opened its catalog plant and the Sears Merchandise Building Tower in Chicago's West Side.[25] The building was the anchor of what would become the massive 40-acre (16 ha) Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex of offices, laboratories, and mail-order operations at Homan Avenue and Arthington Street. The complex served as corporate headquarters until 1973 when the Sears Tower was completed and served as the base of the mail-order catalog business until 1995.

By 1907, under Rosenwald's leadership as vice president and treasurer, annual sales of the company climbed to roughly $50 million ($1.6 billion today).[26] Sears resigned from the presidency in 1908 due to declining health, with Rosenwald named president and chairman of the board and taking on full control.[27]

In 1910, Sears acquired the David Bradley Plow company. This acquisition would lead to the manufacturing of riding mowers, chainsaws, tillers, etc., in the Bradley Illinois factory.[28]

The company was badly hurt during 1919–21 as a severe depression hit the nation's farms after farmers had over-expanded their holdings. To bail out the company, Rosenwald pledged $21 million ($358.7 million today) of his personal wealth in 1921.[29] By 1922, Sears regained financial stability.

Boom years

[edit]
Art Deco 1930s Sears store in Brooklyn, New York City
Store in Raleigh, North Carolina (c. 1952)
Typical Sears mall anchor store in the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon

Brick and mortar

[edit]

Rosenwald decided to shift emphasis to urban America and brought in Robert E. Wood to take charge. Rosenwald oversaw the design and construction of the firm's first department store, built on land within the Sears, Roebuck, and Company Complex. The store opened in 1925. In 1924, Rosenwald resigned the presidency but remained as chair until he died in 1932; his goal was to devote more time to philanthropy.[30]

The first store opened on February 2, 1925, as an experiment in the North Lawndale Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex.[31] Despite its remote location on the outskirts of Chicago, its success led to dozens of further openings across the country, many in conjunction with the company's mail-order offices,[32] typically in lower-middle-class and working-class neighborhoods, far from the main downtown shopping district. This was considered highly unconventional at a time when shopping was concentrated in city centers, but through World War II, there was an extensive streetcar network in Chicago and other U.S. cities. However, rapidly increasing car ownership and the brand's huge popularity helped attract customers.[33]

Sears retail stores were pioneering and broke the conventions of the time in three ways:

  • their location away from central shopping districts,
  • innovative store design, and
  • unconventional product mix and retailing practices.

Many stores at this time were designed by architect George C. Nimmons and his firms. The architecture was driven by merchandising needs rather than the desired outer appearance. This made the stores excellent examples of the modern architecture of the time—styles made famous by Bertram Goodhue and Eliel Saarinen.[32][33]

Its stores were oriented to motorists. Set apart from existing business districts amid residential areas occupied by their target audience, they had ample, free, off-street parking and communicated a clear corporate identity. In the 1930s, the company designed fully air-conditioned, "windowless" stores, such as Sears-Pico in 1939 in Los Angeles,[34][35] which was the first to have an open plan selling floor (instead of breaking up the floor into discrete sections).[32]

Sears was also a pioneer in creating department stores that catered to men and women. The stores included hardware and building materials. It de-emphasized the latest clothing fashions in favor of practical and durable clothing and allowed customers to select goods without the aid of a clerk.

Catalog

[edit]

In 1933, Sears issued the first of its Christmas catalogs known as the "Sears Wishbook", a catalog featuring toys and gifts, separate from the annual Christmas Catalog. From 1908 to 1940, it included ready-to-assemble Sears Catalog Home kit houses.[36]

Americas and Spain

[edit]
Main article: Sears in Latin America
Sears at Bello Monte in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1950

Sears opened a small store in Downtown Havana, Cuba in 1942. Sears opened its first store in Mexico City in 1947; the Mexican stores would later spin off into Sears Mexico, now owned by billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Sanborns, which in 2020 operated more than 75 stores across Mexico.[37]

Sears had sales of US$78 million in other territories in 1953. Over time, Sears expanded into all Central American countries, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Spain.[38][39] Currently Sears operates in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico.

Expansion

[edit]

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Sears built many urban department stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (apart from, but not far from, existing central business districts), and they overshadowed the mail-order business. Following World War II, the company expanded into suburban markets and malls. In 1959, it had formed the Homart Development Company for developing malls. Many of the company's stores have undergone major renovations or replacements since the 1980s. Sears began to diversify in the 1930s, creating Allstate Insurance Company in 1931 and placing Allstate representatives in its stores in 1934 (Allstate was also used as a house brand on a range of motorized vehicles sold by Sears). Over the decades, it established major national brands, such as Kenmore, Craftsman,[40] DieHard, Silvertone, Supertone, and Toughskins — and marketed widely under its private labels, e.g., marketing the Sears Archer 600 typewriter as a rebranded Silverette model, manufactured by Silver Seiko Ltd. of Japan.

The success of Sears outdoor products raised the attention of the Federal Government and the antitrust laws. Sears purchased David Bradley to manufacture farm and lawn equipment. Its success was broken up in 1962 as they sold more plows than John Deere.[41] Sears sold half of the David Bradley factory in Bradley, Illinois to the Newark Ohio Company that was shortly acquired by Roper Industries.

1970s pinnacle

[edit]

Sears reached its pinnacle in the 1970s.[42] In 1974, Sears completed the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, which became the world's tallest building, a title it took from the former Twin Towers in New York. Upon moving out of Chicago, Sears sold the Sears Tower in 1988.[43] In the sale contract of the tower, Sears retained its naming rights to the building until 2003, but the Sears Tower retained the name until early 2009, when London-based insurer Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. was given the building's naming rights to encourage them to occupy the building.[44] Sears moved to the new Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, between 1993 and 1995.[45] The Sears Centre is a 10,001-seat multi-purpose arena located in Hoffman Estates adjacent to the Prairie Stone campus.[46]

Mail order

[edit]

The Sears catalog became known in the industry as "the Consumers' Bible".[47] The company began selling to foreign customers after the American occupation of Greenland in World War II and the Philippines, among others, when locals ordered from catalogs left by soldiers.[48] Novelists and story writers often portrayed the importance of the catalog in the emotional lives of rural folk. The catalog also entered the language, particularly of rural dwellers, as a euphemism for toilet paper, as its pages could be torn out and used as such.[49] In addition, for many rural African-Americans, especially in areas dominated by Jim Crow racial segregation, the Sears catalog was a vital retail alternative to local white-population-dominated stores, bypassing the stores' frequent intention to deny them fair access to their merchandise.[50]

However, as the nation urbanized, Sears's catalog business faced competition from city department stores. Rural America's population was slow-growing and possessed far less spending power than urban America.

Decline

[edit]
The former Sears Tower, now the Willis Tower, in Chicago

In the 1980s, the company began to diversify into non-retail entities such as buying Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker in 1981. In 1984, it launched Prodigy as a joint venture with IBM, and introduced the Discover credit card in 1985. However, these actions have been said to have distracted management's attention from the core retail business and allowed competing retailers to gain significant ground, culminating with Walmart surpassing Sears as the largest retailer in the United States in 1990.[42]

In the 1990s, the company began divesting itself of many non-retail entities, which were detrimental to its bottom line. Sears spun off its financial services arm, which included brokerage business Dean Witter Reynolds and Discover Card. It sold its mall building subsidiary Homart to General Growth Properties in 1995.[51] Sears later acquired hardware chain Orchard Supply Hardware in 1996 and started home improvement store The Great Indoors in 1997.[52]

The cost of distributing the once highly influential general merchandise catalog became prohibitive; sales and profits had declined. The company discontinued the catalog in 1993. It dismissed 50,000 workers who had filled the orders.[42] In 1992, the company posted a $3.9 billion loss, the largest ever from an American retailer.[53]

In 1992, California successfully sued the company for falsely finding things wrong with automobiles in for repair for other reasons.[54] In 1997, criminal charges were made.[55][56] In 1998, Sears announced it had sold the remnants of Western Auto (which it had acquired in 1998) to Roanoke-based Advance Auto Parts. The business deal was not what experts in the after-market automotive industry expected: Sears, Roebuck became "one of the largest shareholders" after obtaining a 40% stake in Advance Auto Parts and merging their two store networks, which included Western Auto's wholesale and retail operations. The existing store network of Advance Auto Parts, comprising 915 stores in 17 U.S. states, merged with 590 U.S.-based Parts America Stores in addition to 40 Western Auto stores in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In 1997, Sears sold 85% of its Mexico affiliate to Grupo Carso. Sears Holdings continued to produce specialty catalogs and reintroduced a smaller version of the Holiday Wish Book in 2007.[clarification needed]

In 2003, Sears sold its U.S. retail credit card operation to Citibank.[57] The remaining card operations for Sears Canada were sold to JPMorgan Chase in August 2005.[58] In 2003, Sears opened a new concept store called Sears Grand. Sears Grand stores carried everything that a regular Sears carries, and more. Sears Grand stores were about 175,000 to 225,000 square feet (16,300 to 20,900 m2).

On November 17, 2004, Kmart Holdings Corporation announced it would acquire Sears, Roebuck, and Co. for $11 billion after Kmart completed its recovery from bankruptcy.[59] As a part of the acquisition, Kmart Holding Corporation, along with Sears, Roebuck, and Co., was transformed into the new Sears Holdings Corporation. The new company started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange as SHLD; Sears sold its single-letter ticker symbol 'S' in the New York Stock Exchange that it had held since 1910 to Sprint Corporation.[60] The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands. In 2005, the company began renovating some Kmart stores and converting them to the Sears Essentials format, only to change them later to Sears Grands.[61] The combined company's profits peaked at $1.5 billion in 2006.

By 2010, the company was no longer profitable; from 2011 to 2016, the company lost $10.4 billion. In 2014, its total debt ($4.2 billion at the end of January 2017) exceeded its market capitalization ($974.1 million as of March 21, 2017). Sears declined from more than 3,500 physical stores to 695 U.S. stores from 2010 to 2017.[62] Sales at Sears stores dropped 10.3 percent in the final quarter of 2016 when compared to the same period in 2015.[63]

Sears spent much of 2014 and 2015 selling off portions of its balance sheet; namely, Lands' End and its stake in Sears Canada, one of the biggest e-commerce players in Canada, with Can$505 million in sales in 2015—more than Walmart and others who had begun pushing aggressively into online sales, such as Canadian Tire.[64] Sears stated that the company was looking to focus on becoming a more tech-driven retailer. Sears's CEO and top shareholder said the sell-off of key assets in the last year had given the retailer the money it needs to speed up its transformation.[64] Sears Holdings had lost a total of US$7 billion in the four years to 2015. In part, the retailer was trying to curb losses by using a loyalty program called Shop Your Way.[64] Sears believed the membership scheme would enhance repeat business and customer loyalty in the long term.[64]

CEO Eddie Lampert also concluded an arrangement that sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. for approximately US$900 million.[65] In October 2017, Sears and appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation ended their 101-year-old association, reportedly due to pricing issues, although Whirlpool continued supplying Sears with Kenmore-branded appliances.[66] In May 2018, Sears announced it had formed a "special committee" to explore the sale of Kenmore.[67]

Bankruptcy and current operations

[edit]
A closed Sears store at Stones River Town Centre, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in April 2019, with signage still intact. The store closed two months earlier, in February 2019.

On September 24, 2018, the retailer's CEO warned that the company was "running out of time" to salvage its business.[68] Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, ahead of a $134 million debt payment due that day.[69] On November 23, 2018, Sears Holdings released a list of 505 stores, including 266 Sears stores, that were for sale in the bankruptcy process, while all others would hold liquidation sales.[70]

On January 16, 2019, Sears Holdings announced it would remain open after Lampert won a bankruptcy auction for the company with an offer to keep about 400 stores open.[11] On February 7, 2019, a bankruptcy judge approved a $5.2 billion plan by Sears's chairman and biggest shareholder to keep the business going. The approval meant roughly 425 stores, including 223 Sears stores, and 45,000 jobs would be preserved.[71]

A new Sears Home & Life store in Lafayette, Louisiana, as depicted in November 2020. It closed in May 2023 along with all other remaining small-format Sears stores in the U.S.

In April 2019, Sears announced the opening of three new stores with a limited set of merchandise under the name Sears Home & Life.[72] Also that month, Sears closed its store at Windward Mall in Kaneohe, Hawaii, and its store at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois (which was razed and already rebuilt as a 1-story store), making it the first post-bankruptcy closure for the brand since being bought by ESL.[73][74]

On June 3, 2019, the company announced that Transform Holdco would acquire Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores. As per deal, it might need to divest its Sears Outlet division to gain approval.[75] On August 6, 2019, it was announced that 26 stores would close that October, including 21 Sears stores, among them the last Sears stores in Alabama and West Virginia, at Riverchase Galleria in Hoover and at Huntington Mall in Barboursville, respectively. The announcement also included plans to "accelerate the expansion of our smaller store formats which includes opening additional Home & Life stores and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores after the Sears Hometown and Outlet transaction closes."[76] On August 31, 2019, management announced that Transform would close an additional 92 stores, including 15 Sears stores, by the end of 2019. Near the end of 2019, Sears sold the brand name DieHard to Advance Auto Parts for $200 million.[77]

A total of 100 more stores closed by January 2020.[78] 51 Sears stores were closed in February 2020.[79] More stores continued to close throughout 2020 and 2021, including the final Sears in Maine at The Maine Mall.

The Sears store at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, the last Illinois Sears store to close on November 14, 2021

In September 2021, the company's website listed 35 Sears stores.[80] That month, Sears announced that it would close more stores, including the last Sears store in New York City. The New York City Sears closed by November 24, 2021, with the potential to be redeveloped.[81][82] Transformco announced in December 2021 its plans to sell the 2.3 million-square-foot Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, which includes 100 acres of undeveloped land.[83]

On January 19, 2022, Sears shut the remaining 15 Sears Auto Centers in the United States with a message on the Sears Auto Center website stating: "Auto Centers have closed for business. We appreciate your patronage over the years. If you have any questions concerning warranty claims, please visit us at Sears Help."[84]

In May 2022, it was announced that roughly 100 more Sears Hometown stores, including the last four in Michigan, would close permanently.[85][86][87] On December 13, 2022, Sears Hometown filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[14] It was later revealed that all remaining Sears Hometown stores would be liquidated and permanently closed.[88]

As of September 2024, there are nine Sears stores remaining, with eight in the mainland U.S. and one location in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.[2] The company's U.S. website, Sears.com, remains active for online purchases.[citation needed]

Corporate affairs

[edit]
[edit]
  • Logo used in 1907
    Logo used in 1907
  • Logo used from 1966 to 1984
    Logo used from 1966 to 1984
  • Logo used from 1984 to 1994
    Logo used from 1984 to 1994
  • Logo used from 1994 to 2004; a red version of this logo is still used by Sears Mexico.
    Logo used from 1994 to 2004; a red version of this logo is still used by Sears Mexico.
  • Logo used from 2004 to 2010 in the United States
    Logo used from 2004 to 2010 in the United States
  • Logo used from 2010 to 2019
    Logo used from 2010 to 2019
  • Logo used from 2020 to Present
    Logo used from 2020 to Present

Sponsorships

[edit]

Before the company filed for bankruptcy, Sears sponsored many entertainment and sporting events.

From 2006 until 2020, it had the naming rights to an 11,000-seat multi-purpose family entertainment, cultural and sports center in Hoffman Estates, the Now Arena.[89]

The company sponsored the television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.[90] The company also underwrote the PBS television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, under the name The Sears-Roebuck Foundation, from the show's premiere in 1968 until 1992.[91]

Through the Sears Auto Centers, the company sponsored the Formula Drift Darren McNamara Sears/Falken Saturn Sky drift car.[citation needed] It sponsored the NASCAR Truck Series, using the Craftsman brand as the title sponsor, from the series' inception in the 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series presented by Craftsman to the 2008 season, when the agreement ended.[92] It sponsored the #10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports car of Scott Riggs for the September 2, 2007, running of the Sharp AQUOS 500 at California Speedway through its Sears Auto Center branch.[citation needed] However, Riggs failed to qualify for the event. In 2016, Craftsman became the title sponsor of the World Racing Group, World of Outlaws Sprint car racing series.[93][failed verification]

Employee relations

[edit]
Sears building in the Edificio La Nacional building in Mexico City, across from the Palacio de Bellas Artes

Sears has struggled with employee relations. One notable example was the shift in 1992 from an hourly wage based on longevity to a base wage (usually between US$3.50 and US$6 per hour) and commissions ranging from 0.5% to 11%. Sears said the new base wage, often constituting a substantial (up to 40%) cut in pay, was done "to be successful in this highly competitive environment".[94]

In early October 2007, Sears cut commission rates for employees in some departments to between 0.5% and 4% but equalized the base wage across all Home Improvement and Electronics departments. In 2011, commission rates on non-base items were cut by 2% in the electronics department. In late 2009, the electronic department's commission on "base items" was cut to 1%. As of 2017, appliances is the only remaining department where compensation is based entirely on commission. Other departments give a base pay plus commission. In many stores, jewelry department associates receive a low base salary with a 1% commission on their sales.

In March 2019, Sears said that it was ending life insurance benefits for an undisclosed number of its 90,000 retirees. A few months earlier, the company had handed out over $25 million in bonuses to executives.[95] This key Sears Retiree Benefit was worth between $5,000 and $15,000 for most of the pool (29,000) of eligible retired employees.[96]

In May 2019, former Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert, months after purchasing the remains of Sears from the holding company, threatened not to pay out the $43 million in pension payments[97] owed to 90,000 former Sears and Kmart employees and retirees.[98] A Forbes editorial pointed out that Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury at the time, was a board member of Sears Holding until 2016 and was, at the time, one of three directors of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which manages administration of pensions for defunct or bankrupt businesses.[99]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Sears – History & Facts". Britannica. December 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "How Many Sears Stores Are Left?". September 26, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  3. ^ Eulerpool (2024). 2Sears Holdings Revenue 2024 (Report). Eulerpool Research Systems Pte. Ltd. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Morning Star Sears Corp Income Statement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "ESL Investments Completes Acquisition of Sears Holdings' Assets" (Press release). ESL Investments. February 11, 2019. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2019 – via Business Wire.
  6. ^ "What Is the Official Name of Sears?". December 9, 2020. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Emmet, Boris; Jeuck, John (1950). Catalogues and Counters: A History of Sears, Roebuck and Company. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-2262-0710-0.
  8. ^ "1990 Sales Lift Wal-mart Into Top Spot". Sun-Sentinel. Delray Beach, Florida. February 15, 1991. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  9. ^ "2017 Top 100 Retailers". Stores. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  10. ^ Corkery, Michael (October 14, 2018). "Sears, the Original Everything Store, Files for Bankruptcy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Kapner, Suzanne; Rizzo, Lillian; Biswas, Soma (January 16, 2019). "Sears to Stay Open, after Edward Lampert Prevails in Bankruptcy Auction". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  12. ^ "History of Sears, Roebuck, and Company and the Willis (Sears) Tower". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  13. ^ Channick, Robert. "Sears plans to sell Hoffman Estates headquarters". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Valinsky, Jordan (December 13, 2022). "Sears Hometown files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection". CNN. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Last Sears in Michigan preparing to close". Tri-County Times. January 3, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Richard Sears Archived November 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Spring Valley Methodist Church Museum, Accessed January 17, 2011.
  17. ^ "Richard W. Sears – American merchant". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  18. ^ Kriebel, Bob. "Sears co-founder got start fixing watches". Journal and Courier. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  19. ^ Clymer, Floyd (1950). Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925. New York: Bonanza. p. 90.
  20. ^ "Sears History – 1890s." Archived August 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Sears. Last updated September 27, 2004.
  21. ^ Lehr, Louis A. Jr. (October 17, 2013). Arnstein & Lehr LLP, The First 120 Years: A Foundation for the Future. Arnstein & Lehr. ISBN 978-0-6158-9503-1.
  22. ^ Emmet & Jeuck 1950, pp. 47–53.
  23. ^ Sears, Roebuck and Co.Archived December 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Sears, Roebuck and Company (Co.) 1906 New York incorporation
  24. ^ Gregory D. L. Morris (2007). "Attention Shoppers: 1906 Sears IPO Heralds the Triumph of the Consumer Economy". Financial History. Issue 88, pp 20–36.
  25. ^ Oharenko, John; Homan Arthington Foundation (March 29, 2006). Historic Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog Plant. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-1664-2.
  26. ^ Emmet & Jeuck 1950, p. 57.
  27. ^ Emmet & Jeuck 1950, pp. 183–184.
  28. ^ "David Bradley: 1910-1966". Sears Archives. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  29. ^ "Julius Rosenwald Pledges $20,000,000 For Sears-Roebuck". The New York Times. December 30, 1921. ProQuest 98483996.
  30. ^ Ascoli, Peter M. (May 23, 2006). Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck And Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South. Indiana University Press. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-2531-1204-0.
  31. ^ "Store History - Chicago, Illinois". Sears Archives. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  32. ^ a b c Longstreth, Richard (June 2006). "Sears, Roebuck and the Remaking of the American Department Store" (PDF). Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 65 (2). George Washington University: 238–279. doi:10.2307/25068266. JSTOR 25068266. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  33. ^ a b Howard, Vicki (July 25, 2017). "The Rise and Fall of Sears: How the retail store that taught America how to shop navigated more than a century of economic and cultural change". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  34. ^ "Sears-Pico Store to Open Today: Great Crowds Expected When Doors Open at 9:30 Mayor and Prominent Citizens Will Attend Simple Ceremony; Ample Free Parking Provided". Los Angeles Times. October 19, 1939. p. B1. ProQuest 164941312.
  35. ^ "Architectural Motif Seen Wholly Functional". Los Angeles Times. October 19, 1939. p. B1. ProQuest 164982229.
  36. ^ "Sears mail-order homes". Modular Today. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  37. ^ "Acerca de Nosotros" [About Us]. Sears (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2022. Sears is currently a 100% Mexican company and has more than seventy-five stores throughout the country. It offers basic auto repair services and service contracts for the home appliances it sells.
  38. ^ "Sears to open in Peru", New York Times 22 December 1953
  39. ^ "Sears Expanding in Latin America; Bogota Store, to Open in Summer, Will Be 25th in Chain", New York Times, 8 March 1954
  40. ^ Kass, Arielle (June 10, 2012). "Private brands an edge for stores". Business. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vol. 64, no. 162 (Final ed.). pp. D1, D5. Retrieved January 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Link to second half of article.
  41. ^ Marek, Dennia (September 7, 2013). "Remembering when manufacturing was big". Sears Suburban Backyard Tractor Club. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  42. ^ a b c Kapner, Suzanne (March 15, 2019). "How Sears lost the American shopper". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  43. ^ "Willis Tower History | Skydeck Chicago History and Story". Skydeck Chicago. April 28, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  44. ^ Conlon, Michael (March 12, 2009). "Tallest U.S. building to get new name". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  45. ^ "Transportation Management Association: Public Transportation to Prairie Stone". Prairie Stone. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  46. ^ "Sears Centre Arena". The Village of Hoffman Estates. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved February 7, 2007. Prairie Stone Business Park, Current Sears headquarters location and Sears Centre.
  47. ^ Passikoff, Robert. "A Love Song To Mr. Sears & Mr. Roebuck, Who Could Use One About Now". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  48. ^ Lockhart, Katie (December 27, 2019). "How This Abandoned Mining Town in Greenland Helped Win World War II". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  49. ^ Rodriguez, Linda (July 8, 2009). "Why toilet paper belongs to America". CNN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  50. ^ Farzan, Antonia Noori. "How Sears mail-order catalogs undermined Jim Crow racism". Chicago Tribune. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  51. ^ Zarroli, Jim (April 19, 2009). "Retail Real Estate Braces For Sell-Off". NPR News. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  52. ^ Katz, Donald R. (1987). The Big Store. New York: Viking Press. pp. 272–273. ISBN 978-0-6708-0512-9. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  53. ^ Lundegaard, Karen (1997). "Caldor at Seven Corners may become next Sears". Washington Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 20, 2002. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  54. ^ Gellene, Denise (September 3, 1992). "Sears to Repair Image with $46 Million in Coupons : Retailing: It may be the largest such consumer fraud settlement ever. California auto centers will be on probation for 3 years". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  55. ^ McCormick, John (February 2, 1999). "The Sorry Side of Sears". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  56. ^ Mikolajczyk, Sigmund J. (August 21, 1995). "Sears Slapped With Tire Service Fraud Suit". Tire Business. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  57. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (July 16, 2003). "Sears to Sell Card Portfolio To Citigroup For $3 Billion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  58. ^ "JPMorgan to buy credit card unit of Sears Canada". Chicago Tribune. September 1, 2005. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  59. ^ "Kmart, Sears to merge in $11B deal". CNN. November 17, 2004. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  60. ^ "S stands for Sears, but not much longer". Chicago Tribune. February 2, 2005. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  61. ^ "Sears ditches Sears Essentials name". Crain's Chicago Business. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on July 21, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  62. ^ "Sears Holdings Fourth Quarter 2016 Earnings Release" (PDF). Sears Holdings. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  63. ^ Zumbach, Lauren (March 27, 2017). "Sears CEO Lampert takes bigger stake in ailing chain, shares jump". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  64. ^ a b c d "Sears Holdings". Archived from the original on June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  65. ^ Coleman-Lochner, Lauren; Coffey, Brendan (January 9, 2016). "Lampert's rescue of Sears puts him on the hook for $1.2 billion". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  66. ^ Stych, Ed (October 25, 2017). "Sears splits with Whirlpool appliances, splintering 101-year relationship". Dayton Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  67. ^ Isidore, Chris (May 14, 2018). "Sears moves to sell Kenmore". CNN Money. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  68. ^ Isidore, Chris (September 24, 2018). "Time is running out for Sears, CEO warns". CNN Money. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018.
  69. ^ Siegel, Rachel (October 15, 2018). "Sears files for bankruptcy after years of turmoil". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018.
  70. ^ "List of Sears Stores to Be Sold and Other Bankruptcy Developments". Seeking Alpha. November 23, 2018. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  71. ^ "Sears gets to stay in business: Bankruptcy judge OKs Eddie Lampert's plan". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. February 2018. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  72. ^ "Sears opening stores for a change". Retail Dive. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  73. ^ Consillio, Kristen (April 15, 2019). "Windward Mall Sears closing on April 28". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  74. ^ Fieldman, Chuck. "Sears closing Oakbrook Center store Sunday; liquidation under way". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  75. ^ "Sears Parent Co. Buying Sears Hometown And Outlet Stores". WBBM News. June 3, 2019. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  76. ^ Tyko, Kelly (August 6, 2019). "Sears and Kmart store closings: 26 stores to close in October". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  77. ^ Tyko, Kelly. "Sears Sells DieHard Brand to Advance Auto Parts for $200 Million". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  78. ^ Tyko, Kelly (August 31, 2019). "Kmart, Sears store closings: More locations to close by end of 2019". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  79. ^ Tyko, Kelly; Bomey, Nathan (November 7, 2019). "Sears and Kmart store closings: 51 Sears, 45 Kmart locations to shutter. See the list". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  80. ^ Thomas, Lauren (September 16, 2021). "Sears is shutting its last store in Illinois, its home state". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  81. ^ "Sears closing up shop in New York City". The Real Deal. September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  82. ^ Garcia, Kristine (September 22, 2021). "Sears to close Brooklyn store, the last in NYC". WPIX News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  83. ^ "Sears to sell its suburban Chicago corporate headquarters". ABC News. December 17, 2021.
  84. ^ Davis, Bruce (January 19, 2022). "Sears Auto Centers closes last 15 locations". Tire Business.
  85. ^ Rahal, Sarah (May 30, 2022). "Four Sears Hometown stores in Michigan to close". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 5, 2022. Four Sears Hometown stores have announced permanent shutdowns in Michigan this month with closeout sales, leaving the storied retail name all but absent from the state. Stores in Escanaba, Houghton, Ionia and Sault Ste. Marie posted on their Facebook sites about the closings, which come less than a year after Michigan's last Sears department store, in Westland, closed in June 2021.
  86. ^ Valinsky, Jordan (May 31, 2022). "About 100 Sears Hometown stores are closing". CNN. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  87. ^ Weil, Andrew (May 30, 2022). "Sears store closing list: At least 90 Hometown stores to close". KARE News. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  88. ^ Coleman, Kali (December 28, 2022). "Sears Is Liquidating and Closing All Remaining Hometown Stores". Best Life. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  89. ^ Peterson, Eric (September 1, 2020). "The Sears Centre Arena has a new name today: the Now Arena". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  90. ^ Elliott, Stuart (December 3, 2003). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; On ABC, Sears Pays to Be Star Of New Series". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  91. ^ Ogintz, Eileen (March 6, 1988). "Neighborhood Hero". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 26, 2022. Two years later the show was distributed to several public television stations on the East Coast and nationally in 1968, with the sponsorship of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation.
  92. ^ "Craftsman Dropping Sponsorship of NASCAR Truck Series". The Kansas City Star. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 6, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  93. ^ "Sprint Car Homepage". World of Outlaws. January 15, 2021. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  94. ^ "600-plus Sears jobs to be cut". Chicago Tribune. February 13, 1992.
  95. ^ Folley, Aris (March 30, 2019). "Sears cutting life insurance benefits for up to 90,000 retirees: report". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  96. ^ Mooney, John (July 30, 2019). "Sears Retiree Benefit". ChoiceSeniorLife.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019.
  97. ^ Isidore, Chris (May 29, 2019). "Sears' owner wants to get out of paying $43 million in severance to former employees". CNN Business. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  98. ^ "Government fears Eddie Lampert would wipe out Sears' pension plans". CBS News. February 1, 2019. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  99. ^ "The Shameless Sears World Of Eddie Lampert Continues". Forbes. June 3, 2019. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2019.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sears&oldid=1258842353"