Question: did sears and roebuck started by selling watches

Answer: Yes, In Minneapolis, he started a mail order watch business in 1886, calling it ``R.W. Sears Watch Company.'' Within the first year he met Alvah C. Roebuck, a watch repairman. The next year, they relocated the business to Chicago. In 1887, R.W. Sears Watch Company published Richard Sears' first mail-order catalog -- in this case, offering watches, diamonds, and jewelry. In 1889, Sears sold his business for $100,000 ($2.7 million today) and relocated to Iowa, intending to be a rural banker.