Milford chronicle., 1938-05-27

i house
Few details are known about the ca.
n reer of this little mail order enterprise
which in those days. was scarcely more
/ than an experiment. IL must have been
K an instantaneous success. In q shorl
S time he moved TO Chicago and 1889 had
e made for its founder a sum OF money
= which. by the standards Of the eighties.
I was considerable fortune
:: Sears sold out and with S100. 600 10
| his credit played with the idea Of be-
coming a banker In an Iowa country
town. The fate OF what was to become
the Worlds Largest Store" hinged on
his decision at this point
But this is getting ahead Of the story
one OF the most stirring In the annals
Of American big business.
Richard w. Sears was Of English an
! cestry, and his father. who was black
smith and wagon maker had prosper
Gus business that resulted in the accu-
mutation Of quite fortune for those
days He, however. lost II all in stock
farm venture when Richard was about
.l5 years of age. IL fell to the youth TO
help support the family and when he
was about IL yenrs OF age, he Obtained
position with the Minneapolis and 81.
Louis railrOad i'm its general offices in
Minneapolis. There he conceived the
idea of working as n railroad agent
where possibly he could sell something
In his spare time. This led to his APP
pOintment as station agent AT North
Redwood.
sears was born salesman and In a
short time he had built up a good busl-
ness for the railroad and at the same
time he developed a profitable trade for
| himself through the sale OF coal, wood.
and lumber. He also did considerable
/ business i'm the shipping OF venison,
blueberries and other products. which
I hs bought from Indians and early white
| settlers.
| Sears started his mail order business
! with hand written letters. By the close
! of the year 1886. he had made sufficient
money to launch into the business on
a larger scale and he returned 10 Min
neapOlis. Feeling the need OF a more
central location as his trade continued
10 Increase. he moved 10 Chicago late
ia 1887 and went into business under
The name of r. w. Sears Watch Com
pany. BY this time Sears was advertis-
ing in newspapers and periodicals with !
national circulation and the business 1
was growing at a tremendous rate.
Then he advertised for a matchmaker I
10 take care OF his watch adjustments ,
and timing and A. C. Roebuck applied I
and was accepted for the position. Roe
buck also was Of English ancestry. His
great era ndfather came from one OF the
earliest colonies in Virginia and was
one of the two first settlers in Mercer
county. Ohio. His father was super
intendcnt Of construction for bridges on
the WABASH Railroad and lived in I.afa-
yette. Indiana. when a. c, Roebuck was
born.
Early in 1859 Sears sold his watch
business. BY this time. he had made Il
fortune of 100000 and planned TO go
into the banking business in Iowa. but
after becoming thoroughly rested and
still being greatly Interested i'm selling
merchandise he started mail order
watch and jewelry business In Minne-
In Nrrifh a !
buck later forming a corporation under
the name OF A C.. Roebuck and Com
pany, which continued in business un-
der that name until 1893. Al that time
The name was changed to Sears. Roe
buck aud Company.
In 1894 the two men started expand
ing their business. adding bicycles.
cloi hing sporting goods. harnesses. IN
fact. a general line OF the heavier mer-
rhandise. Again feeling the need OF a
more central location. headauarters for
the company We're moved to Chicago.
The first Chicago location was on
Adams street near Halsted. where
five story building was occupied. Al
first the company did not occupy The
entire building, which was 2" by i"o
feet but pantsa-S aha sKU1. sliptFr litoors
In a few months. however. the entire
structure was utilized and by ls96 the
business had grown so rapidly ihii
much larger quarters were required Ia
April of that year. the company noV'u
10 The corner Of Fulton ana d. sI,laines
streets, occupying building several
times larger than the one Oh Adams
street.
noebuck sold out has interest IN ls',
and so0n after retired from the hhsi-
ness. Julius Rosenwald buying an M
t4rcst in it Al that time the company
vas incorporated with capital OF
ll5O, ,000 ana Sears was elected pr"si-
lent and Roscnwald. vice president.
Sears was writing advertising copy al
some $50 900 to SEQ. .000 worth Of news
paper space a month with circulation
1f Approximately 30.0Od. .0"0 copies
The business grew almost too rapid (
y and hy 1915 the company had &c
rupied all available space ~ many
in the neighhorhOod of ITS g
store Receiving and shipping became
almost intOlerahl- under the conditions {
and the company was compelled 10 =
seek larger quarters. BY this Time thr
business had reached a total Of almost :
540. .000. 900 year.
A site along the right -Of-way of the $
Belt Line Railroad. the great rail dis II
rihutlng system In Chicago was OH II
aimed. Here the company built Il mer- "
.handiss. building comprising almost L.
No O0O square feet Of space. and office y
Iuilding and n power house. The new y
luatters were moved into IN l9U6 TINS
,hicago building has been enlarged re- v
,eotedly until il now comprises $780, u
NO salIare feet Of floor space. In lso6
nc business was reOrganized with u
otal capital Of SiO.O00. 400 Of which y
.30 900 On0 was common stock and Sid.- .
mo. 90 preferred. -
Three years later Sears retired from
M. business and ROsenwald was elect
a president.
In the first half decade Of the present
entury. tn, mail order industry passed
rom infancy to a robust adolescence
'irmIV established and following meth
,ds and policies which the years had
learly demonstrated to be sound. Sears,
and Company in 1906 entered
nto a pTetentiOns building campaign
The huge plant on Chicagos west
id. was erected and the first sllbstan-
ial mail order branch was established
1 Dallas, Texas. that year. The branch
ook care OF the cOmpany'S business IN
he southwest. Four years later, an
ther mail order house was bum M
eattle TO perform a similar function
Dr. the Pacific northwest.
with Chicago executing the com
anv's business in the east and middle
,est, and Dallas and Seattle serving
asDectiVely the southwest and nOrth- Il
est. no more regional units were re- /
,iired by the company until eleven
ears later. In 1921 new building
ampsien started I'm Philadelphia where
huge store was erected to serve the
astern seabOard and the middle Atlah-
g States. ,... i
Then In 1895 the building campaign
as resumed and continued at top pitch
ntil the dedication of the Boston mail
RIDER house In the late summer OF
l2s The building program after the
plant was performed as of
a ] a