A Short History of the Late Great Sears-- Part 1: The Beginning

From the May 14, 2017, Chicago Tribune "Sears was the Amazon.com of the 20th century" by Ron Grossman.

The history of Sears began on April 1, 1887, when Alvah Roebuck answered a want ad in a Chicago newspaper:  "Watchmaker wanted who can furnish tools, State age, experience, and salary required.  Address T 39."  Two days later he go a letter from Richard Sears, who was selling watches by mail.

Sears and Roebuck became partners, established a firm in Chicago and revolutionized the mail-order business by offering a money-back guarantee if customers weren't satisfied.  In the new firm's catalog, they boasted "We Can't Afford To Lose a Customer.

It didn't take them long to branch out from those watches.  Then came jewelry. silverware and then all sorts of things.

In 1897, Roebuck sold his interest in the company.  Hit hard by the stock market collapse in 1929, he returned to the company in 1933.

An American Success Story.  --DaCootBuck