Sears
I don't know about you, but when I think of the general term "department stores", the name Sears always pops into my head. Maybe that's because Sears has been around for such a long time. In fact, the company was originally founded way back in 1893 when two men, Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, came up with the idea of selling household goods to people living in remote rural areas. Sears and Roebuck's initial offerings consisted of items such as cooking stoves, sewing machines, ice boxes, and the like -- all of which could be ordered from a catalog.
I remember reading in one of my history textbooks that the catalog eventually came to represent much more to customers than simply a means of obtaining necessary goods. Instead, it became something of a connection to the outer world and was soon viewed as a welcome relief from feelings of isolation and boredom. So in just a few short years, Sears, Roebuck and Co., as the venture was now officially known, was a huge success. Actually, that original catalog business was so successful that the two partners didn't even think to open a retail store until 1925 in Indiana -- a full 32 years after they issued their first catalog!
The retail stores were an immediate hit, and consequently began springing up as stand-alone entities throughout the Midwest. In the early 1950s, Sears began the practice of building its stores as retail anchors in shopping malls across the country, which is how most people know of the brand today. As the stores got bigger, they were able to offer more and more items to consumers, and eventually became the first place that middle-class families turned to for all of their clothing and appliance needs. They had tremendous success with their own brand names, including Craftsman (tools), DieHard (automobile batteries), Kenmore (home appliances), and Joe Boxer (clothing). The addition of a store credit card helped cement Sears' position as the nation's largest retailer.
As a business entity, the Sears corporation was able to sustain its growth by diversifying. It is the parent company of such other well-known chains as K-Mart and Land's End. There was also a time when the company ran a lot of non-retail businesses, including the Allstate Insurance Company, the Discover credit card, and a national real estate firm. But those non-retail businesses, combined with intense competition from large discount chains such as Wal-Mart, were starting to affect the company's ever-shrinking bottom line, so they were eventually sold off or dropped altogether. Even the venerable Sears catalog, which had been a mainstay from the beginning, was dropped in 1993.
Despite all the ups and downs, I think the current makeup of Sears stores is remarkably similar to the vision that its founders had way back in 1893. After all, today's consumers still view Sears as a trusted place to buy stoves, sewing machines, refrigerators, and a whole lot more. Somehow, I think the two partners would be very satisfied to know how their little venture turned out!
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