Sears

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| caption1 = Richard Warren Sears

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Richard Warren Sears was born in 1863 in Stewartville, Minnesota, to a wealthy family which moved to nearby Spring Valley.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181109035815/http://www.springvalleymnmuseum.org/wildersears.html Richard Sears]}}, Spring Valley Methodist Church Museum, Accessed January 17, 2011. In 1879, his father died shortly after losing the family fortune in a speculative stock deal. 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.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-W-Sears |title=Richard W. Sears – American merchant |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=December 3, 2017 |archive-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204065140/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-W-Sears |url-status=live }} 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,{{Cite web |last=Kriebel |first=Bob |title=Sears co-founder got start fixing watches |url=https://www.jconline.com/story/news/history/2016/12/09/sears-co-founder-got-start-fixing-watches/94190600/ |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=Journal and Courier }} 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. This also had the effect of helping black farmers during the Jim Crow Law era, when storekeepers may not make them the same offers. Sears built an opposite business model by offering in their catalogs a larger selection of products at published prices.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

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]).{{cite book |last=Clymer |first=Floyd |title=Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 |location=New York |publisher=Bonanza |date=1950 |page=90 |url=https://archive.org/details/treasuryofearlya00clym/page/90/mode/2up?q=sears }} 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.[http://www.searsarchives.com/history/history1890s.htm "Sears History – 1890s."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803132140/http://www.searsarchives.com/history/history1890s.htm |date=August 3, 2011 }} Sears. Last updated September 27, 2004. 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 $75,000 (${{Inflation|US|0.075|1895|r=1|fmt=c}} million today), and that month the company was reincorporated in Illinois with a capital stock of $150,000 (${{Inflation|US|0.15|1895|r=1|fmt=c}} 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.{{cite book |last=Lehr |first=Louis A. Jr. |title=Arnstein & Lehr LLP, The First 120 Years: A Foundation for the Future |date=October 17, 2013 |publisher=Arnstein & Lehr |isbn=978-0-6158-9503-1 }}

File:Sears Merchandise Building Tower.jpg, now the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Tower]]

File:Sears Building Memphis TN 06.jpg, in Memphis, Tennessee]]

Sears and Rosenwald got along well with each other, but not with Nusbaum; they bought his interest in the firm for $1.3 million in 1903 (${{Inflation|US|1.3|1903|r=1|fmt=c}} million today).{{sfn|Emmet|Jeuck|1950|pp=47–53}} 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 $40 million (${{Inflation|US|0.04|1906|r=1|fmt=c}} 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.[https://cepi.io/companies/sears-roebuck-and-co-/us_ny/27644 Sears, Roebuck and Co.]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042417/https://cepi.io/companies/sears-roebuck-and-co-/us_ny/27644 |date=December 1, 2017}} Sears, Roebuck and Company (Co.) 1906 New York incorporation 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.Gregory D. L. Morris (2007). "Attention Shoppers: 1906 Sears IPO Heralds the Triumph of the Consumer Economy". Financial History. Issue 88, pp 20–36. 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.{{cite book| title=Historic Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog Plant| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmJp_M57rkwC&q=Historic+Sears%2C+Roebuck+and+Co.+Catalog+Plant| publisher=Arcadia Publishing| date=March 29, 2006| first1=John| last1=Oharenko| author2=Homan Arthington Foundation| isbn=978-1-4396-1664-2}} The building was the anchor of what would become the massive {{convert|40|acre|ha|adj=on}} 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 $50 million (${{Inflation|US|0.050|1907|r=1|fmt=c}} billion today).{{sfn|Emmet|Jeuck|1950|p=57}} 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.{{sfn|Emmet|Jeuck|1950|pages=183–184}}

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.{{cite web| url=http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/davidbradley.htm| title=David Bradley: 1910-1966| website=Sears Archives| access-date=January 28, 2009| archive-date=June 10, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610070433/http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/davidbradley.htm| url-status=live}}

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 $21 million (${{Inflation|US|21|1921|r=1|fmt=c}} million today) of his personal wealth in 1921.{{cite news |title=Julius Rosenwald Pledges $20,000,000 For Sears-Roebuck |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 30, 1921 |id={{ProQuest|98483996}} }} By 1922, Sears regained financial stability.

File:Bedford Av Beverley Rd td (2019-03-30) 01 - Sears Roebuck & Company.jpg 1930s Sears store in Brooklyn, New York City]]

File:Sears, Roebuck and Company store in Cameron Village, Raleigh, North Carolina.jpg ({{Circa|1952}})]]

File:Lloyd Center Sears store from NE in 2017.jpg in Portland, Oregon, shown here in 2017. The store closed in 2018.{{Cite web |last=Effinger |first=Anthony |date=2023-02-15 |title=The Former Sears at Lloyd Center Mall Is Riddled With Debts |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/chasing-ghosts/2023/02/15/the-former-sears-at-lloyd-center-mall-is-riddled-with-debts/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Willamette Week |language=en}}]]

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.{{cite book| first=Peter M.| last=Ascoli| title=Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck And Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South| page=385| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_n_etmAykoC&q=death| date=May 23, 2006| publisher=Indiana University Press| isbn=978-0-2531-1204-0}}

The first store opened on February 2, 1925, as an experiment in the North Lawndale Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex.{{cite web| title=Store History - Chicago, Illinois| url=http://www.searsarchives.com/stores/history_chicago_first.htm| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626044311/http://www.searsarchives.com/stores/history_chicago_first.htm| archive-date=June 26, 2020| access-date=June 23, 2020| website=Sears Archives}} 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,{{cite journal| last1=Longstreth| first1=Richard| date=June 2006| title=Sears, Roebuck and the Remaking of the American Department Store| url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article-pdf/65/2/238/182865/25068266.pdf| url-status=live| journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians| publisher=George Washington University| volume=65| issue=2| pages=238–279| doi=10.2307/25068266| jstor=25068266| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207202257/https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article-abstract/65/2/238/59823/Sears-Roebuck-and-the-Remaking-of-the-Department?redirectedFrom=PDF| archive-date=December 7, 2021| access-date=June 23, 2020}} 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.{{cite journal| last1=Howard| first1=Vicki| date=July 25, 2017| title=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| url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rise-and-fall-sears-180964181/| url-status=live| journal=Smithsonian| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626173310/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rise-and-fall-sears-180964181/| archive-date=June 26, 2020| access-date=June 23, 2020}}

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.

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,{{cite news |title=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 |date=October 19, 1939 |page=B1 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |id={{ProQuest|164941312}} |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53692875/sears-pico-store-to-open-today/}}{{cite news |title=Architectural Motif Seen Wholly Functional |date=October 19, 1939 |page=B1 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |id={{ProQuest|164982229}}}} which was the first to have an open plan selling floor (instead of breaking up the floor into discrete sections).

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.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.modulartoday.com/searshomes.html |title=Sears mail-order homes |access-date=November 30, 2011 |archive-date=September 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909213832/http://www.modulartoday.com/searshomes.html |url-status=live |website=Modular Today}}

File: 3. Edificio Sears.jpg, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.sears.com.mx/acerca-nosotros/ |title=Acerca de Nosotros |trans-title=About Us |website=Sears |access-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629115146/https://www.sears.com.mx/Acerca_Nosotros/ |url-status=live |quote=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. |language=es}}

Sears had sales of US$78 million in other territories in 1953. Over time, Sears expanded into all Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and all Central American countries.{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/12/22/92772185.html?pageNumber=48, |title=SEARS TO OPEN IN PERU; To Form Subsidiary to Operate Its First Store in Lima |newspaper=The New York Times |via=TimesMachine |date=December 22, 1953 |page=48}}{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/03/08/92817872.html?pageNumber=36 |title=Sears Expanding in Latin America; Bogota Store, to Open in Summer, Will Be 25th in Chain |newspaper=The New York Times |via=TimesMachine |date=March 8, 1953 |page=36}} Currently{{When|date=December 2024|reason=In 2024, Sears does not operate stores outside of the US or its territories.}} Sears operates in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico.

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,{{Cite news |last=Kass |first=Arielle |date=June 10, 2012 |title=Private brands an edge for stores |edition=Final |volume=64 |pages=D1, D5 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |issue=162 |department=Business |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115631724/private-retail-brands/ |access-date=January 2, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115631744/private-retail-brands-pt2/ Link to second half of article]. 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.{{cite web |url=https://searssuburbanclub.webs.com/dyk-suburban-history |title=Remembering when manufacturing was big| website=Sears Suburban Backyard Tractor Club| first=Dennia| last=Marek| date=September 7, 2013 |access-date=August 22, 2022 }} Sears sold half of the David Bradley factory in Bradley, Illinois to the Newark Ohio Company that was shortly acquired by Roper Industries.

Sears reached its pinnacle in the 1970s.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-sears-lost-the-american-shopper-11552647601 |title=How Sears lost the American shopper |first1=Suzanne |last1=Kapner |date=March 15, 2019 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=March 24, 2019 |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323234040/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-sears-lost-the-american-shopper-11552647601 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://theskydeck.com/the-tower/past-future/ |title=Willis Tower History | Skydeck Chicago History and Story |website=Skydeck Chicago |date=April 28, 2016 |access-date=February 16, 2022 }} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52B54J20090312 |title=Tallest U.S. building to get new name |work=Reuters |date=March 12, 2009 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |first=Michael |last=Conlon |archive-date=March 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318041722/http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52B54J20090312 |url-status=live }} Sears moved to the new Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, between 1993 and 1995.{{cite web| title=Transportation Management Association: Public Transportation to Prairie Stone| url=http://www.prairiestone.com/transport_publictransport.html |website=Prairie Stone |access-date=August 26, 2022|archive-date=February 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201223306/http://www.prairiestone.com/transport_publictransport.html |url-status=live}} The Sears Centre Arena (renamed to NOW Arena in 2020) is a 10,001-seat multi-purpose arena located in Hoffman Estates adjacent to the former Prairie Stone campus.{{cite web |url=http://www.hoffmanestates.com/government/SearsCentre.shtml |title=Sears Centre Arena |website=The Village of Hoffman Estates |access-date=February 7, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212074252/http://www.hoffmanestates.com/government/SearsCentre.shtml |archive-date=February 12, 2007 }} Prairie Stone Business Park, Current Sears headquarters location and Sears Centre.

The Sears catalog became known in the industry as "the Consumers' Bible".{{cite news |last=Passikoff |first=Robert |title=A Love Song To Mr. Sears & Mr. Roebuck, Who Could Use One About Now |magazine=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpassikoff/2014/01/22/a-love-song-to-mr-sears-mr-roebuck-they-could-use-one-about-now/#200ace931f68|url-status=live|access-date=November 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129014021/https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpassikoff/2014/01/22/a-love-song-to-mr-sears-mr-roebuck-they-could-use-one-about-now/#200ace931f68 |archive-date=November 29, 2018 }} 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.{{cite magazine |last=Lockhart |first=Katie |date=December 27, 2019 |title=How This Abandoned Mining Town in Greenland Helped Win World War II |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-abandoned-mining-town-greenland-helped-win-world-war-ii-180973835/ |url-status=live |magazine=Smithsonian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228141720/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-abandoned-mining-town-greenland-helped-win-world-war-ii-180973835/ |archive-date=December 28, 2019 |access-date=December 28, 2019}} 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.{{cite news| author=Rodriguez, Linda| date=July 8, 2009| title=Why toilet paper belongs to America| work=CNN| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/07/07/mf.toilet.paper.history/index.html| url-status=live| access-date=August 29, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025005825/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/07/07/mf.toilet.paper.history/index.html| archive-date=October 25, 2010}} 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.{{cite news |last=Farzan |first=Antonia Noori |title=How Sears mail-order catalogs undermined Jim Crow racism |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=The Washington Post |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-history-racism-jim-crow-20181016-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617094048/https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-history-racism-jim-crow-20181016-story.html |archive-date=June 17, 2020 }}

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.

File:KM 5939 sears tower august 2007 B.jpg, 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.

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.{{cite news |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103172409 |title= Retail Real Estate Braces For Sell-Off |first=Jim |last=Zarroli |work=NPR News |date=April 19, 2009 |access-date=April 5, 2018 |archive-date=January 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116135703/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103172409 |url-status=live}} Sears later acquired hardware chain Orchard Supply Hardware in 1996 and started home improvement store The Great Indoors in 1997.{{cite book |first=Donald R. |last=Katz |title=The Big Store |date=1987 |publisher=Viking Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-6708-0512-9 |pages=272–273 |url=https://archive.org/details/bigstoreinsidecr00katzrich/page/272/mode/2up?q=%22dean+witter%22 |url-access=registration |access-date=August 26, 2022 }}

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. In 1992, the company posted a $3.9 billion loss, the largest ever from an American retailer.{{cite web |last=Lundegaard |first=Karen |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1997/03/03/story8.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021120234750/http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1997/03/03/story8.html |title=Caldor at Seven Corners may become next Sears |website=Washington Business Journal |archive-date=November 20, 2002 |date=1997 |access-date=June 7, 2024 }}

In 1992, California successfully sued the company for falsely finding things wrong with automobiles in for repair for other reasons.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-03-fi-7430-story.html |title=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. |first=Denise |last=Gellene |date=September 3, 1992 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=January 16, 2019 |archive-date=May 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524002741/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-03/business/fi-7430_1_auto-repair-fraud |url-status=live }} In 1997, criminal charges were made.{{cite magazine |last=McCormick |first=John |date=February 2, 1999 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/sorry-side-sears-168892 |title=The Sorry Side of Sears |magazine=Newsweek |access-date=January 16, 2019 |archive-date=January 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116100309/https://www.newsweek.com/sorry-side-sears-168892 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.tirebusiness.com/article/19950821/ISSUE/308219991/sears-slapped-with-tire-service-fraud-suit| title=Sears Slapped With Tire Service Fraud Suit| first=Sigmund J.| last=Mikolajczyk| magazine=Tire Business |date=August 21, 1995 |access-date=January 16, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807040851/https://www.tirebusiness.com/article/19950821/ISSUE/308219991/sears-slapped-with-tire-service-fraud-suit |url-status=live }} 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.{{Clarify|reason=Cannot follow this clearly|date=December 2021}}

In 2003, Sears sold its U.S. retail credit card operation to Citibank.{{cite news |last=Sorkin |first=Andrew Ross |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/16/business/sears-to-sell-card-portfolio-to-citigroup-for-3-billion.html |title=Sears to Sell Card Portfolio To Citigroup For $3 Billion |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 16, 2003 |access-date=January 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331042252/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/16/business/sears-to-sell-card-portfolio-to-citigroup-for-3-billion.html |url-status=live }} The remaining card operations for Sears Canada were sold to JPMorgan Chase in August 2005.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-09-01-0509010046-story.html |title=JPMorgan to buy credit card unit of Sears Canada |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=September 1, 2005 |author= |access-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220181305/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-09-01-0509010046-story.html |url-status=live }} In 2003, Sears opened a new concept store called Sears Grand. Sears Grand stores carried everything that a regular Sears carried, and more. Sears Grand stores were about {{convert|175000|to|225000|sqft|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.{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2004/11/17/news/fortune500/sears_kmart/|title=Kmart, Sears to merge in $11B deal|date=November 17, 2004|website=CNN|access-date=September 17, 2021|archive-date=September 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917221809/https://money.cnn.com/2004/11/17/news/fortune500/sears_kmart/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-02-02/business/0502020283_1_sears-and-kmart-ticker-symbol-sears-holdings-corp |title=S stands for Sears, but not much longer |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=February 2, 2005 |access-date=November 9, 2017 |archive-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005346/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-02-02/business/0502020283_1_sears-and-kmart-ticker-symbol-sears-holdings-corp |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19617 |title=Sears ditches Sears Essentials name |newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business |date=February 22, 2006 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-date=July 21, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721033137/http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19617 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web| url=https://searsholdings.com/docs/investor/eap/q4-2016-shc-earnings-release.pdf|title=Sears Holdings Fourth Quarter 2016 Earnings Release| website=Sears Holdings| access-date=March 9, 2017| archive-date=March 12, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312042021/https://searsholdings.com/docs/investor/eap/q4-2016-shc-earnings-release.pdf| url-status=live}} Sales at Sears stores dropped 10.3 percent in the final quarter of 2016 when compared to the same period in 2015.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-sears-lampert-stock-buy-0328-biz-20170327-story.html |title=Sears CEO Lampert takes bigger stake in ailing chain, shares jump |last=Zumbach |first=Lauren |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=March 27, 2017 |access-date=March 28, 2017 |archive-date=March 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327235310/http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-sears-lampert-stock-buy-0328-biz-20170327-story.html |url-status=live }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://fortune.com/fortune500/sears-holdings-99/ |title=Sears Holdings |access-date=June 4, 2015 |archive-date=June 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607101638/http://fortune.com/fortune500/sears-holdings-99/ |url-status=live }} 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. 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. Sears believed the membership scheme would enhance repeat business and customer loyalty in the long term.

CEO Eddie Lampert also concluded an arrangement that sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. for approximately US$900 million.{{cite news |date=January 9, 2016 |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/01/09/lamperts-rescue-of-sears-puts-him-on-the-hook-for-12-billion.html?source=newsletter |title=Lampert's rescue of Sears puts him on the hook for $1.2 billion |first1=Lauren |last1=Coleman-Lochner |first2=Brendan |last2=Coffey |newspaper=Toronto Star |access-date=January 9, 2016 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110015348/https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/01/09/lamperts-rescue-of-sears-puts-him-on-the-hook-for-12-billion.html?source=newsletter |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |last=Stych |first=Ed |title=Sears splits with Whirlpool appliances, splintering 101-year relationship |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2017/10/25/sears-splits-with-whirlpool-appliances-splintering.html |access-date=January 5, 2018 |newspaper=Dayton Business Journal |date=October 25, 2017 |archive-date=August 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804102532/https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2017/10/25/sears-splits-with-whirlpool-appliances-splintering.html |url-status=live }} In May 2018, Sears announced it had formed a "special committee" to explore the sale of Kenmore.{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/14/news/companies/sears-kenmore-sale/index.html |title=Sears moves to sell Kenmore |last=Isidore |first=Chris |work=CNN Money |date=May 14, 2018 |access-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-date=August 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823011406/https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/14/news/companies/sears-kenmore-sale/index.html |url-status=live }}

File:ClosedSears2019.jpg, 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.{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/24/news/companies/sears-eddie-lampert/index.html| title=Time is running out for Sears, CEO warns| first=Chris| last=Isidore| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015153103/https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/24/news/companies/sears-eddie-lampert/index.html| archive-date=October 15, 2018| website=CNN Money| date=September 24, 2018}} Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, ahead of a $134 million debt payment due that day.{{cite news| first=Rachel| last=Siegel| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/15/sears-nears-bankruptcy-after-years-turmoil/| title=Sears files for bankruptcy after years of turmoil| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015060047/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/15/sears-nears-bankruptcy-after-years-turmoil/| archive-date=October 15, 2018| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=October 15, 2018}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://seekingalpha.com/article/4224133-list-sears-stores-sold-bankruptcy-developments |title=List of Sears Stores to Be Sold and Other Bankruptcy Developments |date=November 23, 2018 |website=Seeking Alpha |access-date=November 24, 2018 |archive-date=November 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125070343/https://seekingalpha.com/article/4224133-list-sears-stores-sold-bankruptcy-developments |url-status=live }}

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. 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sears-bankruptcy-20190207-story.html |title=Sears gets to stay in business: Bankruptcy judge OKs Eddie Lampert's plan |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 2018 |access-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-date=February 8, 2019 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208010609/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sears-bankruptcy-20190207-story.html |url-status=live}}

File:Sears Home & Life.jpg, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/sears-opening-stores-for-a-change/552036/ |title=Sears opening stores for a change |website=Retail Dive |access-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404154701/https://www.retaildive.com/news/sears-opening-stores-for-a-change/552036/ |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/04/15/breaking-news/windward-mall-sears-closing-on-april-28/ |title=Windward Mall Sears closing on April 28 |first1=Kristen |last1=Consillio |date=April 15, 2019 |newspaper=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |access-date=May 4, 2019 |archive-date=May 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504172258/https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/04/15/breaking-news/windward-mall-sears-closing-on-april-28/ |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-brook/ct-dob-sears-closing-tl-0425-story.html |title=Sears closing Oakbrook Center store Sunday; liquidation under way |first=Chuck |last=Fieldman |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=July 3, 2019 |archive-date=July 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703022930/https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-brook/ct-dob-sears-closing-tl-0425-story.html |url-status=live }}

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.{{cite news |url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/06/03/sears-parent-co-buying-sears-hometown-and-outlet-stores/ |title=Sears Parent Co. Buying Sears Hometown And Outlet Stores |work=WBBM News |date=June 3, 2019 |access-date=July 7, 2019 |archive-date=June 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608001353/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/06/03/sears-parent-co-buying-sears-hometown-and-outlet-stores/ |url-status=live}} On August 7, 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/2019/08/26-sears-and-kmart-stores-closing-complete-list-of-closing-locations-including-1-in-alabama.html|title=26 Sears and Kmart stores closing; complete list of closing locations, including 1 in Alabama|first=Leada|last=Gore|date=August 7, 2019|website=al}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Tyko |first1=Kelly |title=Sears and Kmart store closings: 26 stores to close in October |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/06/sears-and-kmart-store-closings-2019-26-stores-close-october/1940039001/ |access-date=August 7, 2019 |newspaper=USA Today |date=August 6, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807053155/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/06/sears-and-kmart-store-closings-2019-26-stores-close-october/1940039001/ |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |last=Tyko |first=Kelly |title=Sears Sells DieHard Brand to Advance Auto Parts for $200 Million |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/12/23/diehard-batteries-advance-auto-parts-acquires-diehard-sears/2738605001/ |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301130237/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/12/23/diehard-batteries-advance-auto-parts-acquires-diehard-sears/2738605001/ |url-status=live }}

A total of 100 more stores closed by December 2019.{{cite news |last=Tyko |first=Kelly |title=Kmart, Sears store closings: More locations to close by end of 2019 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/31/kmart-sears-store-closings-more-locations-shutter-end-2019/2168435001/ |access-date=August 31, 2019 |newspaper=USA Today |date=August 31, 2019 |archive-date=August 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831071457/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/31/kmart-sears-store-closings-more-locations-shutter-end-2019/2168435001/ |url-status=live }} 51 Sears stores were closed in February 2020.{{cite news| last1=Tyko| first1=Kelly| last2=Bomey| first2=Nathan| url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/11/07/kmart-sears-store-closings-96-stores-set-shutter-february-2020/2521653001/| title=Sears and Kmart store closings: 51 Sears, 45 Kmart locations to shutter. See the list| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108180755/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/11/07/kmart-sears-store-closings-96-stores-set-shutter-February-2020/2521653001/| archive-date=November 8, 2019| newspaper=USA Today| date=November 7, 2019| access-date=August 26, 2022 }} More stores continued to close throughout 2020{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/02/06/sears-kmart-store-closings-list-2020/4675534002/|title=Sears and Kmart store closings continue. Is your location closing in early 2020?|first=Kelly|last=Tyko|website=USA TODAY}} and 2021{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2021/02/03/sears-kmart-closing-stores-list-2021/4371235001/|title=Sears and Kmart closing more stores. Is your location closing in 2021? See the updated closure list.|first=Kelly|last=Tyko|website=USA TODAY}} including the final Sears in Maine at The Maine Mall.{{Cite web|url=https://wcyy.com/end-of-an-era-the-last-sears-department-store-in-maine-is-closing/|title=End Of An Era: The Last Sears Department Store In Maine Is Closing|date=July 19, 2020|website=94.3 WCYY}}

File:Sears - Woodfield Mall (last day).jpg 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.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Lauren |title=Sears is shutting its last store in Illinois, its home state |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/sears-is-shutting-its-last-store-in-illinois-its-home-state.html |work=CNBC |date=September 16, 2021 |access-date=September 19, 2021 |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920011647/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/sears-is-shutting-its-last-store-in-illinois-its-home-state.html |url-status=live}} That month, Sears announced that it would close more stores, including the last Sears store in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2021/09/21/sears-kmart-closing-stores-list-fall-2021/5797637001/|title=Sears and Kmart closing more stores. Is your location holding a liquidation sale? See the list.|first=Kelly|last=Tyko|website=USA TODAY}} The New York City Sears closed by November 24, 2021, with the potential to be redeveloped.{{cite web| title=Sears closing up shop in New York City| url=https://therealdeal.com/2021/09/20/sears-closing-up-shop-in-new-york-city| website=The Real Deal| date=September 20, 2021 |access-date=October 16, 2021| archive-date=October 15, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015141722/https://therealdeal.com/2021/09/20/sears-closing-up-shop-in-new-york-city/| url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Sears to close Brooklyn store, the last in NYC |url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/sears-to-close-brooklyn-store-the-last-in-nyc/ |website=WPIX News| first=Kristine| last=Garcia| date=September 22, 2021 |access-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016184919/https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/sears-to-close-brooklyn-store-the-last-in-nyc/ |url-status=live }} Transformco announced in December 2021 its plans to sell the {{Convert|2.3|e6sqft|m2|abbr=unit}} Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, which includes {{Convert|100|acre|ha}} of undeveloped land.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sears-sell-suburban-chicago-corporate-headquarters-81814057 |title=Sears to sell its suburban Chicago corporate headquarters |date=December 17, 2021 |work=ABC News}}

On January 19, 2022, Sears shut the remaining 15 Sears Auto Centers in the United States.{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Bruce |title=Sears Auto Centers closes last 15 locations |url=https://www.tirebusiness.com/news/sears-auto-centers-close-last-15-locations |newspaper=Tire Business |date=January 19, 2022 |url-access=subscription }}

In May 2022, it was announced that roughly 100 more Sears Hometown stores, including the last four in Michigan, would close permanently.{{cite news |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/05/30/four-sears-hometown-stores-michigan-close/9991055002/?gnt-cfr=1 |title=Four Sears Hometown stores in Michigan to close |first=Sarah |last=Rahal |newspaper=The Detroit News |date=May 30, 2022 |quote=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. |access-date=June 5, 2022}}{{cite news| url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/31/business/sears-hometown-closures/index.html| title=About 100 Sears Hometown stores are closing| first=Jordan| last=Valinsky| website=CNN| date=May 31, 2022| access-date=June 15, 2022}}{{cite news| url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/nation-world/sears-store-closings-2022-full-list-hometown-locations/507-e9194dc5-c0c8-444b-9fa0-ee4301bf0f9a| title=Sears store closing list: At least 90 Hometown stores to close| first=Andrew| last=Weil| work=KARE News| date=May 30, 2022| access-date=June 15, 2022}} On December 13, 2022, Sears Hometown filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.{{cite news |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=December 13, 2022 |title=Sears Hometown files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/business/sears-hometown-bankruptcy/index.html |access-date=December 16, 2022 |website=CNN }} It was later revealed that all remaining Sears Hometown stores would be liquidated and permanently closed.{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Kali |date=December 28, 2022 |title=Sears Is Liquidating and Closing All Remaining Hometown Stores |url=https://bestlifeonline.com/sears-closing-all-hometown-stores-news/ |access-date=December 30, 2022 |website=Best Life}}

{{As of|2024|12|post=,}} there were eight Sears stores remaining, with seven in the mainland U.S. and one location in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The company's U.S. website, Sears.com, remains active for online purchases.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sears.com/|title=Shop: Appliances, Tools, Clothing, Mattresses & More|website=www.sears.com}} The most recent Sears store closing, in Tukwila, Washington, occurred on December 15, 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/sears-closes-last-store-washington/281-d8290434-24dc-485c-97e5-4fd86ed0a2e1|title=Sears closes last store in Washington

|date=December 15, 2024|website=King 5}}

Demolition of the company's former headquarters in Hoffman Estates began in August 2024.{{cite web |url=https://barringtonhillsobserver.com/2024/08/14/demolition-begins-on-mammoth-sears-complex-in-hoffman-estates/ |title=Demolition begins on mammoth Sears complex in Hoffman Estates |work=The Barrington Hill Observer |last=Peterson |first=Eric |date=August 14, 2024 |access-date=April 10, 2025}}

File:Sears, Robuck & Co. letterhead 1907.jpg|Logo used in 1907

File:Sears logo 1966-1984.svg|Logo used from 1966 to 1984

File:Sears1984.png|Logo used from 1984 to 1994

File:Sears logo 1994-2004.svg|Logo used from 1994 to 2004; a red version of this logo is still used by Sears Mexico.

File:SearsLogo.svg|Logo used from 2004 to 2010 in the United States

File:Sears logo 2010-present.svg|Logo used from 2010 to 2019

File:Sears logo (2020).svg|Logo used from 2020 to present

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/business/20200901/the-sears-centre-arena-has-a-new-name-today-the-now-arena |title=The Sears Centre Arena has a new name today: the Now Arena |last1=Peterson |first1=Eric |date=September 1, 2020 |website=Daily Herald |location=Arlington Heights, Illinois |access-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201220010017/https://www.dailyherald.com/business/20200901/the-sears-centre-arena-has-a-new-name-today-the-now-arena |archive-date=December 20, 2020 |url-status=live}}

The company sponsored the television series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.{{cite news| title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; On ABC, Sears Pays to Be Star Of New Series| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/business/the-media-business-advertising-on-abc-sears-pays-to-be-star-of-new-series.html| date=December 3, 2003| first=Stuart| last=Elliott| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=August 26, 2022| url-access=subscription}} 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.{{cite news| title=Neighborhood Hero| first=Eileen| last=Ogintz| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-03-06-8804050228-story.html| date=March 6, 1988| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| access-date=August 26, 2022| quote=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.}}

Through the Sears Auto Centers, the company sponsored the Formula Drift Darren McNamara Sears/Falken Saturn Sky drift car.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/388059.html |title=Craftsman Dropping Sponsorship of NASCAR Truck Series |newspaper=The Kansas City Star |date=December 4, 2007 |access-date=October 16, 2018 |archive-date=December 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206105552/http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/388059.html |url-status=live}} 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|date=September 2021}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/ |title=Sprint Car Homepage |website=World of Outlaws |date=January 15, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519152213/https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars |url-status=live}}{{failed verification|date=September 2021}}

File:Sears Centro Historico.jpg 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"."600-plus Sears jobs to be cut". Chicago Tribune. February 13, 1992.

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.{{cite news|last=Folley|first=Aris|date=March 30, 2019|title=Sears cutting life insurance benefits for up to 90,000 retirees: report|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/436593-sears-cuts-life-insurance-benefits-for-up-to-90000-retirees|work=The Hill|access-date=April 3, 2019|archive-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403033923/https://thehill.com/policy/finance/436593-sears-cuts-life-insurance-benefits-for-up-to-90000-retirees|url-status=live}} This key Sears Retiree Benefit was worth between $5,000 and $15,000 for most of the pool (29,000) of eligible retired employees.{{cite web|last=Mooney|first=John|date=July 30, 2019|title=Sears Retiree Benefit|url=https://choiceseniorlife.com/2019/07/what-do-you-do-when-sears-cancels-your-life-insurance-policy/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815220528/https://choiceseniorlife.com/2019/07/what-do-you-do-when-sears-cancels-your-life-insurance-policy/|archive-date=August 15, 2019|website=ChoiceSeniorLife.com}}

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{{cite news| url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/29/business/sears-severance/index.html|title=Sears' owner wants to get out of paying $43 million in severance to former employees| first=Chris| last=Isidore| date=May 29, 2019| website=CNN Business| access-date=May 30, 2019| archive-date=May 30, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530020523/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/29/business/sears-severance/index.html| url-status=live}} owed to 90,000 former Sears and Kmart employees and retirees.{{cite news| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-fears-eddie-lampert-would-wipe-out-sears-pension-plans| title=Government fears Eddie Lampert would wipe out Sears' pension plans| date=February 1, 2019| website=CBS News| access-date=December 29, 2019| archive-date=December 29, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229215952/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-fears-eddie-lampert-would-wipe-out-sears-pension-plans/| url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/06/03/the-shameless-sears-world-of-eddie-lampert-continues/#296430171fd6/| title=The Shameless Sears World Of Eddie Lampert Continues| date=June 3, 2019| access-date=December 29, 2019| archive-date=January 21, 2020| magazine=Forbes| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121115026/https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/06/03/the-shameless-sears-world-of-eddie-lampert-continues/#296430171fd6/| url-status=live}}

Between September 26 and October 12, 2017, malware were installed in the computers operated by a service provider for sears.com and kmart.com e-commerce sites in which the credit card information of 100,000 customers were exposed via a malicious script. The breach was not publicly announced until April 2024.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/05/sears-holding-delta-air-hit-by-customer-data-breach-at-tech-firm.html |title=Sears Holding, Delta Air hit by customer data breach at tech firm |work=CNBC |date=April 5, 2018}}{{cite news |url=https://threatpost.com/delta-sears-breaches-blamed-on-malware-attack-against-a-third-party-chat-service/131023/ |title=Delta, Sears Breaches Blamed on Malware Attack Against a Third-Party Chat Service |first=Lindsey |last=O'Donnell |date=April 5, 2018}}

In 2021, an unauthorized party accessed Transformco computer servers between June 3 and June 15 that held employee payroll and healthcare information that affected current and past Sears and other Transformco employees.{{cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/transform-sr-holding-management-llc-identifies-and-addresses-data-security-incident-301341534.html |title=Transform SR Holding Management LLC Identifies and Addresses Data Security Incident |date=July 26, 2021 |work=Transform SR Holdings |via=PR Newswire}}

1. Richard W. Sears, 1886–1908
2. Julius Rosenwald, 1908–1924
3. Charles M. Kittle, 1924–1928
4. Robert E. Wood, 1928–1939
5. Thomas J. Carney, 1939–1942
6. Arthur S. Barrows, 1942–1946
7. Fowler B. McConnell, 1946–1958
8. Charles H. Kellstadt, 1958–1960
9. Crowdus Baker, 1960–1968
10. Arthur M. Wood, 1968–1973
11. A. Dean Swift, 1973–1981
12. Edward R. Telling, 1981–1982
13. Archie Boe, 1982–1986
14. Richard M. Jones, 1986–

1. Julius Rosenwald, 1924–1932
2. Lessing Rosenwald, 1932–1939
3. Robert E. Wood, 1939–1954
4. Theodore V. Houser, 1954–1958
5. Fowler B. McConnell, 1958–1960
6. Charles H. Kellstadt, 1960–1962
7. Austin T. Cushman, 1962–1967
8. Gordon M. Metcalf, 1967–1973
9. Arthur M. Wood, 1973–1978
10. Edward R. Telling, 1978–1981
11. Edward A. Brennan, 1981–1982
12. Edward R. Telling, 1982–1986
13. Edward A. Brennan, 1986–1995

File:Sears PDN.jpg|Mall entrance to the Sears store at Plaza del Norte in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, in 2011. This store closed in April 2021.

File:Sears Auto Center.jpg|Sears Auto Center at Steeplegate Mall in Concord, New Hampshire, in 2017. The Auto Center and the main store at this location closed in February 2020.

File:2006 Sears Hawthorn Center.jpg|Exterior of the Sears at the Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills, Illinois, in 2006. This location closed in September 2018 and was demolished in 2021.

File:1.8.09ParamusParkMallByLuigiNovi3.jpg|Mall entrance to the former Sears at Paramus Park in Paramus, New Jersey, in 2009. This location closed in 2018.

File:Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse and Service Center -- Houston, Texas.jpg|Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse and Service Center in Houston, Texas, in August 2020. On the National Register of Historic Places.

File:Searsessentials.jpg|Exterior of the Sears Essentials in Palm Springs, Florida, in 2010; later reopened as Sears Outlet and closed once again

File:Sears grand tarentum.JPG|2013 photo of the mall entrance to the Sears Grand at Pittsburgh Mills in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. This Sears closed in January 2015.

File:Sears Parts Repair Brooklyn.JPG|Exterior of the Sears Parts & Repair Store in Brooklyn, Ohio, in 2012

File:Sears Coral Gables (Miami, Florida) still open 19 March 2022 - 23.jpg|Inside a Sears Store at Coral Gables in Miami, Florida, in 2022, one of the few remaining Sears stores

{{Portal|Chicago|Illinois|Companies}}

• Gala-Sears – disbanded Chilean unit
• Retail apocalypse
• Sears Canada – disbanded Canadian unit
• Sears Mexico – Mexican unit held by Grupo Carso
• Sears plc – former UK company unrelated to U.S. retailer
• Sears Puerto Rico – Puerto Rican unit

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Chang, Myong-Hun, and Joseph E. Harrington Jr. (December 1998). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226245995_Organizational_Structure_and_Firm_Innovation_in_a_Retail_Chain "Organizational structure and firm innovation in a retail chain"]. Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory 3.4: 267–288. {{doi|10.1023/A:1009657511505}}. Compares Sears's Robert E. Wood with Montgomery Ward's Sewell Avery.
• {{cite news |last=Creswell |first=Julie |date=August 11, 2017 |title=The Incredible Shrinking Sears |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/business/the-incredible-shrinking-sears.html |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 }}
• Emmet, Boris, and John E. Jeuck. Catalogues and counters: A history of Sears Roebuck and Company (1950).
• {{cite book |last=Israel |first=Fred L. |date=1993 |title=1897 Sears, Roebuck, and Co Catalogue 100th Anniversary Edition |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Chelsea House |isbn=978-0-8775-4045-8 }}
• {{cite book |first=Donald R. |last=Katz |title=The Big Store |date=1987 |publisher=Viking Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-6708-0512-9 |pages=272–273 |url=https://archive.org/details/bigstoreinsidecr00katzrich/mode/2up |url-access=registration |access-date=August 26, 2022 }}
• {{cite book |last=Worthy |first=James C. |date=December 1984 |title=Shaping an American Institution: Robert E. Wood and Sears, Roebuck |url=https://archive.org/details/shapingamericani00wort |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |isbn=978-0-2520-1051-4 }}

{{Commons category|Sears, Roebuck and Company}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv833626 Sears, Roebuck and Company records] are archived at the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
• [https://archive.org/details/consumersguideno00sear/mode/2up?view=theater Sears Roebuck catalog from 1898 (1,056 pages)]

{{Sears Holdings}}

{{Department stores in the United States}}

{{Eyewear retailers}}

{{Authority control}}

Sears

Category:1892 establishments in Illinois

Category:American companies established in 1892

Category:Companies based in Cook County, Illinois

Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018

Category:Department stores of the United States

Category:Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average

Category:Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Category:Lists of brands by company

Category:Mail-order retailers

Category:Manufactured home manufacturers

Category:Online marketplaces of the United States

Category:Retail companies established in 1892

Category:Sears Holdings brands

Category:Transformco