Sears, a 121 year old company, was founded in 1886 by Richard W. Sears. Richard was a railway worker whose knowledge came from reading business literature while working at the railway. His big break came when a shipment of watches came for a jewelry store that refused the watches. He took this opportunity, bought the watches from the wholesaler, and started to turn a profit. Thus the beginning of Richards's new company, based in Minneapolis, was known as the R.W. Sears Watch Company. The following year Richard placed an ad in the Chicago Daily News for a watch repairman: answered by Alvah Roebuck. (Sears Brands, 2007) In 1893 the official corporate name became Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Sears, whose only major competitor is Montgomery Ward who had based selling their products to the more upscale population, had now established a catalog to prove they are honest and more reputable than Montgomery Ward. With testimonials from customers, by 1894 a 322 pg catalog was launched to all rural areas where Richard had established his customer base; the farmer, the coalmine worker, and ordinary people. The catalog war with Montgomery Ward was now at an end. By 1900 Sears had generated sales of $10,000,000. (Liggett, 1997)
The early history of Sears is fraught with mixed emotions. By 1995 Alvah Roebuck leaves the company and is replaced by Julius Rosenwald who has now become Richards's new financial partner. At this point the central location for Sears became Chicago, a more central location and a better way to compete with Montgomery Ward. Rosenwald began leading Sears in a new direction; a way that began with not "w ...