Perhaps no other business institution in the United
States is as responsible for ushering in the era of twentieth century
mass consumption as Sears, Roebuck & Company. Today we are a
nation of producers and consumers, a leisure culture that relies on
the convenience and efficiency of a myriad of products that determine
our quality of life. Much can be attributed to a gutsy corporation
that blazed new trails in mass market merchandising at the turn of
the last century. Born during the latter part of the nineteenth
century, Sears, Roebuck & Company literally changed the way of
life for many Americans. In doing so, it essentially became the
central warehouse for the culture, assessing the needs of the common
folk, presenting them with exciting new products which were delivered
to America's doorsteps in a way that was before unimagined. As a
result, Sears became one of the most trusted economic institutions in
U.S. history and eventually grew to be the seventh largest
corporation in the world during the twentieth century. There
continues to be a national reverence for its impact on the American
socioeconomic landscape, and throughout much of the twentieth
century, it was still one of the nation's largest purveyors of
general merchandise. Today the concept of mail-order
is as American as the automobile, an item
which Sears sold in the pages of its famous
catalog.
Sears During the
1890s
The 1890s was an essential period in the development of Sears as a
corporate giant, but it was not without its ups and downs. During the
1890s, Sears was in the infancy stages of developing its business
methodology and becoming a contender in the newly conceived mail
order merchandising industry. The decade was highlighted by the
corporation's founder Richard Warren Sears's boundless energy, genius
for promotion, and uncanny knack for tapping into a burgeoning market
segment, American farmers. The 1890s was also the era of the
advertising promotions
wars between Sears and its only chief
competitor at that time,
Montgomery Ward. Ward preceded Sears in
offering a broad product line through mail order and was a giant with
which to contend. However, by the turn of the century, Sears overtook
Montgomery Ward in sales volume, and the defeated competitor never
overcame the brash upstart in sales again.
Sears in the
Beginning
The concept for Sears, Roebuck & Company began in 1886 as a young
entrepreneur, Richard
Warren Sears, was working as a station
agent for the Minnesota and St. Louis Railroad in North Redwood. The
twenty-three year-old son of a Minnesota farmer passed the time by
pouring through the multitude of sales literature that was being
delivered by rail. Intrigued, he became familiar with pricing
structures and liked the idea that products that were manufactured in
one part of the country could be sold to folks in another part of the
country. Now during that time, merchandising transactions in the
United States were very often marred by unscrupulous sellers trying
to fleece prospective buyers, and get-rich-quick schemes were
rampant. However, young Sears became the beneficiary of one of the
most common schemes of the day, and used the profits to build an
empire.
