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.
In 1887, Sears hired watch repairman Alvah Curtis Roebuck to handle many of the returns that needed repaired. Roebuck was not only Sears's first employee, but he later became co-founder of Sears, Roebuck & Company. Roebuck's contribution to the corporation was short-lived, however, and due to personal considerations he sold his share of the company to Sears in 1895 for $25,000. Sears himself clashed with new business partner, Julius Rosenwald, and quit the business in 1908. He later sold his portion of Sears stock in 1913 and died that same year. To this day, Sears's advertising and promotional skills remain legendary, and today's most sophisticated marketer's continue to employ the tried and true concepts that Sears made famous.
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