In 1886, Richard Sears, a railroad agent in Minnesota, purchased a shipment of surplus watches from a Chicago jeweler and sold them for a profit to other station agents.
Struck by this success, he ordered more goods from the jeweler for resale and began advertising his jewelry and watches using a printed mailer. Thus began his business to sell watches through mail order catalogues.
Sears moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C. Roebuck who joined him in the business. In 1893 the name of the company was Sears, Roebuck & Co. Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago clothing manufacturer, became a partner in 1895.
The expansion of the US railway system and free postage (in 1896 delivery to US rural areas was free) made the distribution of the Sears Catalogues economical. Sears himself wrote the catalog; by 1894, it had 322 pages and contained other news items. By 1896, there were Spring and Autumn versions; it became bigger and the company began charging recipients a 25-cent fee. In 1897, color sections were introduced.
Richard Sears was a good marketer and had an instinct for compelling slogans. For instance: ”Book of Bargains: A Money Saver for Everyone” and the “Cheapest Supply House on Earth”. The Sears Catalogue also claimed that: ”Our trade reaches around the world”. Sears also used testimonials from customers, to reassure and confirm that his prices were the lowest and best value.
The list of goods on offer through the catalogue expanded to include sewing machines, sporting goods, musical instruments, saddles, firearms, buggies, bikes, baby carriages, and men’s and children’s clothing. The ‘club order program’ encouraged customers to combine their orders with friends or neighbors to share in discounts. By 1898, there were more speciality catalogues – the merchandise reflecting the changes of the time, photo machines, talking machines, and mixed paints.
In 1906, Sears opened its catalogue plant and the Sears Merchandise Building Tower, but it was not until 1925 that it began opening physical stores – the first in the Merchandise Building itself. Printed and distributed for 97 years, (the last catalogue was produced in 1993) the Sears Catalogue became widely known as the ‘Consumers’ Bible’.
Several years after it officially ceased publication, Sears began producing several specialty catalogues and it now has extended into various online catalogues.
Contribution to Retail History
The grand master of mail order, the Sears Catalogue, invented a new category of retailing which was copied and emulated across the world. The catalogue can be seen as an early precursor to today’s e-commerce retailing. And Sears is now offering Sears Direct services which allows consumers to shop an on-line Wish Book among other types of digital catalogues.