Sears Seating history

In 1886 Richard W. Sears founded the R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to sell watches by mail order.

He relocated his business to Chicago in 1887, hired Alvah C. Roebuck to repair watches, and established a mail-order business for watches and jewelry.

By 1893 the company’s mail-order catalog had 196 pages advertising a wide variety of goods, including sewing machines, saddles, bicycles, shoes, and musical instruments.

By 1894 the catalog had expanded to 507 pages, written almost entirely by Sears.

In 1895 Julius Rosenwald, a wealthy clothing manufacturer, bought out Roebuck’s interest, and he reorganized the mail-order business.

Rosenwald succeeded Sears as president of the company in 1909.

1914 Sears begins producing leather and canvas goods to support war efforts and receives the Navy E Award

In 1927, Sears started selling Kenmore washing machines.

Sears began by producing harnesses, saddles and other quality leather and canvas goods for the agriculture industry, but expanded to producing agricultural and industrial seats in 1947.

1965 Sears introduces the first mechanical suspension seat for the Agricultural market

1976 Sears expands internationally and Sears Europe is established in the United Kingdom

It bought the Dean Witter brokerage service and Coldwell Banker real estate company in 1981.

Sears sold all of them in 1993.

Sears sold the building in 1994.

Sears sold Prodigy in 1996.

It purchased television and radio stations in Chicago under the WLS call letters, which stood for “World’s Largest Store.” Its new headquarters in Chicago’s downtown was the world’s tallest building until 1998.

In 2002 Sears purchased the retailer Lands’ End for nearly $2 billion.

2005 Sears celebrates its 150-year anniversary by introducing Atlas “First in Class” truck seat and signing a manufacturing partnership in India

2006 Sears establishes a joint venture in China with GSK

2009 Sears is elected to the John Deere supplier “Hall of Fame”

2010 Sears introduces a new revolutionary C₂ truck seat for the Waste Management Industry and Sears expands business in Brazil

In addition, the corporation began selling various assets, and in 2014 it spun off Lands’ End.

During this time various Sears stores in the United States were shuttered, and in October 2018 Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.