Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. (/sɪərz/ SEERZ),[5] commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago.[6] In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box discount chain Kmart, which upon completion of the merger, formed Sears Holdings. Through the 1980s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States.[7] In 2018, it was the 31st-largest.[8] After several years of declining sales, Sears's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018.[9] It announced on January 16, 2019, that it had won its bankruptcy auction, and that a reduced number of 425 stores would remain open, including 223 Sears stores.[10]
This article is about the American chain of department stores. For the defunct Canadian chain of department stores, see Sears Canada. For the Mexican chain of department stores, see Sears Mexico. For other uses, see Sears (disambiguation).Company type
Retail
11 (April 2024)[2]
United States
- Clothing
- footwear
- bedding
- bath
- furniture
- jewelry
- beauty products
- electronics
- appliances
- housewares
- tools
- toys
- auto repair
−US$1.448 billion (2016)[3]
- Sears Holdings (2005–2019)
- Transformco (2019–present)[4]
Sears was based in the Sears Tower in Chicago from 1973 until 1995,[11] and was later headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois from 1993 until 2021, the year when it announced that it would be selling its Hoffman Estates headquarters complex.[12] On December 12, 2022, Sears Authorized Hometown Stores, LLC, and affiliated debtor Sears Hometown, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and on December 26 announced the liquidation of the 115 largely owner-operated Hometown stores.[13][14]
As of April 2024, there are 11 Sears stores remaining, with 10 in the mainland US and one location in the US territory of Puerto Rico.[2]
Logo used in 1907
Logo used from 1966 to 1984
Logo used from 1984 to 1994
Logo used from 1994 to 2004; a red version of this logo is still used by Sears in Mexico.
Logo used from 2004 to 2010 in the United States
Logo used from 2010 to 2019
Logo used from 2020 to Present
Mall entrance to the Sears store at Plaza del Norte in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, in 2011. This store closed in April 2021.
Sears Auto Center at Steeplegate Mall in Concord, New Hampshire, in 2017. The Auto Center and the main store at this location closed in February 2020.
Exterior of the Sears at the Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills, Illinois, in 2006. This location closed in August 2018 and was demolished in 2021.
Mall entrance to the former Sears at Paramus Park in Paramus, New Jersey, in 2009. This location closed in 2018.
Exterior of the Sears Essentials in Palm Springs, Florida, in 2010 (reopened as Sears Outlet and closed)
2013 photo of the mall entrance to the Sears Grand at Pittsburgh Mills in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. This Sears closed in January 2015.
Official website
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