1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: a show that shops the aisles of history to bring 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: you a new story every day. I'm Gaye Lousier, and 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: today we're taking a fond look back at the golden 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: age of Sears, including the day when the humble mail 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: order service began its transition into a brick and mortar giant. 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: The day was February second, American retailer Sears opened its 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: first department store in Chicago. The company had thrived for 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: decades as a mail order firm, shipping merchandise to rural 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: consumers who otherwise had limited access to shopping. However, in 12 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, many of those cuzz demers began 13 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: moving to cities where they had little need of mail 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: order catalogs. The trend toward urbanization, including the steady rise 15 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: of the automobile, put Sears in danger of losing its market. 16 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: Rather than clinging to the past, though, Sears chose to 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: get with the times. If the bulk of its customers 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: had set up shop in cities, then Sears would do 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: the same. The story of Sears began in eighteen eighty 20 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: six when a twenty two year old man named Richard 21 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: Sears was bored at work. He was a telegraph operator 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: and station agent at a railroad in North Redwood, Minnesota, 23 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: and while it wasn't the liveliest job in the world, 24 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: the downtime allowed Sears to start a side hustle selling 25 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: lumber and coal to supplement his income. One day, a 26 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: shipment of pocket watches came in on a train, but 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: the local jeweler refused to sign for the order. It 28 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: turned out the watches were part of a popular scheme 29 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: of the era. Companies would send unsolicited merchandise to small 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: town retailers and then offer to let them keep the 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: accidental shipment at a deeply discounted price. The local jeweler 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: was apparently wise to the scheme and wanted nothing to 33 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: do with the watches, but Richard Sears sensed an opportunity. 34 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: He bought the unwanted watches himself and began selling them 35 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,839 Speaker 1: to other railroad workers up and down the line. Over 36 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: the next few months, he was able to turn his 37 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: fifty dollar investment into a five thousand dollar profit. Emboldened 38 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: by that success, Sears decided to double down. Within six months, 39 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: he had quit his job, ordered more watches, and established 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: the R. W. Sears Watch Company. One year later, business 41 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: was so good he moved the company to Chicago and 42 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: began producing a mail order catalog to advertise his wares. 43 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: That early version of the Sears catalog was a far 44 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: cry from the hefty tomes the company would later distribute. 45 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: Not only was it less than a hundred pages, it 46 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: also advertised nothing but watches. That said, it did include 47 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: something revolutionary in its own right, the first recorded unconditional 48 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: money back guarantee. From a marketing perspective, it was a 49 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: great idea, lending a sense of security to the otherwise 50 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: dicey prospect of sending a stranger money through the mail. 51 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: But in practice, the policy was a headache. From the start, 52 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: Richard Sears was making thousands of dollars from watch sales 53 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: every month, but the cost of refunds and replacements began 54 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: to eat into those profits. That's when Sears had the 55 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: bright idea of hiring someone to repair the defective watches, 56 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: providing a new way to honor his guarantee while also 57 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: protecting his profits. The search for a repair man led 58 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: Sears to Alva Roebuck a watchmaker from Indiana who quickly 59 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: went from Sears employee to his business partner. Together, Sears 60 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: and Roebuck expanded the business to include other kinds of jewelry. 61 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: Then they branched out further, selling sporting goods, clothing, bicycles, 62 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: baby buggies, and an array of household products that were 63 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: difficult to source outside of cities. For its first thirty years, Sears, 64 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: Roebuck and Company was strictly mail order only. It was 65 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: a winning business model in the late nineteenth century, as 66 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: nearly two thirds of the country's population lived in rural regions. 67 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: By capitalizing on the newly completed transcontinental railroads, Sears and 68 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: Roebuck were able to build a loyal customer base and 69 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: the parts of the country with the most untapped market potential. 70 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: The only real competition for mail order in those days 71 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: were the general stores scattered throughout America's small towns, but 72 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: since most of those were under stocked and overpriced, they 73 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: really weren't much of a threat to Sears. There were 74 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: other mail order retailers as well, including Montgomery Ward, which 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: had been selling city goods to rural clients for more 76 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: than twenty years before Sears stole its thunder. As you'd expect, 77 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,840 Speaker 1: the two companies were rivals pretty much from the start. 78 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: Those Seers grew so rapidly that it had outpaced Montgomery 79 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: Ward by the late eighteen nineties. In the year nineteen hundred, 80 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: Sears sales reached ten million dollars compared to Wards eight 81 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: point seven million. The rivalry had grown unfriendly by that 82 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: point too. For example, Richard Sears supposedly made his catalogs 83 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: shorter and narrower than the Ward catalog so that when 84 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: customers stacked the catalogs at home, the smaller Sears one 85 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: would always wind up on top. It's hard to overstate 86 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: the importance of the railroad to Sear's success, as was 87 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: the case for many American companies of the era, but 88 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: the Postal Service deserves a nod as well. In eighteen 89 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: ninety six, it introduced free, guaranteed mail delivery to every 90 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: US citizen, even those living in remote regions of the country. 91 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: That made it much easier for Seers and its competitors 92 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: to get their catalogs into the homes of even the 93 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: most out of the way customers. And while most of 94 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: us would consider those catalogs junk, mail today, they were 95 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: anything but junk to nineteenth century Americans. In fact, they 96 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: actually served a purpose not too far off from how 97 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: we used the internet. Anywhere, at any time, people could 98 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: flip through the pages of a catalog and learn about 99 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: a new piece of technology or some breakthrough product, and 100 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: then buy it for themselves. That sounds a little silly 101 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: at first to think of a company's advertisements as some 102 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,280 Speaker 1: kind of educational tool, but that is how the Postal 103 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: Service seemed to view them. It shipped Sears catalogs for 104 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: just one cent per pound because they were considered public 105 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: aids in the spread of knowledge. It's sometimes said that 106 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: Sears taught Americans how to shop, and there's certainly some 107 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: truth to that. For millions of shoppers, the Sears Catalog 108 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: was their first introduction to mail order services, including shipping, substitutions, 109 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: and returns. For better or worse, the catalog also played 110 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: a role in the development of America's consumer culture. That's 111 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: especially true when you look at how the catalog grew 112 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: year after year as more products were added to meet 113 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: that growing demand. In the early nineteen hundreds, for example, 114 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: the Sears Catalog was over five hundred pages and at 115 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: its peak in nineteen fifteen, it had swelled to over 116 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: twelve hundred pages. It featured one hundred thousand items weighed 117 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: four pounds, and raked in more than a hundred million 118 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: dollars in annual sales. Of course, the good times couldn't 119 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: last forever, and after nineteen fifteen the catalog began to shrink. 120 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: The nation had urbanized quite a bit by then, and 121 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: the automobile age was dawning. Suddenly, rural consumers were moving 122 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: to cities where easy access to stores lessen the allure 123 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: of mail order services. Sears kept track of the shifting market, 124 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: and in nineteen twenty five had responded in earnest by 125 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: opening its first physical department store on Chicago's West Side. 126 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: By that point, Richard Sears and Alva Roebuck were both 127 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: out of the picture. Roebuck had sold his interest in 128 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: the company decades earlier, and Sears had retired in nineteen 129 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: o eight and then passed away in nineteen fourteen. So instead, 130 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: the company's foray into brick and mortar retail was overseen 131 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: by General Robert E. Wood. A military man might seem 132 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: like an unusual pick to manage a retail company, but 133 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: Wood had previously worked with Montgomery Ward and was also 134 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: well served by his background as a procurement officer on 135 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: the Panama Canal Project. That experience gave him a strong 136 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: working knowledge of how to quickly and affordably ship large 137 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: amounts of goods around the country, which was key to 138 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: sears retail success. In the next few decades. Underwood's leadership, 139 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 1: Sears expanded to neighborhoods well beyond the urban centers that 140 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: initially targeted. By nine, just prior to the start of 141 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: the Great Depression, the company operated more than three hundred 142 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: department stores nationwide. That growth continued even during the depression 143 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: thanks to sears focus on catering to the working class. 144 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: Instead of offering high end fashion and expensive home goods 145 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: like those found in most department stores, Sears emphasized practical 146 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: items such as socks, underwear, sheets, and towels. It was 147 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: also one of the first department stores to target men 148 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: by selling tools and hardware. That practical approach to shopping 149 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: allowed Sears to thrive amidst one of the worst economic 150 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: downturns in history. By nine thirty nine, the number of 151 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: Sears stores had nearly doubled, with well over five hundred 152 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: spread across the country. World War Two put a halt 153 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: of the chain's expansion, but when the fighting was over, 154 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: Sears went right back to it. By the time General 155 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: Wood left the company in nineteen fifty four, the number 156 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: of Sears stores had passed seven hundred. The company had 157 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: also expanded across borders both north and south, moving into 158 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: Mexico in nineteen forty seven and into Canada in nineteen 159 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: fifty two. Sears remained a retail giant for the remainder 160 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century, though it did start to slip 161 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: a bit in the nineteen seventies when big box retailers 162 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: like Target, Kmart and Walmart hit the scene with considerably 163 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: lower prices. Although Sears had been a symbol of thrift 164 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: and its early days, it gradually became the realm of 165 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: upper middle class shoppers. Most bargain hunters had abandoned the 166 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,479 Speaker 1: chain by the nineteen eighties, and in nineteen nine Walmart 167 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: officially overtook Sears as the nation's largest retailer. Today, we're 168 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,959 Speaker 1: firmly in the age of online shopping, and by all accounts, 169 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: Sears is now on its last legs as a company. 170 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: There are less than fifty stores left in North America 171 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: at the time of recording, and business isn't exactly booming 172 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: at any of them. In fact, there's a decent chance 173 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: you haven't stepped foot in a Sears store and quite 174 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: some time, or maybe never at all. Of course, in 175 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: modern America, a good brand never dies. Just ask Toys 176 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 1: r Us. It's possible Sears will live on in some 177 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: form for another century and change. But even if the 178 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 1: company truly is on its way out, the market made 179 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: on American culture will be with us for a long 180 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:39,319 Speaker 1: time to come. I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now 181 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 182 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's episode, consider keeping up with us 183 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you can find us 184 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: at t D i HC Show. You can also send 185 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: your feedback directly by writing to This Day at iHeart 186 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks to Handler Mays for producing the show, 187 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 188 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another Day in History Class.