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Rest assured, Roebuck is still there! Sears, Roebuck & Co is the nation's fifth largest retail firm, with more than 870 full-line department stores and over 289,000 employees. While the company commonly refers to itself as "Sears," you'll notice that the copyright at the bottom of their official site still credits "Sears, Roebuck and Co." The company history section of the site points out the firm was incorporated as "Sears, Roebuck and Co." in 1893, after an enterprising station agent named Richard Sears teamed up with a Chicago watchmaker named Alvah C. Roebuck. The name has remained the official
title of the company ever since. The company shot to prominence in the late 19th century with its mail order catalog. At the time, general stores throughout isolated rural areas were marking up their inventory as much as one hundred percent. In short -- mom and pop were squeezing out mom and pop. Thanks to timely improvements in the U.S. mail system, Sears was able to offer an array of goods at cheap prices. Adapting to America's booming car culture, Sears began opening retail stores in the mid-1920s. By 1931, retail sales topped mail-order sales, and Sears heralded in the birth of the department store. For the
latest on the Illinois-based company, check Yahoo! Finance.
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