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For the American tennis player, see Richard Sears (tennis player). For the state senator, see Richard W. Sears (Vermont politician).

Richard Warren Sears

Richard Warren Sears (born December 7, 1863 in Stewartville, Minnesota – died September 28, 1914), son of James Warren Sears (a blacksmith and wagon-maker by trade) and Eliza Burton, was a manager, businessman, and the founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company with his partner Alvah C. Roebuck. He is considered to be one of the great American promotional geniuses.

Sears entered the workforce at an early age to help supplement his family's income. His father had amassed a reasonable amount of wealth, but subsequently lost it in a stock-farm deal. After learning telegraphy, he entered the service of the railroad, eventually becoming station agent for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. It was in 1886 at age 23, that his career path changed forever: A shipment of gold-filled pocket watches from a Chicago manufacturer was refused by a Minnesota retailer.

A common scam existing at the time involved wholesalers who would ship their products to retailers who had not ordered them. Upon refusal, the wholesaler would offer the already price-hiked items to the retailer at a lower consignment cost in the guise of alleviating the cost to ship the items back. The unsuspecting retailer would then agree to take this new-found bargain off of the wholesaler's hands, mark up the items and sell them to the public, making a small profit in the transaction.

But in 1886, Edward Stegerson, a retailer savvy to the scam, flatly refused the watches. Young Sears jumped at the opportunity, and made an agreement with the wholesaler to keep any profit he reaped above $12, and then he set about offering his wares to other station agents along the railroad line for $14. The watches were considered an item of urban sophistication, and the station agents had no trouble selling them to customers passing by.

Within six months, Sears had netted $5,000 and felt so confident in this venture that he moved to Minneapolis and started the R. W. Sears Watch Company. His promotional efforts soon developed into placing advertisements in farm publications and mailing out flyers to potential clients. From the beginning, it was clear that Sears had a talent for writing promotional copies. He took the personal approach in his ads, speaking directly to rural and small-town communities, persuading them to purchase by mail-order.

In 1887, Sears moved his company to Chicago, an important transportation center for the mid-west. The same year, he hired watch repairman Alvah Curtis Roebuck to handle many of the returns that needed repair. Roebuck was not only Sears's first employee, but he later became co-founder of Sears, Roebuck & Company. The Sears, Roebuck and Co. was officially formed in 1893, when Sears was 30 years old. A few years, later, when Roebuck left the growing company, Sears went on with another new business partner, clothier Julius Rosenwald, who became president of the business in 1908 upon Sears' retirement at age 45.

The first catalog was published in 1893 and consisted of only watches. By 1897, more items were added like men’s and ladies clothing, plows, silverware, bicycles, and athletic equipment.

The 500-page catalog was sent to approximately 300,000 homes. Sears catered to the rural customer because having been raised on a farm he knew what the rural customer needed. He also had experience working with the railroad and he knew how to ship merchandise to remote areas.

In 1908, Sears made another move forward and began to sell mail order homes through the catalogs. Same year, Sears retired and moved from Oak Park to Lake Bluff, Illinois, suffering from failing health.

He died in 1914 at the age of 50 in Waukesha, Wisconsin of Bright's disease. Sears's birthplace in Stewartville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Sears Archives biography