| 1886 |
|
Richard Sears starts selling
watches to supplement his income as station agent at North
Redwood, Minn. |
| 1887 |
|
Sears settles in the company's
first Chicago location and hires a watchmaker named Alvah
C. Roebuck. |
| 1888 |
|
Date of the earliest catalog
featuring only watches and jewelry. |
| 1893 |
|
Corporate name becomes Sears,
Roebuck and Co. |
| 1896 |
|
First large general catalog. |
| 1911 |
|
Sears establishes testing
laboratory. |
| 1913 |
|
Sears launches the
Kenmore® brand. |
| 1916 |
|
Savings and Profit Sharing Fund of
Sears Employees is established. |
| 1925 |
|
First Sears retail store opens in
catalog center on Chicago's west side. |
| 1927 |
|
Sears launches the Craftsman® brand. |
| 1931 |
|
Allstate Insurance Co. established. |
| 1945 |
|
Sears sales exceed $1 billion. |
| 1953 |
|
Simpsons-Sears, Ltd. established in
Canada. |
| 1973 |
|
Sears moves its national
headquarters to Sears Tower. |
| 1981 |
|
Sears acquires Dean Witter Reynolds
Organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company. |
| 1985 |
|
Discover Card introduced
nationally. |
| 1986 |
|
Sears celebrates its 100th
anniversary. |
| 1993 |
|
Sears sells (IPO) 20 percent of
Dean Witter shares to public, spins-off remaining shares
to shareholders. New company called Dean Witter, Discover
& Co. |
| 1993 |
|
• Sears sells 20 percent of Allstate
to public.
• Sears sells Coldwell Banker
Residential Services and Sears Mortgage Banking Group.
• Sears introduces popular "Come
see the softer side of Sears" advertising campaign. |
| 1995 |
|
Sears appoints Arthur C. Martinez
as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. |
| 1996 |
|
Sears launches the KidVantage
Program. |
| 1997 |
|
• Sears opens The Great Indoors
stores.
• Sears makes Craftsman® tools
available on-line.
• Sears becomes a founding sponsor of
the Women's National Basketball Association. |
| 1998 |
|
• Sears launches Wishbook.com.
• The Great Indoors debutes, opening its first store in Denver, CO. |
| 1999 |
|
• Sears introduces "The Good
Life at a Great Price" advertising campaign.
• Sears launches Sears.com. |
| 2000 |
|
Sears appoints Alan Lacy as
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. |
| 2001 |
|
Sears returns to downtown Chicago,
opening a new flagship store on State Street. |
| 2003 |
|
• Sears Grand debuted in West Jordan, UT. |
| 2004 |
|
• Former P.O.W. Jessica Lynch and the National Military Family Association kicked off a new camp program, Operation Purple, for children of deployed military.
• Ty Pennington to partner with Sears in a broad range of activities, including advertising, product design and development, merchandising and support for the company's community outreach initiatives.
• Sears announced a new ad campaign, the first to feature Ty Pennington, the star of ABC's smash hit, Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
|
| 2005 |
|
• Sears announced the launch of the company's newest off-mall format - Sears Essentials.
• The merger of Kmart and Sears as Sears Holdings Corporation, followed affirmative shareholder votes of both companies.
• National Military Family Association and Sears expand free camp program for children of deployed servicemembers.
• Sears commits up to $1 million to support Gulf Coast residents following Hurricane Katrina.
• Aylwin B. Lewis is named Chief Executive Officer and President of Sears Holdings.
• All advertising for Sears and its brands under one agency - Young & Rubicam, a member of the WPP Group.
• Latina Life, one of the first women's clothing lines launched by a major retailer and a leading Hispanic-focused media partner.
• Sears adds DieHard(R) batteries to nearly 1,400 Kmart stores nationwide.
• Sears card available in Kmart stores.
|
| 2006 |
|
• Craftsman tools now sold at K-Mart.
|
