Profile of Richard Sears on Famous Like Me

For the American tennis player, see Richard Sears (tennis player).

Richard Warren Sears (born December 7, 1863 in Stewartville, Minnesota - died September 28, 1914), son of James Warren Sears and Eliza Benton, was a manager and businessman. He is considered to be one of the great American promotional geniuses.

He entered the service of the railroad as a station agent for the Minnesota and St. Louis Railroad in North Redwood, Minnesota and in 1886 his career path changed forever. A shipment of gold-filled pocket watches from a Chicago manufacturer was refused by a Minnesota retailer. This was becoming a common practice. Wholesalers would ship their products to retailers that had not ordered the items. 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, the savvy retailer flatly refused the watches. Young Sears jumped at the opportunity. He 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 who generally lived far from any urban center. Within six months, Sears had netted $5,000 and felt so successful and 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 copy. He took the personal approach in his ads, speaking directly to rural and small-town communities.

In 1887, Sears hired watch repairman Alvah Curtis Roebuck to handle many of the returns that needed repaired. Roebuck was not only Sears's first employee, but he later became co-founder of Sears, Roebuck & Company. Sears himself clashed with new business partner, Julius Rosenwald, and quit the business in 1908.

The Sears, Roebuck and Co. was officially formed in 1893. 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 his catalogs. Same year, Sears retired and moved from Oak Park to Lake Bluff, Illinois.

He died September 28, 1914 in Waukesha, WI of Bright's disease. His obituary is in the Chicago Daily Tribune of the next day.

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