100 Entrepreneurs Who Changed The World
42. Richard Sears (1863-1914) & 43. Alvah Roebuck (1864-1948)
“Many a hundred-dollar man remains a fifteen dollar subordinate because he is not given any latitude and is not allowed to develop.”—Richard Sears
Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck were the cofounders of the Sears, Roebuck Company. Sears was a businessman who owned the R.W. Sears Watch Company, where he would hire Alvah Roebuck as a repairman. The two founded the Sears, Roebuck Company in 1886 as a mail-order general merchandise store. Their main competitor was Montgomery Ward and Company, who had started the mail-order retail market. Sears and Roebuck rose to challenger Montgomery Ward, and the competition drove both companies to continue to innovate, grow, and off their customers the best. Sears and Roebuck soon grew into the department store business, in addition to continuing their mail order catalogue. Sears department stores offered a place customers could shop for discount household needs, clothing, or general merchandize. Though Sears declined later on, through the lives of its founders it was a retail giant.
