Once a gleaming symbol of American consumerism.

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Sears wasn't just a store, it was an experience.
​Families flocked to aisles, picking out everything from Kenmore fridges to Craftsman tools.
When malls came to America in the mid-20th century, it further fueled the growth and expansion of Sears.

1892 and established a new mail-order firm called Sears.
Before the Sears catalog, farmers near small rural towns usually purchased supplies, at high prices.
There Catalog Business began to grow and they went on to IPO in 1906.

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Sears did not open their opened first brick-and-mortar store until 1925.
It often started as the anchor tenant in malls; and that, coupled with increased footfall, mail-order catalog innovation and strategic store placements, became a huge factor in its success.
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As the 20th century unfolded, Sears became a retail juggernaut, reaching its peak in the 1970s. Annual revenues skyrocketed, surpassing $50 billion. At one point in 1990, Sears and Walmart were practically the same size.

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But somewhere along the journey, the brand became complacent.

A Sears Store, marked for closing in Overland Park, Kansas, in July 2017

Sears's decline can arguably be dated back to 1993, when it decided to let go of its Catalog, though it was an unprofitable vertical, Sears completely ignored its potential to leverage consumer data.
Consumer preferences were shifting towards internet and personalization, and Sears missed the mark on both, and in the absence of consumer data, its inventory went for a toss. Merger with K-mart didn’t help things either, as it diminished the value proposition even further and loyal customers started looking elsewhere.

Store closures became the norm, with the company shedding over 200 stores in 2017 alone.
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​From a peak of $50 billion, Sears' revenue dwindled to a mere $16.7 billion in its final fiscal year before bankruptcy, a staggering 66% plunge, in the year 2018.