Sears and Department Stores

Ilene Rosenfeld

Department Stores opened as early as 1825. In New York City they started downtown, then moved up to the “Ladies’ Mile” and above 34th Street and onto Fifth Avenue. Sears Roebuck began as a catalog mailed across the country, especially to rural areas. Between 1908 and 1940 Sears catalogs included Kit Houses in over 40 architectural designs, and Sears shipped all parts (as many as 30,000) by rail needed to build a house. Sears homes still stand in neighborhoods today…built to last.