The Rise and Fall of Sears: The Store That Sold America Everything

The rise and fall of Sears, the store that sold America everything: in 1969, two out of three Americans shopped there. Today, only five Sears stores are left. And it wasn't Amazon that killed it. In this documentary, we tell the full story of Sears: how it started in 1886 with a box of watches at a Minnesota train station, how its catalog sold everything from bicycles to entire houses, how it built the tallest building on Earth and even launched an online shopping service years before Amazon, and the one decision in 1993 that sealed its fate. Chapters: 0:00 Five stores left 1:28 A box of watches nobody wanted 3:16 The book that sold everything 5:50 Where America shopped 7:48 Socks and stocks 9:40 Closing the book 11:30 The hedge fund years 13:33 The last ones standing 14:38 Who killed Sears? Sources: Sears – Wikipedia (and its references) "Sears: Where America Shopped" – Fortune "Sears' kit homes" – Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Econ Focus "The End of the 'Wish Book'" – The Christian Science Monitor (1993) "Prodigy Introduces Dial-Up Service" – EBSCO Research Starters "Sears was retail's cutting edge for a century, until it wasn't" – Axios "Why Sears' last great hope never materialized" – Associated Press "Sears has just 5 locations left" – Yahoo News Bloomberg reporting on Sears and Edward Lampert Rosenwald Schools – Wikipedia / National Trust for Historic Preservation Some scenes in this video are AI-generated recreations used to illustrate the story. Did your family have something from Sears that's still around today? A tool, an appliance, maybe even a house? Tell us in the comments. #Sears #RiseAndFall #LostBrands Subscribe to The Last Location for new documentaries every week about America's lost and fallen brands. Which brand from your childhood should we cover next? Tell us in the comments. All stories are researched from public sources listed above. Some scenes are AI-generated recreations for illustration.