Sears In Chicago

The Nation's Largest Retailer wanted the largest headquarters in the nation, and they got it -- in spades. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the 110-story, anodized aluminum-clad Sears Tower occupies three acres in the West Loop. The bundled-tube construction allowed for more windows and more corner offices per square foot. The total area within the Tower is 4.4 million square feet; the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor offers tremendous views and welcomes more than 1 million visitors yearly. When SOM realized that their design was only ten stories short of what was supposed to be the record-breaking height of the World Trade Center then under construction (1,368 feet), they broke the record, coming in at 1,454 feet. The move of Sears and Roebuck employees into the Tower was the biggest corporate move in American history. In the late 1980s Sears and Roebuck left the building, but it continues to thrive, a timeless monument to American ingenuity.

From watch catalog to international retail empire, revisit Sears's Windy City history with author Val Rendel and remember how good the "Good Life" once was. In 1887, Richard W. Sears started a Chicago mail-order house that quickly outpaced its competitors, including Montgomery Ward. For millions of rural Americans over the next hundred years, Chicago was the place where dreams came from. Here, the "World's Largest Store" opened its first retail buildings, debuted its WLS radio station and transformed the global marketplace from the Great Works headquarters complex. Today, Sears has faded from the city of its birth, but many marks of the once-great business remain, from repurposed iconic department store buildings to the Sears kit homes still scattered across the suburbs. The 110-story skyscraper that dominates the skyline will forever be known to locals as the Sears Tower. Sears greatest legacy, however, was the role it played in shaping the lives of generations of Chicagoans.

From 1908 to 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold nearly seventy-five thousand homes through its mail-order Modern Homes program. Families across the nation set about assembling the kits, using the thick instruction manual to puzzle out how twelve thousand pieces of house might fit together. The resulting dwellings were as durable as they were enchanting, swiftly becoming icons of the American landscape. Follow leading expert Rosemary Thornton through a lavishly illustrated history of the homes many Illinoisans dont know they are living in. Recognize your own front porch on a page in the Neo-Tudor section of the style gallery and tell your plumber hes helping to preserve a Barrington.

Located on the site of the original Sears Tower, the historic Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog plant is one of the nations most unique landmarks. Representing American ingenuity at its best, Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald combined technology, commerce, and social science with bricks and mortar to build the Worlds Largest Store on Chicagos West Side. Completed in 1906, the plant housed nearly every conceivable product of the time: clothing, jewelry, furniture, appliances, tools, and more. The complex employed 20,000 people, and merchandise orders were processed and delivered by railwithin the same day. During the first two decades of the 20th century, almost half of Americas families shopped the over 300 million catalogs published in that era. WLS (Worlds Largest Store) Radio broadcasted the Gene Autrey show from the top of the tower, and the first Sears retail store opened here on Homan Avenue and Arthington Street. In 1974, Sears moved to the current Sears Tower. Thanks to many individuals who fought to save these architecturally and historically important treasures, the administration building, the original Sears Tower, the catalog press-laboratory building, and the powerhouse remain today. There are currently plans for redeveloping these buildings into housing, office, and retail space. A new Homan Square Community Center stands on the site of the merchandise building.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the building's construction and history written by those who worked on it *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Chicago is a city of skyscrapers. New York is not. New York is a city that's a huge rock that has been carved out to make streets. [Gordon] Bunshaft was always jealous when he came to Chicago because he could stand and see the buildings. In New York, you can't do that. You have to be miles away to see the buildings." - Bruce Graham, architect Walking around Chicago today, it's easy to forget about its past as a rural frontier, and that's due in no small part to the way Chicago responded to the Great Fire of 1871. Immediately after the fire, Chicago encouraged inhabitants and architects to build over the ruins, spurring creative architecture with elaborate designs, and architects descended upon the city for the opportunity to rebuild the area. Over the next few decades, Chicago had been rebuilt with the country's most modern architecture and monuments, and the Windy City's skyscrapers reached over 20 stories by the early 20th century, but it wouldn't take long for the city to turn its early skyscrapers into things of the past. Burnham's 22 story high Masonic Temple Building, once the tallest building in the world, was demolished in favor of buildings that were twice as tall. The early skyscrapers that still stand look like antiques compared to Chicago's current skyline, because during the mid-20th century, architects built dozens of much taller buildings throughout Chicago, often constructing these enormous structures in less than a decade. In 1968, builders finished the John Hancock Center, the first building in Chicago to reach 100 stories, but Chicago's skyline gained its most iconic feature in 1973, the year the completed Sears Tower became the tallest building in the world. Though it's technically named the Willis Tower today, Chicago's landmark is still best known as the Sears Tower, and Sears got a lot of bang for its buck. The Sears Tower only took two years to build at a cost of about $150 million, and it is still the second tallest building in America, a fact Chicagoans sharply debate after the Sears Tower was judged to be shorter than New York City's new Freedom Tower. In 1969, Sears wanted to create a large office space for its employees in the city, and they commissioned the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design and build the structure. The firm conceived of the now famous design, in which the first 50 stories of the structure were connected by what are essentially nine separate tube shaped buildings. After the 50th story, seven of the nine tubes rise up to the 90th floor. From there, only two tubes rise to the building's 108th floor. This design gives the Sears Tower the appearance of a large building at ground level that gradually tapers off into a thinner rectangle at the top. Naturally, the size and shape of the Sears Tower have made it an inviting target for daredevils who like to climb skyscrapers and other tall structures. In 1981, Dan Goodwin used suction cups to help him climb the building and avoid authorities who tried to stop him. For added effect, Goodwin was wearing a Spider-Man suit. Even more impressively, in 1999 Frenchman Alain Robert climbed the building with his bare hands and climbing shoes. Of course, people looking for a safer way to the top can ride elevators to an observation deck on the 103rd floor, and over a million people choose this option each year. The Sears Tower: The History of Chicago's Most Iconic Landmark chronicles the construction and history of the Windy City's most famous building. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Sears Tower like never before, in no time at all.