Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Sears was a game changer for mail-order shopping and middle-class housing—but all that's left of its Salt Lake store is a muddy pit on State Street
Urban Living
Posted By Babs De Lay on April 5, 2023, 4:00 AM
There's a big hole in the ground in Salt Lake City on State Street between 700 and 800 South. The pit will be transformed from a huge pool of water and mud into a new hospital, but so many of us old farts have memories of the Sears that stood there that it was hard to see the diggers and dozers pull down the building this winter.
Richard Sears was a railroad station agent in Minnesota who came up with an idea to sell modestly priced watches through mail order. Soon, he partnered up with Alvah Roebuck and clothing merchant Julius Rosenwald to create a mail-order firm that penetrated rural areas that didn't have department stores but could be reached through rail and mail delivery.
Their original catalogs sold everything from buggies to bicycles, sewing machines to fishing poles, clothes, shoes and—of course—watches. Many credit Sears with teaching Americans how to shop.
The Sears—and later, Craftsman—line of products became a high standard of reasonably priced items and the annual catalog was treasured by every kid who was able to look at pictures of the newest bikes, trikes, dolls and banjos and could circle the ad to let Santa know what they wanted.
From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold more than 70,000 houses through their "Modern Homes" program. The company designed 447 different housing styles—from the elaborate, multi-story Ivanhoe with its elegant French doors and glass windows, to the simpler Goldenrod, a quaint, 3-room and 0-bath cottage for summer vacationers. (An outhouse could be purchased separately for Goldenrod and similar cottage dwellers.) Customers could choose a house to suit their individual tastes and budgets.
Sears was not an innovative home designer but instead, an able follower of popular designs with the added advantage of modifying according to buyer tastes. Individuals could even submit blueprints to Sears, which would then ship off pre-cut and fitted materials, putting the homeowner in full control. Customers had the freedom to build their own dream houses, and Sears helped realize these dreams through quality custom design and favorable financing.
The Salt Lake City store, built in 1947, was a big, boxy thing of "Mid Mod" design. Sears lost a lot of customers in the 1970s to competitors like Target, Kmart and Walmart, and it was eventually bought out by Kmart in 2005 for $12 billion. They filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 and Salt Lake's store closed in 2018.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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