Sears Was Once the Largest Employer in the Entire United States

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At its peak in the 1970s, Sears employed more than 350,000 people. It was the largest private employer in the United States.

But the strange part was how much of everyday life flowed through the company.

Sears sold homes through mail-order catalogs. It issued credit cards. It owned Allstate Insurance. It financed purchases. It handled repairs. Everything.

Millions of Americans depended on Sears not just for products, but for credit, jobs, and basic financial services.

The company even built the tallest skyscraper in the world at the time. The Sears Tower was not only the company headquarters but also their declaration of economic power.

For a while, Sears was so large it looked like it would dominate forever but poor management and failure to adapt to changing markets caused its doom.