In 1969, Sears, Roebuck & Company was the largest retailer in the world. It had thousands of workers in offices in the Chicago area. Sears managers decided to put all of those workers into one building. They wanted of space. Sears hired architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design one of the largest office buildings in the world. Architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan designed the building.