Sears Sears Sears, Roebuck and Company, colloquially known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1893, reincorporated (a formality for a history-making consumer sector initial public offering) by Richard Sears and new partner Julius Rosenwald in 1906. Formerly based at the Sears Tower in Chicago and currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the operation began as a mail ordering catalog company and began opening retail locations in 1925. The first location was in Evansville, Indiana. In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box
Elgin Tower Building 1999 to showcase its architectural merit. Stickling died later that year, but his benefactors transferred the building to the William R. Stickling Charitable Foundation, who currently maintain the building. An addition was built in 1999 to house, rent-free, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, who intend to revitalize the downtown area. The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 2002. The Elgin Tower Building is located at 100 E. Chicago St. in Elgin, between Douglas and N. Grove Avenues. This area has historically been known as Fountain Square, generally accepted as the downtown area of Elgin.