Sears
Early 20th century
In 1910, Sears acquired the David Bradley Plow company. This acquisition would lead to the manufacturing of riding mowers, chainsaws, tillers, etc., in the Bradley Illinois factory.
Decline
By 2010, the company was no longer profitable; from 2011 to 2016, the company lost $10.4 billion. In 2014, its total debt ($4.2 billion at the end of January 2017) exceeded its market capitalization ($974.1 million as of March 21, 2017). Sears declined from more than 3,500 physical stores to 695 U.S. stores from 2010 to 2017. Sales at Sears stores dropped 10.3 percent in the final quarter of 2016 when compared to the same period in 2015.
Bankruptcy and current operations
A total of 100 more stores closed by December 2019. 51 Sears stores were closed in February 2020. More stores continued to close throughout 2020 and 2021 including the final Sears in Maine at The Maine Mall.
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