Sears Canada

Sears Canada Inc.

Formerly called	Simpsons-Sears (1952–1984)
Type	Public
Traded as	: SCC
Industry	Retail
Founded	1952 (joint venture of Simpson's and Sears)
Headquarters	290 Yonge Street (Toronto Eaton Centre) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Brandon G. Stranzl, Executive Chairman; Becky Penrice, Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics.
Revenue	$3.146 billion (2015)
Net income	-$67.9 million (2015)
Total equity	$554.2 million (2015)
Number of employees	17,903 (2016)
Website	www.sears.ca

Sears Canada Inc. is a Canadian retail chain headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company's roots are in Simpsons-Sears, a joint venture with the Simpsons retail chain and the U.S. Sears chain, which operated a national mail order business, and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after the U.S. Sears chain. Following the purchase of Simpsons by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled, and the Simpsons-Sears stores became solely owned by Sears. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. Sears Holdings now owns a 11.7% share in the company. ESL Investments Incorporated is the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.

Today, the retailer has a network that includes 140 corporate stores (including full-line, Sears Home and Outlet stores), 71 Hometown stores, over 900 catalogue and online merchandise pick-up locations, 69 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide repair and service network. The company also publishes a general merchandise catalogue and offers shopping online at www.sears.ca.

Sears Canada began its operations as Simpsons-Sears Limited, a catalogue and mid-market suburban retailer, as a joint-venture between the Simpsons Limited (the Robert Simpson Company Limited), a Canadian department store chain, and Sears, Roebuck and Co. of the United States. In 1952, General Robert E. Wood, the Chairman of U.S. retailer Sears, sent a letter to Edgar G. Burton, President of the Robert Simpson Company of Toronto, proposing a partnership between their two companies in order to serve the Canadian market. The deal to create Simpsons-Sears Limited, a Canadian catalogue and department store chain separate from the Simpson's chain, was signed on September 18, 1952 and the terms were 50-50. Each company invested $20 million and had equal representation on the new company's Board of Directors. The new company was to have two main objectives. The first was to expand Simpson's mail order business, which was sold to the new company. The second goal was to build a string of stores modelled on Sears, Roebuck's format across the country.

The agreement also contained a provision that would prove to be a major challenge in later years. Under its terms, Simpsons-Sears could not open a retail store within 25 miles of Simpson's existing stores in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Regina and London. In return, Simpson's promised not to build any stores outside of those five cities. Simpsons-Sears mail order business, however, was free to operate anywhere in Canada as was the new Simpsons-Sears Acceptance Company, the credit arm of the operation.