The Roanoker November/December 2022 - 12
STrange days of Roanoke
Sears Town
written by Nelson Harris Roanoke was once home to the largest Sears store in the American South.
I
t was the largest retailer in Roanoke
when it opened on March 6, 1957.
Sears Town on Williamson Road
was a 100,000-square-foot shopping
Mecca, and the largest Sears store in
the American South.
" From diamonds to tropical fish. From
shrubbery to cuckoo clocks. You name it
Sears has it. And in a beautiful new building
of brick and glass occupying a city block
on Williamson Road, " reported the Roanoke
Times. " Yes, there's a Sears answer to your
family's every need. In addition, you may buy
All-State Insurance right in the store; grab a
quick lunch at the store's short-order counter;
or make use of the complete super-service station
Sears offers its customers. "
Full page advertisements in both of
Roanoke's dailies declared " 5 great stores in
one. " Sears Town had an apparel department
with Sears' brand names - Kerrybrooke,
Fashion Tailored, Pilgrim, Boyville and
Honeylane - for men, women and children.
The furniture store contained floor coverings,
curtains, linens and housewares, all with the
Sears' Harmony House label. The appliance
department stocked Coldspot refrigerators,
Kenmore washers and dryers, and Homart
dishwashers. In hardware, Craftsman tools,
paints and building materials surrounded the
Homart Kitchen Center. The service station
could meet every need for autos and motorcycles.
It truly was a one-stop shopping center.
Sears Town's catalog department promised
customers that any items ordered from their
catalogue - from a roller skate key to a
$3,650 cabin cruiser - would be shipped to
Roanoke by the next day from their warehouse
in Greensboro. A special telephone unit was
set up in Sears Town for those that wished to
shop from home using the 1957 Sears Roebuck
catalogue that was 1,400 pages and weighed
five pounds. If one did not receive it in the
mail, the company had placed multiple copies
conveniently in the city's libraries.
At the helm of Roanoke's Sears Town was
George Sellers, a native of Florida, who had
quickly worked his way up through the company's
" promote from within " policy. He had
joined Sears in 1944 beginning with their
New Orleans store and after several moves
NELSON HARRIS is a former mayor of Roanoke and author of a dozen books on the region's history. He is the minister at Heights Community Church in Roanoke and a past
president of the Historical Society of Western Virginia.
12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022
TheRoanoker.com
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The Roanoker November/December 2022
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker November/December 2022
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Cover1
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Cover2
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - 3
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - 4
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The Roanoker November/December 2022 - 50
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Dining1
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Dining2
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Dining3
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The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Cover3
The Roanoker November/December 2022 - Cover4
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