Sears Building Address: 1409 Lamar Street
Architect: Lang & Witchell
Year Built: 1914
Southside on Lamar
The full name of this building was the Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalogue Merchandise Center, built to serve as a warehouse and distribution center. This was the first Sears warehouse outside Chicago, the company's headquarters. Additions to the building in 1915 and 1916, also designed by Lang & Witchell, brought the size of the warehouse to 1.5 million square feet on 18 acres.
The City of Dallas considered purchasing the buildings in the 1980s. In 1993, Sears closed its regional office, due to consolidation, and vacated the complex. Matthews Southwest Corp. bought the buildings and redeveloped the complex as "Southside on Lamar." The building now houses retail and 457 loft apartments. In 2002, it won a Historic Rehabilitation Award from Preservation Texas.
In 1906, Sears opened an office in Dallas, Texas, which six years later blossomed into a mail-order plant. This plant offered the Southwest such advantages as lower freight rates, faster delivery and reduced damage to merchandise.
Richard Sears wrote:
"If with this trial we can get any success, the next place will get the kind of preparation that will insure success, and encourage us to cover the United States rapidly with 10 or more branches..."
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