Who are Sears and Roebuck mentioned in the Shawshank Redemption?

Question

Early in The Shawshank Redemption, Red says:

Yes, sir. I'm a regular Sears and Roebuck.

Who is he referring to here?

Pretty sure that it's the department store chain since Red can get people whatever they want...like a store. — steelersquirrel, Aug 25 '16 at 17:07
So you knew how to spell Sears and Roebuck but you didn't know it was a store? What happened when you Googled it? jw. — Hack-R, Aug 26 '16 at 02:05
Even referenced by Curly! http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0030223/quotes?qt=qt1049370 — James McLeod, Aug 29 '16 at 00:07

score 49 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 27 '16 at 18:05

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Sears and Roebuck was a popular dealer of catalog merchandise in the 19th century and eventually grew into a major chain of American department stores in the 20th century. The company now is known throughout the United States and Canada as Sears, though Sears, Roebuck & Co. is the official name.

Sears and Roebuck were well-known for their mail order catalog and retail stores. Red was presumably referencing Sears and Roebuck due to the popularity of their catalogs and stores at the time.

edited Aug 27 '16 at 18:05

Community

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answered Aug 25 '16 at 17:18

steelersquirrel

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For the youngsters: Sears and Roebuck was the Amazon.com of yesteryear. – Basil Bourque Aug 25 '16 at 20:18
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@BasilBourque ...back when the Internet was called "The Post Office". – Monty Harder Aug 25 '16 at 21:43
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And for people who are from one of those 200+ countries in the world that is not the United States, and would therefore not be familiar with this domestic brand. :) – Mark Micallef Aug 26 '16 at 03:33
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@BasilBourque it went even further than Amazon, as you could buy flat pack houses from the Sears catalog... – Moo Aug 26 '16 at 11:25
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@Moo You can buy house kits on Amazon, too. This one is 837 sqft (78 sqm) https://www.amazon.com/Allwood-Kit-Cabin-Eagle-Point/dp/B00LYGIEU2 – Keeta - reinstate Monica Aug 26 '16 at 15:10
@Moo This was really the crux of the statement, that you could get a wide range of goods from Sears and Roebuck. Many people still live in Sears and Roebuck houses! – jfa Aug 26 '16 at 15:49
Also note that K-Mart is (and has been for a while) part of the same company. Not that K-Mart parking lots are known for being particularly crowded either.... – Robert Columbia Sep 06 '18 at 22:12

score 37 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 25 '16 at 17:18

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Sears and Roebuck is the name for the catalog/mail-order business that grew into the chain of stores today known as "Sears" and more lately known as "the abandoned store at the end of the mall"

answered Aug 25 '16 at 17:18

Kevin Milner

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I know, right? I only park at Sears at the mall because it's at the end of the mall ;) – steelersquirrel Aug 25 '16 at 17:44
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There's a commercial online where Sears promotes the fact it has "lots of available parking!" – JS. Aug 25 '16 at 20:11
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@JS. I wonder if that was done by the same genius behind the radio ads for the professional soccer team in Pittsburgh PA about 15 years ago that encouraged fans to go to the games "...because you can get right up close to the action!" – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Aug 25 '16 at 21:17
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@DanNeely "Heck, be the goalie for a while! We don't care!" :-) – JS. Aug 25 '16 at 22:21
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Relevant. – Michael Lorton Aug 27 '16 at 17:45
Also "that store that got bought by kmart" or "the even worse walmart" or "did you hear? They are closing the sears in the next town" – cde Aug 27 '16 at 20:27

Who are Sears and Roebuck mentioned in the Shawshank Redemption?

2 Answers2