| (1879
- 1969) |
| Inducted: |
1979 |
| Region: |
West |
| Industry: |
Retail
|
|
Robert E. Wood was the logistical coordinator for the construction of the Panama Canal. In his Panama evenings, he read the Statistical Abstract of the United States; thereafter he virtually memorized each annual edition. Back in the States, he used statistics to argue that mail-order business, primarily targeted on the farm market, would decline because rural population was shifting to metropolitan areas. Impressed with Wood's statistics and his record, Julius Rosenwald, the quiet genius of Sears for many years, made him a vice president in charge of merchandise supply from factories and of developing a plan for opening stores. These two jobs became the twin pillars of a strategy with which Wood reshaped Sears as president from 1928 to 1954. |
