A Glimpse of the Administration Building
The Administration Building houses the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary and Treasurer and other executive officers, and the clerical force which receives the mail and dispatches the orders to the Merchandise Building. It is a fireproof structure, four hundred and fifty feet long and over one hundred and forty feet wide, with three stories and basempnt. In this beautiful and splendidly appointed structure about twenty-five hundred employes receive more than ninety thousand pieces of first class mail each day and make the records and handle the correspondence involved in this great business. Here the orders for the goods are entered and the order tickets prepared for the sixty-five merchandise departments; here the merchandise is routed by the routing experts so that the customer will receive his merchandise in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible transportation expense, and these orders, when routed and ready to be filled, are carried by an elaborate system of pneumatic tubes down through the tunnels and up to each depart.ment in the Merchll;lldise Building. One of the striking features of this building is its wonderful arrangement of floors and offices, which are so laid out that the use of artificial light is seldom necessary at any hour of the day. In one room of this building, occupying a floor space of ten thousand eight hundred square feet, five hundred and fifty people occupy desks, and every corner of this vast office is thoroughly lighted without the use of electricity or gas. Architects have commented enthusiastically on this remarkable feature, inasmuch as it is believed to be the only office building of its size in existence so planned that daylight reaches every nook and corner within it. Those who have been compelled to work by artificial light will realize how much this means to the thousands of pairs of eyes which pore over the books and records of this business from day to day, how much more satisfactory it is to work by daylight rather than by artificial light.
In this building, provided for the convenience and comfort of our employes, is located the restaurant, which is sufficiently extensive to accommodate two thousand one hundred people at a sitting, and by dismissing the employes of the several departments at different times, eighty-four hundred people may be served in one hour and twenty minutes. The food is sold at cost and the range of prices is so low that one may take all his three meals at a daily expense of only 35 cents. Here also is the headquarters of the employes’ insurance society, known as the Seroco Mutual Benefit Association, which numbers more than three thousand two hundred members. Although this association has never given an entertainment for funds, has no initiation fee and no donations, and its dues are very small, it has not only paid all its sick and death benefits, but has accumulated a surplus exceeding ten thousand dollars. Here also is the Employes’ Savings Department, patronized very extensively by our people, and on these savings they draw interest at the rate of five per cent, which is compounded quarterly. Deposits of sums as small as 25 cents are received.
This beautiful building wIth its large. well lighted and perfectly ventilated offices. is an ideal office structure with every convenience and every office appliance designed to facilitate the prompt and accurate handling of the business transacted were.
From Sears 1907 Fall Catalog
From Sears 1910 Spring Catalog
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