This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2010)

Sears-Roebuck and Co.

The current logo, used since 2010.
Type	Subsidiary Publicly held company
Industry	Retail
Founded	Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1886)
Founder(s)	Richard Warren Sears Alvah C. Roebuck
Headquarters	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations	2,248 (2010)[1]
Area served	United States, Canada
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics
Revenue	US$ 22.937 billion (2010)[1]
Parent	Sears Holdings Corporation
Website	www.sears.com

Sears, officially named Sears Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores,^[2] which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century. Formerly a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Sears^[3] merged with Kmart in early 2005, creating the Sears Holdings Corporation.

From its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous. Competition and changes in the demographics of its customer base hurt Sears following World War II, as the country's suburban areas thrived, hurting the company's inner-city (and rural) strongholds. Eventually, Sears' catalogs were discontinued in lieu of more web-based alternatives.

History[link]

Richard Sears

Richard Warren Sears was a railroad station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota, when he received an impressive shipment of watches from a Chicago jeweler which were unwanted by a local cube jeweler. Sears purchased them, then sold the watches for a considerable profit to other station agents, then ordered more for resale. Soon he started a business selling watches through mail order catalogs. The next year, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C. Roebuck, who joined him in the business. In 1893, the corporate name became Sears, Roebuck and Co.

The current Sears location in downtown Chicago is across the street from the historic Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, which will house a City Target store from the Target Corporation in the near future.

Mail order catalog[link]

Richard Sears knew that farmers often brought their crops to town, where they could be sold and shipped. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies (often at high prices) from local general stores. Sears took advantage of this by publishing his catalog with clearly stated prices, so that consumers could know what he was selling and at what price, and order and obtain them conveniently. The catalog business grew quickly.

The first Sears catalog was published in 1888. By 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages, featuring sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles (produced from 1905–1915 by Lincoln Motor Car Works of Chicago, not related to the current Ford Motor Company brand of the same name)^[4] and a host of other new items.

Organizing the company so it could handle orders on an economical and efficient basis, Chicago clothing manufacturer Julius Rosenwald became a part-owner in 1895. Alvah Roebuck resigned soon after due to ill health, but the company retained his name. By the following year, dolls, refrigerators, stoves and groceries had been added to the catalog.

Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog, 1918

Sears, Roebuck and Co. soon developed a reputation for quality products and customer satisfaction. By 1895, the company was producing a 532-page catalog. Sales were greater than $400,000 in 1893 and more than $750,000 two years later.^[5]

In 1906 Sears opened its catalog plant and the Sears Merchandise Building Tower.^[6] Also, by that time, the Sears catalog had become known in the industry as "the Consumers' Bible". In 1933, Sears, Roebuck and Co. produced the first of its famous Christmas catalogs known as the "Sears Wishbook", a catalog featuring toys and gifts, separate from the annual Christmas Catalog. The catalog also entered the language, particularly of rural dwellers, as a euphemism for toilet paper. In the days of outhouses and no readily available toilet paper, the pages of the mass-mailed catalog were used as toilet paper.^[7][8]

Alvah Roebuck returned to the organization during the Great Depression, and worked as a spokesperson until his death in 1948. Part of the reason Roebuck left Sears in 1895 was due to the stress the business placed upon him, and he later took some delight in pointing out his longevity versus the much shorter life of Richard Sears. In the 1970s, the name "Roebuck" was dropped from the trade name of the stores, though not from the official corporate name.

Retail stores[link]

The first Sears retail store opened in Chicago on February 2, 1925 in the Merchandise building (in a portion of the company's headquarters at Homan Avenue and Arthington Street). This store included an optical shop and a soda fountain.^[9] The first freestanding retail store opened October 5, 1925 in Evansville, Indiana.^[10] During the summer of 1928 three more Chicago department stores opened, one on the north side at Lawrence and Winchester, a second on the south side at 79th and Kenwood, and the third at 62nd and Western. In 1929 Sears took over the department store business of Becker-Ryan Company. In 1933 Sears tore down the old Becker-Ryan Company store in Englewood, and built the first windowless department store, inspired by the 1932 Chicago World's Fair.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Sears built many urban department stores. Starting in the 1950s, the company expanded into suburban markets, and malls in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1959, it had formed the Homart Development Company for developing malls. Many of the company's stores have undergone major renovations or replacement since the 1980s. The company was the largest retailer in the US until the early 1980s, but had dropped significantly in rankings by the time it merged with Kmart.

Shop Your Way Rewards[link]

Shop Your Way Rewards is the rewards program of all the Sears Holding Brands. It was started by Kmart as Kmart Smart Rewards as a pilot program. One year after the Smart Rewards Program was started the name and program was changed to Shop Your Way Rewards. During the test part of the program it was limited to certain Sears and Kmart stores. After the test of the program was considered a success by Sears marketing team, it was introduced to all Sears Holding Brands including Sears, The Great Indoors, Sears Grand, Kmart, Lands End, and My Gofer. The program has four tiers. The tiers are Member, VIP Silver, VIP Gold, VIP Platinum, and VIP Executive. The program allows the customer to receive one cent on the dollar as points accumulate. (For example, if a customer earns 22,000 points, it is equivalent to $22.00 for a customer to freely use throughout any Sears Holding stores.) To reach the VIP levels of the program customers must meet a certain spending qualification criteria. Potential members may enroll in the rewards program at any Sears Holdings run outlet or online. Shopyourway Rewards is an additional benefit provided to the Craftsman Club rewards program. The Craftsman Club program has existed since 1991 as a community of brand enthusiasts that receive advanced product information and member-only discounts. As of April 10, 2012, customers may only enroll in the program if they have an e-mail address; however, existing members may still use their phone number or membership card to earn points when purchasing items.

Diversification[link]

Sears began to diversify in the 1930s, adding Allstate Insurance Company in 1931 and placing Allstate representatives in its stores in 1934. Over the decades it established major national brands, such as Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Silvertone, Supertone, and Toughskins. The company became a conglomerate during the mid-20th century, adding Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker real estate in 1981, starting Prodigy as a joint venture with IBM in 1984, and introducing the Discover credit card in 1985. In March 2009, Sears purchased the social search engine Delver.

Divestiture and Sears Grand[link]

In the 1990s the company began divesting itself of many non-retail entities, which were detrimental to the company's bottom line. Sears spun off its financial services arm which included brokerage business Dean Witter Reynolds and Discover Card. It sold its mall building subsidiary Homart to General Growth Properties in 1995.^[11] Sears later acquired hardware chain Orchard Supply Hardware in 1996 and started home improvement store The Great Indoors in 1997.

In 1993, Sears stopped production of its general merchandise catalog because of sinking sales and profits. Sears Holdings continues to produce specialty catalogs and reintroduced a smaller version of the Holiday Wish Book in 2007.

In 2003, Sears sold its retail credit card operation to Citibank.^[12] The remaining card operations were sold to JPMorgan Chase in August 2005.

In 2003, Sears opened a new concept store called Sears Grand. Sears Grand stores carry everything that a regular Sears carries, plus health and beauty, toys, baby care, cleaning supplies, home decor, pet food, cards and party supplies, books, magazines, electronics, music, movies, and an edited assortment of groceries. Sears Grand stores are about 175,000 to 225,000 square feet (16,300 to 19,500 m²). The first Sears Grand store (and still the largest at 225,000 sq ft) opened at Jordan Landing in West Jordan, Utah in 2003.

Merger with Kmart[link]

A Sears Essentials wil be no longer open that was formerly a Kmart in West Palm Beach, Florida

On November 17, 2004, Kmart announced its intentions to purchase Sears. As a part of the purchase, the Kmart Holdings Corporation would change its name to Sears Holdings Corporation. The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands.

In 2005, the company began renovating some Kmart stores and converting them to the Sears Essentials format, only to change them later to Sears Grands.^[13]

Sears as a hedge fund[link]

It has been speculated that Sears management is interested in more purchases beyond the Kmart takeover of Sears and that investor Edward Lampert is interested in the company becoming an investment company more than a retailer. Some of many possible targets are other companies that the management believes have low stock prices relative to company value. Some mentioned are Safeway, The Home Depot, and Anheuser–Busch.^[14] The Washington Post, in an article dated March 11, 2007, described the current Sears as a hedge fund with money being diverted from the maintenance and improvement of stores to non-retail financial investments. A former executive is quoted as saying the company faces an "uncertain future". A third of pre-tax income in the third quarter of 2006 was generated by financial trades, followed by a poor fourth quarter in same.^[15]

Subsidiaries[link]

Sears department store

Sears inside a shopping mall in Puerto Rico

Current[link]

• Sears Department Store is a chain of department stores that are located in shopping malls; they carry clothing, jewelry, home appliances, hardware, lawn and garden supplies, lawn mowers, paint, sporting goods, automobile repair, office supplies, electronics and school supplies. Sears stores are usually multi-level. There are 926 full-size Sears stores^[16] in the United States. There are also 301 Sears locations in Canada and 66 in Mexico.^[17] The largest Sears Department Store is located at the Toronto Eaton Centre in Canada.
• Sears Hardware Stores are chains of small hardware stores usually located in small towns that are far away from a larger Sears department store. They carry Sears' complete line of Craftsman tools. Sears Hardware Stores also carry other items one would find in hardware stores (such as paint, electrical wiring, water heaters, and tractor-mowers), but under Sears branding. Many of these "Hardware" stores have been changed over to Sears Appliance & Hardware Stores, but there are still many of the original ones left, usually in smaller markets.
• Sears Grand is a chain of hypermarkets typically located away from shopping malls (with the exception of Gurnee Mills, Gurnee, Illinois). Many Sears Grand locations are retrofit remodels of existing Kmart supercenter stores. They carry everything a Sears department store carries, plus health and beauty products, a pharmacy, toys, baby care, cleaning supplies, home décor, pet food, cards and party supplies, books, magazines, music, Little Caesars Pizza Station, movies, and a selection of groceries which is limited mostly to dry goods. Sears Grand stores range from 165,000 to 210,000 square feet (15,300 to 19,500 m²).^{[18][broken citation]} The first Sears Grand opened at Jordan Landing in West Jordan, Utah in 2003. At 225,000 square feet (20,900 m²), the Jordan Landing store is currently the largest in the chain.
• Sears Essentials is a chain of discount stores that are common retrofit remodels of existing Kmart stores. Their product lines are similar to that of Sears Grand stores. Current locations include: Elmhurst, IL (reverting to a Kmart), East Ridge, TN (now closed from a recent flood), Bethlehem, PA, Lakeland, FL, West Palm Beach, FL, San Clemente, CA, Corona, CA, San Diego, CA, Tewksbury, MA (now a Kmart), and Peoria, AZ.
• Sears Appliance & Hardware is a chain of hardware stores that carry the whole line of Sears hardware and are usually free-standing. More than 110 Sears Appliance & Hardware stores averaging 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) serve customers nationwide. Stores were expanded to include Sears' full line of appliances in 2005.
• Sears Optical is a chain of off-mall optical shops which carries all the same products and services as the optical department at regular Sears stores.
• Sears Hometown Stores(formerly known as Sears Authorized Dealer Stores) is part of the retail operation of Sears Holdings Corporation and is a small store version of Sears full-line department stores. Sears Hometown Stores, established in 1993, is a franchise formula and Sears Home Appliance Showroom, established in 2007, offers primarily appliances. The stores are located away from shopping malls and serve local communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.^[19]
• Sears Outlet is an outlet version of Sears department stores located in various retail locations across the United States. The stores carry new, one-of-a-kind, out of carton, discontinued, used, scratched and dented merchandise at 20–60% off regular retail price. While a wide variety of products are available, appliances make up a large majority of available merchandise. Sears Outlet stores were once known as Sears Surplus.
• Sears Parts & Repair Center, also known as Sears Service Center and Sears Home Central, is a chain of service centers that typically sell parts for lawn & garden equipment and appliances and also feature a carry-in point for customers to bring-in merchandise which needs to be repaired, either in or out of warranty. Sears has started closing many of these as more of its service and repair business is home-based.
• Lands' End, aside from supplying its clothing line to Sears stores, also has 16 stores operated by Sears Holdings that carry only Lands' End clothing. These stores are located in outlet malls and regular malls.
• Orchard Supply Hardware is a chain of free-standing hardware stores that carry home repair, hardware products and lawn and garden supplies. Orchard Supply Hardware stores are 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²). There are currently 88 stores, all of them in California. Sears now owns 80.1% of the chain, and revealed intentions in May 2005 to spin it off. Richard Karn of Home Improvement fame was a spokesman for the chain.
• A&E Factory Service is the newest name for Sears' longstanding on-site repair service, servicing larger items such as home appliances, electronics, and garden equipment. The A&E brand name was purchased from Montgomery Ward, which used it for their home service unit, and is a joint venture held by Whirlpool and Sears Holdings.^[20] A&E Factory Service is a network of mobile service vans with a long history of performing appliance repairs.^[21]

Former[link]

• National Tire and Battery & National Tire Warehouse (NTW) (NTB) is an American brand of auto service centers. It was formerly owned by Sears until it was spun off in 2003. Sears created the brand in 1997 by consolidating the Tire America (TA) and National Tire Warehouse (NTW) brands, adding the "B" to include its DieHard brand of batteries.^[22] Sears sold the brand, which consisted mostly of stores set apart from its name brand stores, in 2003 to TBC Corporation. A Sears spokesman said "Because of the separate branding and the lack of proximity to our retail operations, we weren't able to drive growth like a TBC could".^[23] The chain of 226 stores was reported to have brought in $425 million in revenue and $60 million in profit in 2002.^[23]
• Sears Brand Central was an electronics store. The appliances departments in Sears are now known and referred to internally as Brand Central, although they are not marketed to consumers as such, except for a few locations in Puerto Rico.
• Sears Catalog Sales Stores were located in small towns. These stores were very small, even smaller than Sears' current Hometown Dealer stores. At catalog stores, some items could be ordered from the floor, such as appliances; other items could be ordered from catalogs at the store. These stores were often placed in rural markets which were far from full-line Sears stores, allowing for customers to purchase Sears products more easily. These stores were closed in 1993 when Sears closed its catalog business.
• Sears Authorized Catalog Sales Merchant was an independent business person who provided many of the same services as the Sears Catalog Sales Store.
• Sears Appliance Stores were small stores that displayed and sold (at Retail Store prices) appliances, carpeting, etc. and, in addition, provided a catalog sales department through which catalog items could be ordered.
• Sears Rent-a-Car was a car rental chain formed in a joint venture with Budget. It was sold to Avis in 2002.
• Sears HomeLife was a chain of furniture stores owned by Sears. The concept was introduced at a mall in Fresno, California in 1989, followed by a stand-alone store in Madison, Wisconsin.^[24] Sears sold the stores to Citicorp Venture in 1999, who changed the chain's name to just "HomeLife". They opened many locations inside large Sears stores or near the store depending on space available. HomeLife closed its last stores in 2001.^[25] In Puerto Rico, a few HomeLife locations are still present.
• Sears Neighborhood was a chain similar to Sears Hometown stores, except that Neighborhood stores were located in urban markets. These stores were also independently owned and operated. The concept was introduced in Atlanta in 1998, and another similar store was located in Cincinnati.^[26][27] The Neighborhood stores closed in the early 2000s.
• The Great Indoors was a chain of free-standing home decor stores that carry high-end home appliances, bedding, and kitchen and bath fixtures. The Great Indoors also offers custom kitchen and bathroom design services. Sears Holdings announced the closing of all remaining stores in 2012.

Past and present store brands[link]

The exterior of the Sears Merchandise Building Tower.

• Allstate – Automobile parts and insurance^[28]
• Alphaline Entertainment – Video On Demand (partnered through Roxio)
• Celestial Star – Diamond Jewelry
• Challenge Records
• Cheryl Tiegs – Clothing^[29]
• Coldspot – Appliances, refrigerators^[30]
• Companion – Tools
• Conqueror Records
• Covington - Clothing
• Craftsman – Tools^[31]
• Craftsman Professional – Top of the line Sears tools
• Dashmate Automobile Radios & Tape players
• David Bradley – Farm Machinery^[32]
• Dean Witter Reynolds - financial service, brokerage
• DieHard – Batteries^[33]
• Discover – Credit card
• Dunlap – Economy line of tools
• Easy Living – Interior paint, primers, and painting accessories.
• Economy – iceboxes, fountain pens, sewing machine cabinets, gasoline engines, portable saw rigs, variety of farm equipment, cream separator^[34]
• Evolv – A do it yourself line of tools marketed with eco friendly green packaging^[35]
• Gold Bond – Mens & Boys footwear
• Goolagong - clothing
• Harmony House – Interior Decorating Products^[36]
• Hearthside – Rug looms & quilting frames
• Hercules – work clothing, appliances, insurance (Hercules Life Insurance Company, owned by Sears), sewage systems, letterman's jackets, fire extinguishers, heavy-duty coveralls, and home heating systems.^[37]
• Homart – Heating and Cooling systems, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, kitchen cabinets, building supplies
• J. C. Higgins – Sporting Goods, camping^[38]
• Kenmore – Appliances^[39]
• Kromedge – Sawblades, Dadoes, Moldering Heads, Router Bits
• Penske – Automotive testing tools
• Permanex – Blow-molded Polyethylene Tool Storage Cases, gas cans
• Pilgrim – Clothing^[40]
• Roebucks – Clothing^[41]
• Sears Brand – Various items from all departments
• Sears Video Arcade - Sears's own version of Atari in the early 1980s; discontinued in favor of the actual Atari systems
• Silvertone – Stereos, Televisions, Musical Instruments^[42]
• Silvertone Records
• Supertone Records
• Ted Williams Brand – Sporting Goods
• Toughskins – Clothing^[43]
• Tower – Cameras, photo supplies, office equipment
• Weatherbeater – Exterior paint, primers, and accessories.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1966 until 1984.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1984 until 1994. Still used in the United States on some older storefronts.

• 

  Sears logo used from 1994 until sale to Kmart; updated from the 1984 logo. Still used in Mexico, from 1997; still used in the United States on many old storefronts.

• 

  Sears logo used from 2004 until 2010; still used in Canada and only used on receipts.

• Logo-sears essentials.jpg

  Sears Essentials (Kmart) logo.

• 

  The current Sears logo, used since 2010.

Employee relations[link]

Sears building in the Edificio La Nacional building in Mexico City, across from the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Sears has struggled with employee relations. One notable example was the shift in 1992 from an hourly wage based on longevity to a base wage (usually anywhere from $3.50 to $6 per hour) and commissions ranging from 1% to 11%. This new base wage, often constituting a substantial (up to 40%) cut in pay, was done "to be successful in this highly competitive environment."^[44]

In early October 2007 Sears cut commission rates for employees in select departments to anywhere from 1% to 4% but equalized the base wage across all Home Improvement and Electronics departments. In 2011 commission rates on non base items were cut by 2% in the electronics department. This cut was furthered in late 2009 to a 1% commission rate on selected "base items" in the electronics departments of Stores. Appliances, vacuums, and mattresses are the only departments left where wages are based solely on commission sales. The jewelry department associates receive a low base salary with 1% commission on their sales. This model does not apply to all stores. Many stores now simply pay an hourly wage in the fine jewelry department, with no sales-based commission. In early 2008 Sears also converted Lands' End from commission to a straight hourly wage. Stores that feature a 'Lands' End Shop' are based on an hourly wage and a 3% commission on all catalog/internet sales placed from within their store. Associates receive an associate discount. 20% off on clothing, shoes, and jewelry. They also receive 10% off on everything else in the store, including Great Price items. Any associate orders done through the Lands' End Internal site receive 30% off with the associates paying a $6 fee for shipping and handling of any size order.

This section requires expansion.

The domain sears.com attracted at least 240 million visitors annually by 2011 according to a Compete.com survey. Sears saw profits drop 13% during the fourth quarter of 2010 but still has total assets of $26.05 billion as of the first quarter of 2011.^[45]

Properties[link]

Sears Tower[link]

Sears Tower

Sears made history in 1974 when it completed the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago. The tower became the world's tallest building upon its completion, a title it took from the World Trade Center towers in New York. It remains the tallest building in the United States.

Seeking to spread its operations out in a business park, Sears left in 1993 and subsequently sold the tower, moving to Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Even though its naming rights to the building expired in 2003 it remained the Sears Tower through early 2009. In March 2009 London-based insurer Willis Group Holdings, Ltd., was given the building's naming rights to entice the occupancy of the building. The official renaming as the Willis Tower took place on Thursday, July 16, 2009, during a public ceremony hosted by Willis Group Holdings.^[46]

New headquarters[link]

Sears moved to the new Prairie Stone Business Park in Hoffman Estates, Illinois between 1993 and 1995. The office park has a focus on technology and sustainability, featuring an extensive landscaping plan that uses native prairie plants wherever possible, and a system of several express bus routes coordinated with Pace to encourage public transportation use with a future stop on the Metra STAR Line.^[47] Despite these services, the remote location of Prairie Stone means that it is much less well served by public transportation than the centrally located Sears Tower.

Sears Centre[link]

The Sears Centre is a 10,001-seat multi-purpose arena located in Hoffman Estates adjacent to the Prairie Stone campus.^[48]

See also[link]

	Chicago portal
	Illinois portal
	Companies portal

• Sears Canada
• Sears (Mexico)
• Sears plc, former U.K. company

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sears, Roebuck and Company

• Official website
• Sears2go, official mobile site
• The Official History of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• Avenue Queue: One long wait inspired career shift MIT News February 6, 2008
• Information about Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• Official website of the original Sears Tower^{[dead link]}

This television-related article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (October 2009)

Hank Hill is a fictional character and the main protagonist on the animated television series King of the Hill. Hank lives in Arlen and likes to drink beer on the curb with his friends. His voice is provided by series creator Mike Judge.^[1][2] The Economist named Hank Hill as one of the wisest people on television.

Character Biography[link]

Hank Hill was born 1953 at Yankee Stadium in New York City (at 3:07 pm, measuring 19.5 in and weighing 7.5 lbs)^[3]. According to the episode "Yankee Hankie," Hank proudly believed he was born in Texas to Tillie Mae Hill and Cotton Lyndal Hill but finds (to his disgust) that he was actually born in New York City. His mother told him she gave birth to Hank in the women's restroom at Yankee Stadium during Cotton's failed attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro during a rare American visit. After referring to himself as a native Texan for forty years, he was sad to learn he was born in New York, but over time accepted his heritage when he realized that many of the Alamo heroes were not from Texas either. Hank, who previously thought he was an only child, finds out he has a Japanese half brother named Junichiro in the episode "Returning Japanese". This is due to an affair Cotton Hill had with his Japanese nurse while recovering from leg injuries in post-World War II Japan. Also, in the episode "Hank Gets Dusted", Hank is shown to be the cousin of ZZ Top bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill. Cotton was also revealed to have slept with many women before and after that, meaning he likely has several other illegitimate brothers and sisters of Hank, although none of these other relatives have been confirmed throughout the series.

Hank is an Eagle Scout. Hank is naive, closed-minded and afraid of taking risks, but generally a good person. Although he is traditionally conservative in his attitude, in how he dislikes change and novel situations, he can adapt to them quite well, quickly mastering unfamiliar social milieus. He can be pushed too far on occasion, usually by neighbors Bill and Dale.

In most openings of King of the Hill, it starts with Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer all agreeing to something before the action kicks in, drinking from Alamo branded beer cans. A running joke throughout the series is an angry Hank yelling "I'm gonna kick your ass!" a threat he rarely if ever harms anyone. Hank's honesty and naivete often get him in unpredictable and troublesome situations. Ultimately, Hank cares for the people around him, particularly his family and friends and is always out to do what is right. One characteristic when Hank lies is he turns his head or looks around the room.

Hank is a known workaholic who "sells propane and propane accessories" as an assistant manager at the fictional Strickland Propane, a local propane dealership. Much to the discomfort of his boss Buck Strickland, he refuses to miss a day for anything; including sickness and injury, as shown in the episode called "Hank's Back" where he refused to go on Worker's Compensation after injuring his back on the job, despite repeated attempts at suggesting too much work will make him sloppy. When he gets a phone call in the night, he often immediately starts with the Strickland slogan, "Strickland Propane, taste the meat, not the heat" showing his dedication to his work.

He was briefly promoted to manager when Buck's wife/ex-wife (affectionately referred to as "Miz Liz") temporarily took over Strickland Propane. Hank was also briefly promoted to manager by Buck Strickland while helping Buck rebuild a house for Habitat for Humanity as part of Buck's community service after a drunk driving conviction, before being demoted again after he blurted out "I love you" to Buck. Unlike Buck and his business enemy, M. F. Thatherton, Hank believes that selling propane through honesty and hard work is what life is all about. Hank won the Propane Salesman of the Year Award for three years, as well as the prestigious Blue Flame of Valor Award.

Hank idolizes Buck, who calls Hank "Ol' Top," and keeps a somewhat idyllic picture of him, even though he recognizes his boss's many shortcomings (excessive gambling, alcoholism, womanizing, and a general lack of principles). Hank must frequently clean up his boss's unsavory "situations": bailing him out of jail, facilitating his vices, and performing suspicious errands. In one episode he went as far as covering up Strickland's illegal price fixing agreement with the other local propane providers to keep him from being arrested. Hank also seems to think that being a propane salesman is the best job there is (and wants his son Bobby Hill to follow his footsteps and start a propane business of his own). Hank loves his job very much, but throughout the series always makes a big deal out of it when his closest friends and even family find his occupation boring. In the episode "A fire fighting we will go", Bobby says straight up to Hank that he does make a big deal about his job.

Although Hank is often confused and irritated by Bobby's eccentricities, he clearly loves his son, even though he's uncomfortable in saying it to his face. He even feigns an interest in Bobby's passions such as comedy and theatre. Hank is relieved when his Laotian-American neighbor Kahn tells him that he caught Bobby and Connie taking their clothes off since, up until that time, Hank was uncertain of Bobby's interest in girls. From his eccentricities, Hank often says of Bobby, "That boy ain't right."

In the first episode of the series, his wife Peggy Hill prompts Hank to tell his son that he loves him — after he finally manages to do so, Bobby says that he thought of himself as a "big disappointment," which Hank immediately rejects, earnestly (if, to the viewer, implausibly) declaring that Bobby is the one thing in town that's never disappointed him.

Hank suffers from a fictional genetic disorder called Diminished Gluteal Syndrome (DGS). His essentially non-existent buttocks fail to provide him enough cushioning when seated, causing stress on his spine and forcing him to wear an "orthogluteal" prosthesis in at least one of the episodes, and Peggy declares as running joke throughout the series they would have more kids if it wasn't for Hank's "narrow urethra" in a councilling meeting with her after Hank hits Bobby, to which Hank snaps: "He didn't ask you about my glands!"

Hank was on the high school football team (as were Bill, Boomhauer, and team towel manager Dale). He was a running back and led the league in rushing (his record remains unbroken). He had a promising career until he snapped his ankle in the state championship (although this cost Arlen the game, he is still celebrated for "taking them to State"). This incident exacerbated Hank's already-restrained emotionality, as he saw it as punishment from God for doing a celebratory dance after scoring a touchdown earlier during the game. After graduating from high school, he went on to work as a salesman at Jeans West, a clothing retailer, until Buck found that he was a good salesman and hired him at Strickland Propane, where he taught Hank everything about propane and propane accessories. According to his neighbor Dale, he also had a brief stint as a tractor salesman.

Despite the fact that his career in propane is later shown to have started with a chance meeting with Buck Strickland, in episode "Order of the Straight Arrow" a flashback to 1966 shows younger Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer on a scouting trip, talking about what they're going to do when they grow up. Hank says, "I'm going to sell propane and propane accessories... if my grades are good enough." which is confusing since he met Buck at Jeans West, although it can be explained if Hank mistakenly puts in his adult passion for propane into memories from his childhood. This same episode reveals that boys entering the Order are 12 years old, which would give Hank a birth date of sometime in 1954 or 1955. In the second season episode "Hank's Dirty Laundry," Hank himself states his birth year as 1953.

Hank drives a red Ford Super Duty, which replaced his original truck, a red Ford Ranger after it was destroyed by a train, despite trying to make it last as long as mechanically possible. He gives great love and affection to his lawn and his Bloodhound, Ladybird. In one episode, Peggy is bitter for throwing a special birthday party for Ladybird but not for herself, where it is implied in some episodes she believes Hank spends more time with Ladybird and being house proud than he does with her, as suggested in another episode where me mourns over his sub-par lawn compared to his neighbours, remarking. "I put so much work into this, my sweat, blood, tears, all the tender feelings I should have given my family."

Hank's idol is Outlaw Country singer Willie Nelson, and he also plays a 1963 Guild Solid Top acoustic guitar named Betsy in his Bluegrass band. Hank is a fan of Country and Bluegrass music. Occasionally, he will listen to Southern Rock music and in one episode, remarks that he likes this "Zamfir fellow," a joke towards Gheorghe Zamfir (even believing his music was better than The Beatles). In another, he had also shown approval towards Doo-wop. He also appears to have a soft spot for Foreigner, as on Luanne's 21st birthday he put I Want to Know What Love Is on the jukebox 6 times in a row.

Personality[link]

Unusual for an animated show, much of the humor of the show relies on Hank being a reserved, relatively introverted man, who struggles to show emotion, or to cope with advances in the modern world. He is uncomfortable with intimacy and sexuality (as demonstrated by the running joke throughout the series, in which Hank is extremely averse and overreacts to physical contact (usually with his well known scream, "BWAH!") or anything involving sexuality regarding his niece, Luanne), but he has a healthy relationship with his wife, as well as the rest of his family. He believes passionately in hard work, honesty, and tradition; and is a proud Texan and American, to the point of occasionally struggling to suppress mild xenophobia, though always trying his best to see others, regardless of culture, for their personal character. He is, however, a highly respected authority among his friends and family, who often seek his help and advice, knowing that he will always advocate doing the right thing in the right way.

Hank is against charcoal, butane (which he refers to as a "bastard gas") and the use of propane alternatives (such as electric water-heaters, heaters, stoves and ovens.) Hank believes that propane is the best source of fuel and is known to try to “convert” people to propane use. When niece Luanne Platter uses charcoal on burgers at a barbecue (Peggy and Bobby find them delicious and eat them all), Peggy and Bobby are horrified to learn that they enjoy charcoal grilling.

While more of a stereotypical Southern redneck in earlier episodes, for example idolizing outlaw singer Willie Nelson, Hank becomes more of a small town, middle class conservative who is extremely law-abiding. Everybody looks to Hank when they have any seemingly useless or dull work that needs to be done. When his dog Ladybird attacked a black repairman (voiced by Bernie Mac) working on their heating system, he was accused of being racist, and it was later proven that he is not. He refuses to let mechanics touch his truck, feeling that he can accomplish anything without help. Hank has briefly worked at Mega-Lo Mart as a propane salesman trainee after Mega-Lo Mart drove Strickland Propane out of business. Hank's reserved nature probably resulted from years of verbal abuse from his father Cotton Hill. However, if sufficiently provoked, Hank has proven not to be a pushover, often ending disputes with his self-popularized quote "I'm going to kick your ass." He is also staunchly pro-Texas. In the episode "Texas City Twister," in which a tornado has torn off all his clothes, he is given the choice of covering himself with the Texas flag or a potted cactus. With barely a thought, he chooses the cactus, thereby sparing the flag.

He is for the most part a staunch conservative (he once said dreamily that he missed voting for Ronald Reagan.) He was initially a huge fan of George W. Bush, but had second thoughts about voting for him because of his weak handshake, and when asked if he would vote for "the other guy," presumably Al Gore, he responded "I don't know." Hank is a Republican, but admires some old-school Democrats such as fellow Texan Lyndon B. Johnson. His purebred Georgia bloodhound Ladybird is named after Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of President Johnson, and Hank has made mention that the bloodhound's mom helped track down James Earl Ray, assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after an attempted prison escape. However, Hank also shows deference to Jimmy Carter when they meet and greatly respects former Democratic Texas Governor Ann Richards (although he displays great respect for, and deference to, all authority figures, but the respect was most likely the result of Hank's great liking of Texas culture and history as mentioned throughout the show).

In nearly every episode, Hank and his friends Dale, Bill and Boomhauer will stand about in the alley behind Hank's house, drinking Alamo beer and discussing the events of the day. When consensus is reached and at breaks in the conversation, they will give short words of agreement, such as "yup" or "mm-hmm." He considers his wife his best friend and feels that physically punishing children is wrong; he is verbally strict, but not directly abusive. In the episode "Sleight of Hank," it was revealed that Hank has a huge dislike for magicians after seeing David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear. He has shown to have chiroptophobia, the fear of bats.

Political parties aside, he is very conservative and old-fashioned, being largely ignorant of new trends; several episodes involve him dealing with things like yoga, boy bands, etc. Hank is portrayed as having traditional family values and he is shown to be uncomfortable with hiring a woman to work at Strickland because she was believed to be too attractive, even though she was overqualified; instead, he hired a man for shallowly expressing a fondness for the Dallas Cowboys and a blatantly fraudulent adoration for propane. The man was later revealed to be a completely unreliable drug addict. His old-fashioned ways extend to a suspicion of new technology. He does however, eventually get a cellphone and briefly becomes addicted to a computer game whose main character is modeled on him. In the episode Jumpin' Crack Bass, Hank made the comment, "Not my president! I voted for Dole!", referencing the 1996 election.

Still, he does share a few progressive values. One of them is his discovery of organic meat in the episode "Raise the Steaks". He even goes as far as to defend hippies, something he seemed somewhat ashamed to do; nevertheless, he agreed with them on natural food. He has also been shown to have fairly moderate views on issues like gay rights and other religions (except perhaps Buddhism). Hank has some environmental leanings (though he distances himself from the movement at large), once lamenting about air pollution in Houston, opposing the building of McMansions, and running for city council on a platform of removing low-flow toilets because they waste more water than they save. Similarly, he seems to believe in global warming, as when Dale commented on how warmer temperatures could lead to a citrus industry in Alaska, Hank responded "we live in Texas. It's already 110 in the summer, and if it gets one degree hotter I'm gonna kick your ass!" Despite his apparent naivety to general things, he has been shown to be very clever in various scenarios. These include tricking a crooked lawyer attempting to sue Strickland into making it appear as though he is the one who injured his plaintiff and forcing a veterinarian who was shaking him down on costly and unnecessary treatments for a soldier's cat to approve the cat's file (Hank told the vet's customers about a completely inefficient imaging machine the vet couldn't afford). Hank also got the see-no-evil parents of a youngster who was bullying him to exert discipline by having Bobby behave exactly like their son toward them.

Hank can be gullible, as for 25 years he bought vehicles at sticker price from Tom Hammond's dealership. He has also been tricked because of his relative ignorance concerning drugs or subcultures. Hence he once mistakenly bought vials of crack believing they were fishing bait and in a time of stress took a hit of marijuana because he thought it was a cigarette. He once introduced a woman named Tammy Duvall (voiced by Renee Zellweger), who later turned out to be a prostitute, to several business associates. This led her former pimp, Alabaster Jones (voiced by Snoop Dogg), to believe he was her new pimp, a role he was forced to act out to rid her of him.

In "Be True to Your Fool", a flashback reveals that shortly after Hank graduated from high school with his three best friends, Dale Gribble, Bill Dauterive, and Jeff Boomhauer, Bill enlisted in the United States Army -- a night of celebratory drinking led them to a punk bar, where the then-formidable Bill saved a drunken Hank from a beating. In gratitude, Hank stumbled off to a tattoo parlor and paid to have Bill's name inked onto his chest before passing out. Only Boomhauer was with Hank, and, unable to persuade the proprietor to ignore Hank's purchase, convinced him to put the tattoo in a less conspicuous place, the back of Hank's head; Hank had completely forgotten that night, but was reminded of it while undergoing treatment for head lice in the present (an affliction caused by an absurd scheme of Bill's). He had the name removed out of disgust, but eventually had a jailhouse tattoo of it put on to show Bill that the two were still friends.

Hank thinks very highly of Texas. He thinks that Texas is superior to all other states in the U.S or at least Hollywood. This is sort of satirical on the stereotype or at least exaggeration of Texan's state pride. In the episode "Returning Japanese Part 1", Hank says "Peggy, I've already chosen the country for our summer vacation, America. And the state, Texas. And the town, Denton. I don't care what their police did to that cyclist. It's still a great town." That was his response to Peggy's ideas for their summer vacation. Later in the episode, he also says to his father Cotton, "Dad, there is no other place I'd rather be" after Cotton said, "Hank, you work at a gas station; fuel this thing up and fly me back to Texas!"

Crossovers[link]

Besides King of the Hill, Hank has appeared in many other shows including:

See also[link]

• Peggy Hill
• Bobby Hill
• List of King of the Hill characters

References[link]

External links[link]

• King of the Hill at the Internet Movie Database

Dawn Sears is an American country music artist. In addition to her work as a backing vocalist in Vince Gill's band, Dawn has recorded three solo studio albums, of which two were released on major labels. She has also charted one single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

Biography[link]

Sears was born in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.^[1]

Sears began her career in 1991 with the album What a Woman Wants to Hear on Warner Bros. Records. The album produced three minor singles. Because of her debut album's poor performance, Sears had decided to leave the country music scene. However, she later received a call from Vince Gill, who had asked her to join his road band as a harmony vocalist.^[2][3] In addition to singing harmony on Gill's 1993 album I Still Believe in You, Sears provided duet vocals on the track "An Out of Control Raging Fire" on Tracy Byrd's 1994 debut album.

In 1994, Sears was signed as the first act on Decca Records' newly-revived country music branch.^[2] Her second album, 1994's Nothin' But Good, was issued on Decca,^[4] and its lead-off single, "Runaway Train", entered the country music charts. Other singles from the album were unsuccessful, and Dawn exited Decca's roster not long afterward. A self-titled album was released independently in 2002.

Sears returned to her work as a backup vocalist for Gill.^[4] She has made appearances on several of Gill's albums, including his 2003 compilation Next Big Thing.^[5]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website