Edward A. Brennan

Who was Edward A. Brennan?

Edward A. Brennan was a former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, of Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Edward Brennan was born in Chicago into a family of Sears associates: his grandfather, father and uncles all worked there, and his younger brother, Bernard F. Brennan, left Sears for the rival Chicago-based retailer Montgomery Ward and became its CEO in 1985. His mother, who also worked at Sears, left the family and went to Mexico when he was young; he worked after school to pay for bus trips with his brother to visit her.

He attended Marquette University while working for Benson and Rixon, a menswear store where he had started work at 15 and where he rose to be a high-level manager before joining Sears in 1956. In March 1980 his predecessor as CEO, Edward R. Telling, appointed him president with the task of reinvigorating the company's stores.