We already have ample evidence that the world of internet commerce has shaken the “bricks and mortar” businesses. Locally, the closing of the Bon-Ton Stores shut down our local Herberger’s. Other retailers like Target, Kmart and Pamida have been gone for years.

Now, the nation is witnessing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Sears, Roebuck and Co., at one time the biggest retailer in the world.

Sears got its start in Minneapolis 132 years ago as a mail-order watch business. It developed the idea of mail-order catalogues that sold just about anything a person could want to buy, from clothing to the washing machines to clean them in. You could buy enough tools to build a house — or even buy a house kit. It did to the mom-and-pop general stores of the time what Amazon is doing to other retailers today, changing the way we bought goods. It made it possible for residents in rural America to buy the kind of goods that were only available in the big cities, and have it delivered to their door.

Sears became so big doing business the way it had for years that it was unable to adapt quickly enough when the times started to change.

Sears has been struggling for years, and some business analysts say Chapter 11 won’t be able to turn the struggles around.

In Minnesota, only a couple of Sears stores in the Twin Cities area are scheduled to be closed at this time.

It’s hard to imagine such an iconic American business as Sears, Roebuck and Co. going away, but even the mighty eventually succumb to time and history.