As you approach from the Jane Addams Tollway, you can still see it spread over the Illinois flatlands, a monument to corporate ambition from another time.
It’s the former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, upon which much capital — financial and political — was expended. The former Sears, Roebuck & Co. moved there in 1992 from downtown Chicago, its executives wanting a bucolic setting for more than 5,000 employees. They also seized a chance to wring millions of dollars from state and local governments.
