Sears Readying New Small-Store Format
Sears Home & Life store in Lafayette, LA
It’s back to the future for Sears.
Having recently emerged from bankruptcy, Sears Holdings will open three 10,000-15,000-sq.-ft. Sears Home & Life locations in Anchorage, AK; Lafayette, LA; and Overland Park, KA in May that will carry major appliances, small kitchen appliances and connected home products.
The move is new for the restructured Sears Holdings, but not for the chain historically. It opened a 10,000-sq.-ft. appliance-only store in Fort Collins, CO in 2016 and added a slightly large appliance/mattress location in Pharr, TX the following year. Sears, which has operated locations up to 150,000-sq.-ft., currently has 407 stores (205 Sears, 202 Kmart)
The new small-store format could potentially compete with Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, which was spun off as a separate, publicly-traded company in 2012, but pays a royalty of up to 6% to Sears on sales of Kenmore and Diehard products. Most of the Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, which are typically in markets with populations of 50,000 and less , are in rural areas and shouldn’t compete with the new Sears format, says a Sears spokesman.
Contact:
Sears Holdings, Rob Riecker, CFO, 847-286-2500
