Edward Lampert is remaking Sears Holdings Corp. to be quite unlike the department store Americans have known since 1893.
Billionaire chairman Lampert is lessening his company’s dependence on full-size locations, where sales have fallen. In his latest attempt to turn around the largest U.S. chain of its kind, Lampert is turning to smaller store formats, Web sales and the lure of its brands to reignite growth.
Sears has closed 171 of its large U.S. stores since Lampert merged the chain with Kmart in 2005. It’s ramping up franchising efforts — including the Sears Hometown and Sears Auto stores. It’s leasing space to such retailers as Forever 21. And, departing from a strategy that has prevailed for most of Sears’ history, it’s allowing other retailers to sell the popular DieHard, Craftsman and Kenmore products and looking to license those brands. Read on.