Kmart Opens Sears Major Appliance Store

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 7/20/2009

Birmingham, Ala. - Sears Holdings has opened its first Sears-branded major appliance shop inside a Kmart store.

The store-within-a-store opened earlier this month at a Kmart in Birmingham, Ala. The shop, situated in the former garden department, has its own entrance and checkout counters, and provides a wider assortment of white goods than the 280 Kmarts that presently carry majaps. The selections there are narrow, a Sears spokesperson indicated, and are generally limited to opening-price-points models.

The appliance store will carry Sears branding, including the chain's "Blue Appliance Crew" marketing collateral, and the main sign atop the Kmart will be amended to read Kmart Sears Appliances.

Sears is planning to roll out majap stores to additional Kmart locations in the near future, the spokesman said. The effort is seen as a way to boost majap sales and market share by leveraging Kmart's real estate. Unlike Sears stores, which are largely located in shopping malls, Kmart stores tend to be situated in strip malls, which many shoppers prefer for their easier access.

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• It's really too bad that K-Mart doesn't display the same work ethic that Sears demonstrated over the many years it dominated retail sales.
  The store managers are very lax and combative, and do not understand the concept of the "Bait and Switch" mantra that permeated Sears, as hard as the Nation's 'previous' largest retailer tried to guard against it.
  Throughout the store, displays are improperly signed and when a manager is approached about an ad, they respond with- it's just like this one, without this part. Serious instruction should be given to these managers and subsequent training to their asssociates.
  The gist of the matter, is does the mighty Kenmore name still mean "Sears", or 'Sears-like'

  
  Bonnie Harris - 2009-21-7 05:59:24 EDT
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