Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Kmart will no longer staff its appliance departments with dedicated sales associates.
The Sears Holdings division
pink-slipped about 700 appliance employees at some 225 Kmart stores on Monday,
and instead will cross-train remaining store staff on appliances. Customers can
also call a 1-800 number, which will be affixed to each appliance model, for
additional assistance if needed.
The move came as the departments’ point-of-sale
systems (POS) were updated to perform sales and delivery functions within the
Kmart platform, which will allow customers to purchase appliances at any
check-out counter in the store, a Sears Holdings spokesman told TWICE.
Prior to the change, the departments
were plugged into Sears’ POS system, requiring specially-trained associates,
the spokesman said.
Kmart added white-goods to its floors
in 2005 and expanded the offering to about 270 stores over the intervening
years, placing it at No. 20 on TWICE’s 2010 Top 100 Appliance Retailers
rankings. [The 2011 report will be released on Monday, June 20.]
The chain extended elements of its
majap assortment to all 1,300 stores in February.
