Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holdings reported a steeper
net loss and lower sales in its fiscal third quarter, ended Oct. 29.
The net loss attributed to Sears Holdings’ shareholders in
the quarter was $421 million, more than $200 million more than its $218 million
loss in last year’s fiscal third quarter.
Revenues were $9.6 billion, down slightly from revenues of
$9.7 billion in the prior year’s fiscal third quarter.
The decline in total revenue for the quarter was primarily a
result of a 0.8 percent decrease in domestic comp-store sales and the effect of
having fewer Kmart and Sears Full-line stores in operation. Additionally, Sears
Canada had a 7.8 percent decline in comp-store sales, which was partially
offset by an increase of $35 million due to changes in the Canadian foreign
exchange rate.
The domestic comp-store sales decrease included declines of
0.9 percent at Kmart and 0.7 percent at Sears Domestic.
Decreases in sales for the quarter at Sears Domestic were
primarily driven by appliances and consumer electronics, the company said.
Beginning with the first quarter of 2011, the company now
includes in comp-stores sales online sales from Sears.com and Kmart.com shipped
directly to customers. These online sales increased 19 percent over last year
and the change resulted in a positive benefit of approximately 40 basis points
to total domestic comparable sales for the third quarter.
In a statement Lou D’Ambrosio, Sears Holdings CEO/president,
said, “While we are not satisfied with our performance, we saw improvement in
some core areas. Sears full-line stores saw improvement, as Sears apparel
achieved both comp-store sales and margin rate increases in the quarter. We
also saw nearly 20 percent growth in our domestic online business, and while
appliance sales declined in the quarter, we improved our market leadership
positions in overall appliances and Kenmore.” But he cited consumer electronics
as one of the areas that was down in the quarter.
D’Ambrosio added, “As we examine every part of our business
and take actions to improve our near term performance, we are also investing in
our future. These actions include: 1) rolling out innovative technology
applications and devices to store sales associates to deliver value to our
customers in Sears and Kmart stores; 2) providing our customers with a faster
experience, more product choice, and easier ways to purchase, return and
exchange using a combination of online, mobile and store based services and 3)
expanding our
Shop Your Way Rewards
membership by investing in and
enhancing the features and benefits of the program, including offering all
members the opportunity to earn 5 times rewards — equal to 5 percent back —
everyday when they use their Sears credit card at Kmart and from November
through the end of January at Sears.”
And D’Ambrosio commented, “We believe it is becoming more
and more obvious that the future of retail will revolve around the seamless
integration of online and offline experiences. Sears Holdings has the
combination of assets that will allow us to play a large and important role in
bringing these experiences to all Americans through integrated retail.”
