Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears
Holdings is considering moving its headquarters and 6,200-member corporate
staff to new, lower-cost digs outside of its historic Illinois base.
A Sears spokesman said
the exploratory move was prompted by the expiration next year of state and
local tax incentives, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported. New
locales under consideration include Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Texas
and New Jersey, former home to recently-appointed president/CEO Lou D’Ambrosio.
Chairman Eddie Lampert is also based on the East Coast, in Greenwich, Conn.
The 125-year-old
retailer, which maintains a 200-acre corporate campus here, is greater Chicago’s
fourth-largest publicly traded company. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said his office
is working with Sears to keep the retailer in the state.
