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Sears/Kmart Comps Down 3.6%

Hoffman Estates, Ill. –
Sear Holdings is projecting a first quarter net loss of as much as $195 million
and a same-store sales decline of 3.6 percent led by decreases in majaps and
CE.

 The announcement, which sent Sears’ shares
down 10 percent, was made on the eve of the company’s annual meeting yesterday,
where chairman Eddie Lampert took responsibility for the weak performance while
recently-named president/CEO Lou D’Ambrosio pointed to new opportunities in
smart appliances, home services, direct marketing and selling its private-label
Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands’ End brands through other retailers.

The company attributed
the comp-sale decreases, comprised of 5.2 percent at Sears and 1.6 percent at
Kmart for the three months ended April 30, primarily to declines in its majap
and CE businesses. Despite tough year-over-year comparisons in appliances due
to last spring’s federally-funded majap rebate program, white-goods sales rose
5.7 percent in February and March, Sears told Reuters. But the unit volume
gains were offset by a 7.5-percent decline in average selling price, reflecting
Sears’ aggressive majap promotions.

Included in the comp-sale
figures were online sales from Sears.com and Kmart.com that shipped direct to
customers, which were up 22.4 percent during the quarter and added about 50
basis points to the results.

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