Hoffman Estates, IL, February 23, 2006-- Sears Essentials stores will become Sears Grand as part of a retooling of the retailer's midsize store format, Sears Holdings Corp., said Wednesday.
The Hoffman Estates-based company decided to move to one store name because the differences between Sears Essentials and jumbo Sears Grand stores were becoming increasingly marginal, said spokesman Chris Brathwaite.
"We are not ditching the (Sears Essentials) format. We are retooling it," Brathwaite said. "The next wave of stores will have a number of exciting improvements to the off-mall format."
Sears is not disclosing how much it will invest in the upgrades.
The Sears Essentials format was launched a year ago amid questions about whether the company's two struggling merchants, Sears and Kmart, would perform better as one in the battle to stem a loss of market share to rivals Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Target Corp.
Kmart acquired Sears, Roebuck and Co., last March for $12.3 billion and renamed the enlarged retailer Sears Holdings. Around 50 Kmart stores have been converted to the Sears Essentials format, which provided wider aisles, bigger signs, a revamped layout and a different mix of goods.
Brathwaite said stores currently carrying the Sears Essentials name will be further upgraded, with one goal being to make different departments feel more like separate stores. He said 14 more Kmart stores will be upgraded to the same format by May and the name change will take effect shortly thereafter.
