Carole Sloan
Should attract younger consumers

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears’ top executive sees the soon-to-be-reintroduced ready-to-assemble furniture program as one of the key ways to attract younger customers to the venerable retailer.

“It’s a demographic issue,” said Edward Lampert, chairman of parent company Sears Holdings. “With so much of Sears’ merchandise in home-related merchandise, we would like to get customers in early to build our bonds. If we’re going to connect with a younger customer, the logical area is home related.”

He said that furniture “is adaptable (to Sears business) but it’s an execution business. It’s not an easy business but we ought to be able to do it…. (RTA furniture) is a natural extension of what Sears does well, but it hasn’t done well in the past. We have the capabilities, and we aspire to do it well. Home furnishings (overall) is a big opportunity.”

Lampert spoke at the Sears Holdings annual meeting. The company also owns discounter Kmart.

He also addressed the issue of extending Martha Stewart Everyday home furnishings into Sears stores from its longtime base at Kmart, a move that appears unlikely now that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has signed a contract with Macy’s for a complete home program beginning in fall 2014.

The Kmart-Stewart contract extends for four more years, L:ampert said, and the first two years involve high minimum payments, while the last two drop considerably. Before any movement into Sears, “I would like to make sure there’s continuity,” he said. “I would like to understand what options there are. We treated Martha Stewart really well. The product is good and it’s an important part of our business.”

Lampert added the contract with Stewart gives the company the option of bringing Martha Stewart Everyday product into Sears stores. It already is in Sears Canada, in which the U.S.-based Sears has a major stake and is expected to acquire outright soon. He said the acquisition would make the Canadian operation stronger.