Sears Holdings
Please fill in the blank (This is a very important part of the interview – to know why you are
interested):
List 2-3 reason why you are interested in this industry?
___________________________________________________________________________
List 2-3 reasons why you are interested in Sears Holdings Corporation?
___________________________________________________________________________
List 2-3 reasons why you are interested in this position?
___________________________________________________________________________
1. Company General Information:
Retail or real estate giant? Time will tell for Sears Holdings Corporation, the entity created by the acquisition of
troubled department store operator Sears, Roebuck and Co. by Kmart Holding Corp. in 2005. The megamerger
created one of the nation's largest retailers (behind Wal-Mart and Home Depot), with about 3,490 stores in
North America. (Sears Holdings owns a majority stake in Sears Canada.) It is the holding company for the
varied retail operations of Sears (about 2,110 department stores) and Kmart (about 1,380 discount outlets),
which continue to operate separately under their familiar brand names. ESL Investments, controlled by the
company's chairman Edward Lampert, owns about 50% of Sears Holdings.
Sears Holdings has announced plans to shutter about a dozen stores (eight Kmart locations and four Sears
stores) in early 2009, following what is expected to be a dismal holiday selling season. However, Sears retail
operations were in decline prior to the onset of the current retail slump and economic downturn.
With its retail operations sagging, the owner of Sears and Kmart stores announced in early 2008 that it was
changing its operating structure in an effort to simplify the management of its business lines. It also
announced the departure of CEO Aylwin Lewis, who since 2005 has served as chief executive of Sears Holdings
(and Kmart before that). The search continues for a new CEO who can turn around the company's ailing retail
operations, which have logged same-store sales declines at both Sears and Kmart stores for more than two
years. In the meantime, EVP W. Bruce Johnson is serving as interim chief executive.
Under the new operating structure announced in January, Sears Holdings is organized into five business units:
operating businesses; support; brands; online; and real estate. (The operating business units consist of the
company's current lines of business such as home appliances, electronics, and apparel.)
Our Vision
Sears Holdings is committed to improving the lives of our customers by providing quality
services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships.
Our Mission
Build customer relationships
Make more money
Improve every day
How We Lead
Focus on the customer
Build and align teams
Know how to make money
How We Work Together
Teamwork
Integrity
Accountability
Coaching for execution
Positive energy
Recognition through results
Financials and Facts:
2008 Sales (mil.)
$50,703.0
1-Year Sales Growth
(4.4%)
2008 Net Income (mil.)
$826.0
1-Year Net Income Growth -2007 Employees
337,000
Key People:
Edward S. (Eddie) Lampert
Chairman
Interim President and Interim CEO W. Bruce Johnson
SVP Supply Chain and Operations
James (Jim) Mixon
EVP and CFO
J. Miles Reidy
EVP and CIO
Karen A. Austin
2. Brands:
Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard
Sells apparel broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, Jaclyn
Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the Apostrophe and Covington brands. It also has Martha
Stewart Everyday products
3. In the News:
Sears Holdings Names New SVP Finance as CFO-Elect
October 13, 2008
Michael D. Collins expected to become Sears Holdings Next Chief Financial Officer
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sears Holdings
Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD) announced that Michael D. Collins joined the
company today as senior vice president, finance. The Company expects that
Mr. Collins will succeed J. Miles Reidy as Sears Holdings' chief financial
officer prior to the end of the 2008 fiscal year. Mr. Reidy, who intends to
step down later in the year as the Company's CFO in order to attend to a
family issue, will work with Collins to facilitate an orderly transition.
Sears Holdings Earns Top Marks in 2009 Corporate Equality Index
Sears Holdings Gets 100 in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Seventh Annual Index
Hoffman Estates, IL – September 4, 2008 – Sears Holdings Corporation, the nation's fourth largest
broadline retailer with over $50 billion in annual revenues and approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty
retail stores in the United States and Canada, proudly announced that it has earned the top rating of 100
percent in the 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), an annual survey administered by the Human Rights
Campaign Foundation. Sears Holdings joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses which get top
marks for their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers.
Sears Holdings Names President of Key Business Unit
Guenther Trieb to Lead Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard Brands
August 21, 2008
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sears Holdings
Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD) announced today that Guenther Trieb will join Sears Holdings as SVP and
president -- Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard and will be responsible for overseeing and working to grow
the value of the company's major brands.
Trieb joins Sears Holdings after a successful 24-year career with Procter & Gamble, Co., where he was
most recently Vice President for P & G's Western European Feminine Care Global Business Unit. He held a
variety of senior leadership roles in brand management, marketing and strategic planning while with
Procter & Gamble.
4. Top Competitors:



J. C. Penney (annual sales: $19.86 billion)
Target (annual sales: $63.36 billion)
Wal-Mart (annual sales: $378.799 billion)