• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, September 13, 2006

Fall ads for Sears, Roebuck & Co. will feature customer testimonials as well as appearances by Ty Pennington, its resident home-furnishings guru, the company announced Tuesday.

The new effort, from Young & Rubicam/Chicago, comes less than a month after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results, with sales falling 3 percent to $12.79 billion from $13.19 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales slipped 3.8 percent.

While increased competition caused problems in most categories, the company said, sales in home-fashion and lawn-and-garden were especially weak.

Four of the first six new ads focus on customer testimonials, and highlight core product categories including apparel, home fashions, electronics, sporting goods, fitness, appliances and tools. Two spots star Pennington, host of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

A spokeswoman for Sears declined to say how much the company would spend to run the ads. Last year, Sears spent an estimated $484.6 million in advertising in 2005, with some $237 million in network TV, according to Ad Age's Leading National Advertisers.

The new spots will run on such shows as ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," Fox's new show "Vanished," CBS shows "Big Brother," "Amazing Race" and "Rock Star."