As the retailing industry has grown increasingly competitive, Sears Holdings--the parent of Sears and Kmart--has poured relatively little capital into its stores and has cut back on marketing and
other expenses.
The low level of spending has been vexing for mall operators, who are dismayed that Sears has not enhanced its stores, which affects nearby retailers. "It's akin to
somebody refusing to cut their lawn or paint their house," says Sean Egan, the managing director of Egan-Jones Ratings in Haverford, Pa.
Sears officials respond that a little more than
two years into the merger of the retailers, it is premature to judge them harshly. They point out, for example, that they are testing new concepts at the Gwinnett Place Mall in the Atlanta suburb of
Duluth, including décor intended to evoke the chain's 19th-century heritage, an Internet cafe and an expanded electronics department.
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