Retail experts say it is now clear that Sears Holdings chairman Edward S. Lampert must engineer a radical makeover of the 121-year-old retailer to prove it can thrive alongside bigger rivals. To halt
sales and profit declines, the company's Sears and Kmart stores must forge new roles that will distinguish them in customers' eyes from competitors, such as Kohl's, J.C. Penney, Target and Wal-Mart.
The retailer yesterday warned that results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year would fall well below its expectations, continuing a sharp slide in sales and profit.
Lampert, a 45-year-old billionaire whose ESL Investments acquired Sears in 2005 through a merger with discounter Kmart, hoped to rejuvenate the retailer with a prescription of financial fixes. While
he was at first successful in raising profit by cutting costs, rivals chipped away at Sears's clothing, appliance and home-products businesses.
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