Sears reborn: Spinoff company eyes Milwaukee market for 'store within a store' concept
Alison Bauter
Milwaukee Business Journal
May 26, 2015, 11:45am CDT Updated May 26, 2015, 3:48pm CDT
A "store within a store" concept meant to fill the gaps left by Sears closings could be coming to the Milwaukee market, with locations around southeast Wisconsin under consideration.
As Sears Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD) shutters its big boxes, a spinoff is seeding the company's iconic appliances inside independent, local home improvement stores. The "store within a store" concept from Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: SHOS), which already has a location in Virocqua, could be coming to southeastern Wisconsin next. Area locations currently under consideration for the "store within a store" or Hometown concept include Racine, Mukwonago, Hartford, West Bend and Fond du lac, according to Ed Sosniak, Sears Hometown regional new store development manager.
Sears Hometown spun off from struggling Sears Holdings Corp. in late 2012. It's primarily focused on selling home appliances, hardware, tools and lawn/garden equipment through dealers and franchisees via its outlet stores and Sears Hometown and Hardware segment. In the past year, it has since opened its first eight "store within a store" concepts across the country, with three additional openings planned. The idea is to leverage extra square footage inside existing independent home improvement stores and dealerships to sell the home appliances and other goods.
Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., operates Kmart and Sears, both of which have been closing across the country and in southeastern Wisconsin. The rise of online shopping and the decline of new home sales during the recession combined to put pressure on Sears' big box stores and deplete large home appliance sales. Most recently, Sears has closed its Bayshore Town Center anchor store in Glendale and its Regency Mall anchor in Racine.
Where those stores close, Sears Hometown hopes to fill a void in brand-name home appliances and other larger products that become harder to find in Sears' absence. As the housing market improves and new home sales increase, Sears Hometown director of market development Fred Riffle sees a corresponding release of "pent-up demand" for big-ticket appliances like stoves and refrigerators.
The concept is best-suited to local retail outlets who offer similar products (such as a flooring or furniture business), and have between 2,000 and 5,000 square feet to fill. Those independent retailers then offer brands such as Kenmore, Maytag, Whirlpool and GE, provided on consignment through Sears Hometown.
Meanwhile, malls like Bayshore and Regency are fighting to fill the vacant space left behind. Bayshore recently shared plans to redevelop Sears' space into a mix of retail and residential once its lease is up, and Regency is reportedly courting a sporting goods company to fill the vacancy.
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